Canon CanoScan LiDE 50 Color Scanner Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)I read the great reviews here (and elsewhere) on the LiDE 30, prompting me to buy the newer, faster 50. I have USB 2.0 ports and wanted the better performance ? and wasn't disappointed! The 50 can scan a full 8.5x11 color image in less than 30 seconds at 300dpi, including several seconds for the scan mechanism to reposition itself afterward. The optional "preview" was so fast it wasn't worth timing. My guess is 5 seconds or so for the above preview.
I won't rehash all the nice features of this scanner since many of you have read the LiDE 30 reviews. It seems to be an LiDE 30 with impressive USB 2.0 Hi-Speed performance added. It's also capable of generating 48bit color output and 16bit monochrome output, whereas the liDE 30 is half that, not that this is really important. 24bit is 16 million colors and 281 trillion colors is something I don't relate to.
Aside from speed, I was pleased with the space saving design and attractive "stainless steel" appearance. The scanner bed has sufficiently high edges to allow me to easily position a sheet of paper in proper alignment, without it trying to climb over the edge. A lot of human engineering went into this product!
Windows XP really loves this machine. The software installed without the slightest hiccup. This scanner is as hot-pluggable as any device could be. XP recognizes its presence and absence immediately. Even though the LiDE series requires no power source other than from the USB port (boy do I enjoy the absence of another power brick!), I prefer to remove power from the scanner when it's not in use and it's a snap to pull the cable from the front USB port. (If you're curious, the LiDE requires 498mA against the standard USB output of 500mA. Probably 10% or less of the current draw of CCD technology scanners.)
The package comes with some impressive looking software but all I wanted to do was scan images from PaintShop Pro and Adobe Acrobat and enjoy convenience copying. There is appx. 500MB of software if you load everything but I only installed the XP Driver and the CanoScan Toolbox. I did this not because I didn't want the other software, but really to see if the scanner would be fully functional without it (including the 4 "one-touch" buttons).
I was glad to discover that the CanoScan Toolbox has everything that's required to Copy, Scan to a program (PaintShop Pro?), Scan to email, and Scan to a file (including a PDF file). You may like some of the other programs they offer if you want to try your hand at OCR, manage photo albums, and similar tasks. I did install the Adobe Photoshop Essentials 2.0 because I respect Adobe software and wanted to see what this entry level image editing program can do. Not counting the 95MB for Photo Essentials, the driver and Toolbox took only around 30MB or less out of the potential 500MB.
The CanoScan Toolbox is very functional, impressive software. It allows you to setup 7 discrete type of scans with their unique resolutions, scan method (color, grayscale, etc.), paper size, your printer, specify your pet image editing program, etc. Then, you can associate your choice of 4 of these 7 functions with any of the 4 physical buttons at the front of the scanner. Canon has preset reasonable defaults.
There are a couple negatives to be aware of. CIS technology, as has been reported by some LiDE 30 users, is sensitive to the item scanned hugging the glass. This is quite true and even a thin pamphlet will produce a distorted scan, especially at page edges and corners where there's curl. The solution is to press the lid down to flatten the page against the glass. Consider this if you do a lot of scanning from magazines and books.
Another negative is my mild disappointment with the automated scan functions and single button functions --- a bit overrated in my opinion. Scanning to a program or file creates a JPG file first and then saves it and/or gives it to the image editing program. The quality of that JPEG was not to my satisfaction and I'd rather have the imaging program manage the scan and work with the raw scan data.
PDF files can be created automatically but may be a bit bloated and can have a grayish background. This can be improved considerably by choosing "Text Enhancement" or "Black and White" as the scanning mode. If you want to create an occasional PDF file, the Toolbox can do it for you rather easily.
The scanner appears to be durable. I scanned 120 8.5x11 color glossies over a 2 day period and it didn't breathe hard or make any strange sounds. It's also pretty quiet, in my view, although a few have complained it was loud. It could easily be used in a home office environment while you're talking on the phone.
Today I called Canon's technical support to ask some "how-to" questions. It was not toll-free but I got through very quickly and the technician was extremely courteous, knowledgeable, and generous of his time. After one year, they will continue to help but at only $10 an incident. Very good first impression here!
I hope you learned something about the LiDE 50 and its software and technology from this review. If you're on the fence between Canon and another vendor, you'd likely be happy with the LiDE series. If you're on the fence between the LiDE 30 and 50, you'd save $$$ and probably be just as happy with the 30 if you don't have USB 2.0 capability or plan to install a PCI USB 2.0 adapter. (Canon explicitly supports a wide array of Adaptec adapters.)
Good luck with your decision and enjoy the Canon experience if you take the plunge.

