Scanners What to look for when buying one

Hey all, Yes, I know this topic has been written about a lot, but I still haven't found the answers I am looking for. I have never had a scanner, and don't find any of the Iphone OCR apps work to my liking. I am looking to get a scanner specifically to read my mail to me. I am using an iMac, and there seem to be a billion scanners out there. Would love some advice and suggestions on what I should focus on when buying one, as the prices seem to vary from $50 all the way up to the 100's. 1. Is connecting through your home network or bluetooth better? 2. For scanning mail is it best to go with a flatbed scanner? 3. Is it best to go with a straight scanner, or get a device that also prints and faxes? 4. If your model just scans are there models that don't need an ink cartridge? 5. In the rare chance I want to scan a book, do you physically have to turn every page, seems like it would take forever, and not be worth the time. 6. Why would I need docuscan or some other scanning software? Doesn't the scanner do all of this? I just tested out my parents scanner, it scanned to a PDF and then I used skim to read it. 7. Is there a way to scan into pages or text edit? 8. Please do let me know anything else that I might not have considered, and feel free to offer any success stories. Thanks