Click Here to see more reviews about: Canon CanoScan LiDE 50 Color Scanner

One of the slimmest scanners on the market, the Canon LiDE 50 measures less than two inches high and includes a desktop stand for nearly invisible vertical storage. This doesn't mean it can't handle your originals--thanks to the Z-lid design, the LiDE 50 can accommodate items up to an inch thick while keeping them totally flat for absolutely impeccable scans.
48-bit color and a 16-bit grayscale provide rich tones and clear contrasts; the 1,200 x 2,400 optical resolution (9,600 x 9,600 dpi interpolated) handles the rest with clean, crisp detail. USB 2.0 interface means there's a single cord that supplies both power and connection, as well as a speedy transfer of data.
Bundled with the scanner is an impressive array of software for both Windows and Macintosh OS systems that will allow you to convert, smooth, and organize your images in a variety of ways. Perfect for home use, the Canon LiDE 50 is backed by a one-year warranty with Instant Exchange service.
What's in the Box Canon LiDE 50 scanner; stand; power/USB 2.0 cable; instructions; setup poster; warranty information; Adobe Photoshop Elements 2.0 CD-ROM; CanoScan Setup CD-ROM with ScanGear CS (Windows/Mac), CanoScan Toolbox (Windows/Mac), Arcsoft PhotoStudio (Windows/Mac), ArcSoft PhotoBase (Windows/Mac), ScanSoft OmniPage SE OCR (Windows/Mac), NewSoft Presto! PageManager (Windows) and NewSoft Presto! BizCard (30-day trial version, Windows only)

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Pana-Vue Pana-Scan 35mm Negative and Slide Scanner Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)Bought this to scan over 2,000 slides, some over 40 years old. Software installation is not intuitive, but fairly easy. Slide holder is cumbersome but once you figure out how to load the slides is not too bad (open the slide tray and load slides upside down in the TOP tray). You can only scan/transfer three slides per tray. The quality is not digital because the source (slides) are not digital. However, slides deteriorate over time and I wanted to save them before it's too late. Scanned picture quality is OK but don't expect digital HD results! So far I've scanned over 1,000 slides. It's time-consuming. Tried scanning color negatives but haven't gotten that feature to work yet - maybe I'll look at the PDF instructions (last resort of course!) For the money it's OK. When I scan in all my slides I'll have an obsolete piece of equipment.
Update: Scanning negatives works. Once you transfer them to a file, use a photo editor and click on "Negative" which turns the negative image into a positive image (nowhere in the directions could I find this - I just experimented). Results are sharper than scanning slides.

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HP ScanJet 2300c Flatbed Scanner Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)I own this scanner and I'm happy with it. I'm sure there are faster scanners on the market at a higher price, but if you're looking for one that does a good job (and you are in no hurry), this is a good buy. I use it to scan photos for my website.
If you are into hi-tech, perhaps you should buy a more expensive scanner. It depends on what your individual needs are as to whether or not you will like this one. It serves the purpose for me and that's why I gave it 5 stars.

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Hewlett-Packard ScanJet 2300C is great for your creative projects - easily scan photos, 3D objects, text and graphics at the touch of a button. Included HP Memories Disc Creator software lets you create your own CD compilation of images and music. The HP ScanJet 2300C features easy one-touch scanning and copying, optimum image quality for printing, emailing or web posting and full-speed USB connection for faster results.Scan your favorite images or photos into your PC. With HP Memories Disc Creator software, you can create a CD presentation of your photos, complete with your choice of background music. The CD presentation can be created in different formats (PAL, NTSC, etc) for easy playback on most VCD and DVD players. Intuitive software helps you design your CD jewel cover case. Enjoy high-quality images with up to 600 dpi optical resolution and 48-bit color. Speedy preview scans in as little as 14 seconds.

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Microtek ScanMaker i320 High-Resolution Flatbed Scanner Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)I'm a long-time user of Microtek scanners, and have generally found that even their low end products are reliable and deliver great results.
The i320 installed and worked without a hitch when attached to a new Athlon-based PC running Windows XP Home Edition, and I immediately started testing it using a high quality 8x10 photograph. One issue I encountered right off is that the quality of scans was inferior to that of my previous scanner, a Microtek 3600. After working with the i320 for a while, I discovered what I think is the reason. This model, like most current scanners, has a very high hardware resolution - 3200dpi. My older scanner has a hardware resolution of 600dpi. One frequently overlooked fact about this increased resolution is that the much smaller size of today's sensors makes them a lot more vulnerable to optical noise, which degrades image quality. (And by the way, that higher resolution is of no value when scanning photographs, since most photo detail can be resolved at 300dpi.)
I found that I was able to get the scanner to behave more like a 600dpi model by using the Descreen option in the ScanWizard software. (Try setting it between 100 and 200lpi). This cleaned up the noise dramatically, and I was happy.
What I was not so happy about is the Digital ICE feature. This is a proven technology that has been employed in high end film scanners with great success. I don't know how successfully it's been used in flatbed scanners, but my tests with the i320 were not impressive. I tried numerous variations of scan resolution and ICE settings on some old photos, both color and B&W. In no case did the ICE function ever clean up even one speck of dust or debris on any of my photos. It did help a bit in correcting physical damage such as wrinkles or tears, but I frankly have very few photos in such bad condition.
Aside from the extra cost in dollars that the ICE function adds to the scanner, it also costs a lot in time. Scans with ICE enabled are sloooooow! You'll have to wait several minutes while the scanner does nothing at all except display a message about warming up. This happens with each and every scan - how warm does it need to be? Unless you have a shoebox full of mangled photos, I can't see this implementation of Digital ICE being worthwhile.
Another minor disappointment was the ColoRescue feature. This is supposed to restore proper colors to faded photos, but in my tests it usually produced silly, garish results. I found it preferable to scan without it and fix the colors in Photoshop.
Bottom line - this is a perfectly fine scanner. However, it probably won't produce great results with the default settings. You'll have to explore the intricacies of the ScanWizard software (which, by the way, is one of the best scanner control programs out there and is the main reason why I continue to buy Microtek stuff). And it won't clean up dust and debris on photos. Consider saving a few bucks by getting the Microtek 6000 without Digital ICE, or instead spend more on one of the higher end models where the ICE function might really work!

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Microtek's ScanMaker i320 builds on the popular ScanMaker i300, offering exclusivePictuRescue photo reconstruction and restoration software, 6,400 x 3,200 dpiresolution, and true 48-bit color. USB 2.0 connectivity and seven Smart-Touchbuttons (plus a convenient Power button) on the front panel make setup a snapand operation simple.

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Visioneer 6100 Color Flatbed USB Scanner Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)Setup was a mere unpack, unlock, plug-in, load software & begin scanning. The software package is comparable to Adobe & most other TWAIN-ware. The performance exceeded my expectations. I require high resolution / high color depth duplication -- and I got it! Coupled with a high-resolution printer, I was able to obtain first-use results approaching that of the original photo. The PaperPort software provides sufficient tweaks & adjustments to give quick & impressive results. The scanned image quality rivals that of other products costing much more.

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The PaperPort 6100USB is a compact color flatbed scanning system with professional-quality image capture and management capabilities. The 6100USB brings high-resolution flatbed scanning that allows you to scan, fax, copy, print, and easily communicate by dragging and dropping items to icons for all your favorite programs on the PaperPort link bar.
The Visioneer 6100USB comes with award-winning Visioneer software, including PaperPort version 5.3, Visioneer OCR, and Visioneer Web Publisher. Additional free software includes PictureWorks PhotoEnhancer and Quicken ExpensAble SE.

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Umax Astra 3450 Scanner Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)If you are looking for great quality transparency scans using this sleek flatbed, you will be hugely disappointed. All the scans that I did for my slides were lacking in contrast, and lost significant amount of colour depth. More over, because of the lack of high optical resolution (I scanned at 1200 - the max optical resolution offerred by this scanner) the images even look slightly unfocussed !
The preview and scan times are also too long. An average preview takes 3 minutes per slide (forget the 7 secs preview promised on the brochure - I never realised seven second even while scanning a colour photo at 300 res), and an average scan between 6-9 minutes.
Scanned colour photo images came out slightly better - but the cost - equivalent images can also be had out of scanners about half the cost of this one !
The scanner is well packaged with all the software I needed, the hardware did not give me any trouble while installing, the scanning software (vistascan) works well without crashing my PC.
My reco - look for a better product. And if you really want good transparency scans - I guess it is better to go in for a dedicated transparency scanner

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The Umax Astra 3450 scanner offers 42-bit internal color density, 14 bitsper channel, andresolutions from 600 x 1,200 dpi to a maximuminterpolated 9,600 x 9,600 dpi. Single-button operation expedites scanning,copying, optical character recognition, and e-mailing of images. Engineered for Mac and PCs, the UmaxAstra 3450 is designed to appeal to Web designers and graphics artists.
The Astra 3450 has a built-in transparency cover, enabling you to scanslides and transparencies up to 4 by 5 inches in size. The 3450provides image scalability to scan and enlarge slides and other media, andit also has a batch scanning function. The Intelligent Image Process Engine(IIPE) evaluates the correct scanner settings for many types of images,providing fast, untroubled scanning at high speeds.Allit takes to produce an 8.50-by-11-inch color image at 300 dpi is 24 seconds, withscaling from 1 to 1,000 percent in 5 percent increments. IIPE also auto-crops image areasand can correct the orientation if the source image is off center.
With 3450's hot swappability, you can connect or disconnect the scannerwithout restarting the system. The compact and lightweight unit includesAdobe Photoshop LE, OmniPage LE OCR, and Presto! PageManager software forenhancing, modifying, and organizing your images. Umax backs the Astra 3450with a year of technical support and extended support hours.

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Visioneer PhotoPort 7700 Flatbed Scanner Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)In design, it seems sleek, useful < two card ports built right in> and fast. EXCEPT... Windows XP/XP Pro,, simply hates the drivers supplied. Constant battles to get the computer to not only recognize the scanner, but to KEEP IT installed.I have had many a fine day wasted just getting it reconfigured to work. NOTHING else is changed, yet the system constantly cant " find" the scanner. Just a nightmare that the drivers never seem to solve.
Now, performance. I have had numerous problems with severely distorted colors, mysterious " bands and streaks" across photos scanned, rendition and color way off the mark, all around, I would NEVER buy a visioneer again. I bought a 5820 to try n get buy with it, till I can afford a Minolta 5400 or Dual Scan elite, the visioneer 5820 wont even operate or configure with XP.visoneer has a lousy reputation with Windows, and Win XP goes to great lengths to make sure you DONT purchase another Visioneer scanner. I cant rate it lower than 1 star, or i would.

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The 7700 from Visioneer is a high-quality scanner that offers 600 x 1,200 dpi optical resolution and 42-bit color recognition that is capable of capturing over 4.3 trillion colors. Visioneer also touts the 7700 as a "digital camera companion" and has provided slots for Smart Media and Compact Flash cards directly on the scanner. This means no more switching back and forth between scanner and camera. Just insert your camera's memory card into the slot and upload your pictures at impressively fast speeds.
OneTouch buttons make it exceptionally easy to post images on the Internet, print copies of digital scans, and much more. This PC-only scanner also comes with a nice software bundle that includes ScanSoft's PaperPort Deluxe 7.0, TextBridge Pro8.0, and MGI PhotoSuite III SE.
The 7700 connects to your computer via its USB port and comes backed with a one-year limited warranty.

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Umax Astra 1220U USB Color Flatbed Scanner Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)If you're a Mac user, forget this one (and all Umac products). They don't intend to provide drivers for Mac OS X.

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36 Bit USB Scanner 600x1200

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Canon CanoScan LiDE 25 Color Image Scanner (0307B001) Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)I bought this scanner to scan in about 150 old black and white family photos, and they all came out very nicely. I scanned only a handful of color pictures, and they were fine as well.
Some experiences I had using the scanner:
- smaller pictures end up getting a better final resolution
- the quality is great for pictures, but only average for text; for example newspaper articles don't scan well enough to allow you to read smaller text
- I was able to scan aout 30 pictures in an hour
- scanning multiple photos is usually easy: you don't have to crop a big image into the individual photos because the scanning software figures out the picture boundaries. However, occasionally the picture boundary detection stuff messes up and the scanner detects 1 fewer picture than was in the scanner, forcing you to rescan
For some old polaroids, the scanned picture was clearer and brighter than the polaroid. it brought out the picture in
an amazing way.

Click Here to see more reviews about: Canon CanoScan LiDE 25 Color Image Scanner (0307B001)

PC and Mac compatible, the Canon CanoScan LiDE 25 is an efficient color scanner that delivers high-quality results. Ideal for home or small office use, this compact flatbed model with 8.5-by-11.7-inch platen produces up to 1,200 x 2,400 dot-per-inch (dpi) optical resolution (software enhanced resolution: 19,200 color dpi) and 48-bit color depth, for over 281 trillion possible colors and incredibly vibrant images. The Z-Lid expansion top easily accommodates bulky items. One simple cable provides both power and a USB connection, which helps reduce the number of wires cluttering your workspace.Whether you're scanning old family photos, personal documents, or a company memo, the streamlined LiDE 25 is easy to use. Three buttons automate the entire process, so you can effortlessly scan, send images to your printer for copying, or prepare attachments for an email. After you position your original and select the use for the image, you can preview the result in approximately 16 seconds. The LiDE 25 even saves you time after you scan, by automatically retouching and enhancing your image. Additionally, this model comes with powerful software applications, including the CanoScan Toolbox 4.9, which you can use to scan documents and then create and manipulate PDFs.If you're tackling a larger project, in the Multi-Scan Mode you can scan multiple images simultaneously, rather than one by one. Simply arrange them on the glass and select Multi-Scan. The LiDE 25 scanner also comes with Quick Automatic Retouching and Enhancement (QARE) technology, which reduces dust and scratches that may appear on older originals. It even autocorrects to help decrease graininess, picture fading, and improper backlighting. After enhancement you can archive these beautiful images and then e-mail them or print them for family and friends.What's in the Box CanoScan LiDE 25, ScanGear CS (Win/Mac), CanoScan Toolbox CS (Win/Mac), ArcSoft PhotoStudio (Win/Mac), and ScanSoft OmniPage SE OCR (Win/Mac).

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Visioneer One Touch 5300 Flatbed Scanner Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)This scanner is a good scanner. If it was WinXP compatible, I wouldn't sell it. It has great resolution as well as quick functions, such as copying. It is a great buy for anyone looking for a scanner

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In one easy-to-use package, the new OneTouch 5300 delivers faster scan-to-finish times, high-quality imaging, and award-winning PaperPort software. It has five convenient buttons for easy copying, faxing, and scanning directly into PaperPort. The OneTouch features a 300 x 600 dpi optical resolution and recognizes over 68 billion colors internally to provide photorealistic scanning. Incredibly easy to install and use, it attaches to your parallel port and has a pass-through connector for your printer or Zip drive.

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Canon CanoScan D1250U2F USB Flatbed Scanner Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)After reading other folks' reviews on scanners and seeing all the problems they had with cheap ones, I decided to spend a bit more for something better. It was a good decision: the CanoScan D1250U2F has exceeded my expectations.
Software and hardware installation was straight forward, and the documentation is clear and simple. An important factor in my decision to buy the Canon was its inclusion of Adobe Photoshop Elements -- it is very intuitive software, powerful, and it interfaces well with the scanner.
Color rendition is excellent, and scanned photos appear well-balanced and clean. On my computer (running Windows XP, 1.8GHz, 384MB RAM) scanning at moderate resolutions is reasonably quick and downloads are prompt, even though I'm running with the USB 1.1 driver and not 2.0. Scanning a 3x5 photo at 600DPI takes about 15-20 seconds, maybe 10-15 seconds at 300DPI. A lot of that time is the scanner "adjusting the lamp" before the actual scan.
The film and slide scanning apparatus is easy to use and produces passable results. The images can be contrasty and the colors somewhat subdued, but in this price range I don't expect professional slide scanning. At 2400DPI it makes an image fairly close to the resolution of the film and is certainly good enough for most email-the-photo and web publishing applications.
The scanner also comes with optical character recognition (OCR) software, which works, although I did not find it intuitive. Also, the OCR software makes some bizarre decisions, especially concerning spelling correction, and seems eager to take control of the scanner, initiating scans at unexpected times.
Aside from the puzzling OCR software, if I wanted to be nit-picky I'd say the lid hinges are a bit flimsy, and the buttons on the front of the scanner are pointless. In my opinion it would be a better product if they removed the buttons from the front and put a power switch on the back. But that's all just nits... The scanner does a great job overall.

Click Here to see more reviews about: Canon CanoScan D1250U2F USB Flatbed Scanner

Providing home users with stunningly professional results, the Canon D1250U2F combines crisp detail with a simple design that allows you true versatility in scanning both film and documents. With 1,200 x 2,400 dpi resolution and 48-bit color, scans are sharp and vibrant.
The scanner's flat bed handles pages up to 8.5 x 11 inches and 3-D objects such as books and magazines; a built-in film adapter handles 35mm negatives and slides. Once your originals are in place, you can e-mail, scan, or copy them at the touch of a button.
Fully compatible with PC systems (Windows 98 or higher, Pentium III recommended), the scanner connects via USB interface and comes complete with a software package that lets you design and manage your graphics. Canon's advanced technology automatically corrects tone and shadow, while also removing imperfections from the originals, so you're more likely to get the perfect scan the first time. The scanner is backed by a one-year warranty that covers parts and labor, and includes Instant Exchange service.

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Visioneer 4400 USB Flatbed Scanner Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)This scanner is a steal at this price, especially for those new to the world of computer technology. The software included allows for a variety of projects, and is explained in lay terms that make the experiance that much easier. Though this scanners' price is a bargain, you get much more than you pay for. The set up is easy, just plug it in and scan away. The resolution is great, and for those photos where your badside is showing there are a myriad of editing options available, so you can always look your beat, even when you don't. I have also scanned documents and had great results. If you are looking for a home scanner this is a great bargain with top quality software, this is it.

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A scanner that meets your imaging needs and your budget's demands is a rare thing, but model 4400 from Visioneer manages to handle both. With an optical resolution of 600 x 1,200 dpi combined with 42 internal colors, the 4400 provides clarity and depth to all your scanned images from photographs and magazines to office documents and memos. The included software package covers all sorts of home office graphical applications including templates, document management, and data format conversions. You must have a USB connection for installation, and the cable and driver CD-ROM are included. At a total weight of just over 5 pounds and length of less than 1 foot, this is a scanner that can fit anywhere, even in cramped cubicles or home offices.
Visioneer includes a one-year warranty on parts and labor.

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Visioneer PRIMASCAN Colorado 2400P Flatbed Scanner Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)Prima Scan doesnot have a Windows XP driver so its waste to buy the colorado 2400p. It will only work if you have win2000 or win 9x. It was really stupid for a company not to provide a winxp driver.

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Not so long ago, a scanner of this quality would have cost an arm and a leg. Now, you can keep all your limbs. Visioneer's Colorado 2400P flatbed scanner for PC has an optical resolution of 600 x 1,200 dpi with 36-bit color capability. It also comes with Textbridge Pro PCR, PagisPro Software, and MGI Photosuite III SE. This nifty little software bundle allows you to use your computer to scan, copy, and fax documents; convert hard copies into Word, Excel, and Lotus 1-2-3 files; or touch up and store photo scans.
This single-pass scanner recognizes 68 billion colors, is connected via a parallel port, and has an 8.5-by-11.7-inch maximum scanning size. Visioneer also backs the 2400P with a one-year limited warranty to provide a little extra ease of mind.

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Mustek ScanExpress A3 USB Flatbed Scanner Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)First of all, you will need to figure out where you're going to put this thing: it's quite large. It measures 22" x 15". The hinged lid, though removable, requires over 2 feet of clearance above the surface that the scanner sits on.
The scanner works fine with my computer, but I confess that I have Windows 2000. Other reviewers are reporting problems with other operating systems. DO read them.
By calling the included software "El Crapamundo" and saying that "It really stinks", the previous reviewer is being much too nice. I don't think that Amazon will allow the words that I really want to use.
You get two CD ROMs: One contains the drivers, and the other is scanner-compatible graphic software from Ulead. The driver CD ROM installs a software panel with VERY limited setting options. Page 7 of their owner's booklet spells out the non-changeable default settings. They're extremely restrictive. The Ulead CD ROM installs all kinds of extra crap that runs in the background and uses up computer resources.
Your best solution is to find software on the internet that will scan your documents while giving you a much wider range of options. I'm using Photocopier Pro by Nico Cuppen Software.


Click Here to see more reviews about: Mustek ScanExpress A3 USB Flatbed Scanner

An ideal solution for business travelers, or anyone setting up a home office, the Mustek ScanExpress A3 comes complete with high-resolution, color-accurate scanning abilities. With its 36-bit color capturing abilities, the ScanExpress A3 can capture over 68.7 billion colors in a single-pass. With its full TWAIN compliance, the ScanExpress A3 scanner allows you to transfer images directly into any TWAIN-supported software application. With a speedy USB 1.1 interface, this scanner is PC compatible.

Get 25% OFF

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Canon CanoScan LiDE 30 Scanner Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)I purchased this scanner specifically for the task of digitizing a box of old, disintergrating/fading old family photos, almost all being Black&White. I tried a few photos at a local copy place, but the $18 per hour (plus $10 CD burning fee) quickly convinced me that I could purchase a scanner for a lot less than what it would cost to scan the photos on an hourly fee basis.
With a few dozen exceptions, this scanner was able to satisfactorily scan my old photos. Even though this scanner has a number of limitations, I gave the scanner the top rating because it did perform as described/intended and is a good value for the dollar. I would buy this unit again. The ease of hardware and software installation was a pleasant surprise, and are easy to use. Even the included OCR software suprised me with the quality and accuracy of the resulting Word or PDF documents; it even could, with a little tweaking, scan and convert tabular information. (This is an added, unexpected benefit, as I have a 200+ page document, mostly tables, that I have always intended to convert to PDF format but postponed the task due to the emense retyping involved.)
I have always disliked the "Stars" and "Best Buy" rating systems as I have been 'bitten' several times when I bought some highly rated products. No product is perfect; all have things that it can do well, and some things it can't do well (or at all). If you are unfortunate enough to buy a top rated product that can't do the one thing that you need it to do, top rated or not, you have wasted your money. [It is interesting to note that many 'impartial reviews' tend to rave about a product's good points and 'gloss over' deficiencies.]
So, you should be aware of what this scanner could NOT do for me:
.It does not scan transparencies (I had one 4 X 6)
.It has a VERY limited depth of focus: things not in intimate contact with the scan plate WILL be out of focus (a dozen or so photos mounted on stiff, warped backings could not be satisfactorily scanned, even with a phone book on the scanner cover)
.The scan plate is recessed making scans of oversized items impossible: the item is not in contact with the glass and thus out of focus (I had a couple of oversized photos and a few 8 X 10 photos permanently mounted on an oversized backing/frame that could not be scanned satisfactorily)
Also, the unit is a bit 'flimsy' (dropped my mechanical pencil on the cover and it left a 'door dingy') and the cover not heavy enough to flatten the folds even in standard paper to maintain full scan plate contact without assistance (phonebook).

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Canon Lide30 Flat Bed Scanner

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Canon LiDE200 Color Image Scanner (2924B002) Review

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(More customer reviews)I decided to replace my old "all in one" printer which I was using as a scanner and a photocopying with the Canon LIDE200. I liked the specification: 4800x4800 dpi and a claimed 11 second scan rate.
The first thing I noticed as I was unpacking the scanner from the box was a mysterious WARNING about unlocking the lid of the scanner. The scanner was packed with the lid unlocked (as I found out later), and the instructions mentioned to keep the lid locked for travel or extensive handling. Fair enough, but it made me wonder if I had already done something bad to my scanner (I hadn't).
I then installed the software. I expected big things from Canon here, because generally they are pretty smart about software. The software, in terms of use, is much better than the software I had for scanning with my old scanner.The scanner has an "easy" setting that basically just scans at 300DPI without a fuss.If you want to scan at full resolution, you have to open the "driver" that exposes a page with all the bells and whistles to let you really fine tune your scan and set the highest resolutions.
All this was fair enough, however I found a few minor disturbing problems with the software. Firstly, once you've opened the "driver", it's not intuitive to figure out how to get back to the "no brainer" mode. Also, when you want to save your scan, it always seems to default to the scanning library it sets up. If you override it, it doesn't stay "changed". This is a slight pain. I always wonder who they hire to test and give feedback, because I always feel like I'm pointing out what should be the "obvious" to large companies like Canon (actually I really love Canon - so take no offense!).
As far as scanning speed is concerned, the scanner does indeed scan a 300 dpi page in about 11 seconds (that's pretty fast folks). However, the estimate does not include the 3 seconds the software takes to respond to the command to begin scanning (I'm running a duo core processor - no slouch) and the few seconds it takes to save the image. All in all, speed is impressive.
Now on to document quality. I tried scanning a few brochures and to be honest, at 300 DPI I wasn't super impressed with the result. So I went into the "driver" at set the scanning at maximum resolution (4800 x 4800). You get a pretty good result at that resolution, but by no means was I blown away. Perhaps more "tweaks" of the driver is needed. I noticed that the scanner attempts to "improve" the picture (which it does) but some of the detail of the text was a little off (brochure had images and text). I wondered if the lid of the scanner was making really good contact. Next time I will add a few pages of plain white paper behind the image and see if it makes a difference.
I tried scanning a printed document, and compared it to a printed document I scanned using my old scanner. I scanned the image to a PDF and low and behold, a major, major improvement (at 300 DPI).
So, I gave the scanner four "stars". Why not five? Well, the software is much easier to use than my old scanner, but still not without a few minor "quirks".This is a great scanner for scanning documents. How well it will actually scan and reproduce a photo is still in question, and perhaps I need to learn how to use the driver software better. I don't think I could scan an original photo without seeing some degradation in quality.
I'd be interested to hear other people's experiences regarding copying photos. I hope I'm wrong in my assessment, because I really expected a 4800x4800 scanner to reproduce "dead on" copies of a photo.

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Canon LiDE200 color image scanner has convenient features for easy scanning up to 4800 dpi.

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Canon 2454B002 imageFORMULA DR-2010C Compact Color Scanner Review

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(More customer reviews)this could be a great product. It's affordable, it does duplex, and it's fast. Shortly after I started using it however, on multi-page scans some of the pages were blurry to the point of being unusable. I got a message that the page feeding assembly needed changing out, so I ordered a new assembly and changed it out, but with no improvement. So there seems to be a problem with the feeding mechanism, so some scans are blurry. This is a major problem. If it weren't for that defect, which I don't know if it's just my machine or widespread, it would be a great scanner.
This is a few weeks later. I am still having problems with the feeding mechanism, even after replacing it. I actually get more useful scanning out of my all-in-one Canon mf-6550. I love Canon, but I am not having a good experience with this dedicated scanner.

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The DR-2010C is capable of scanning at the same impressive speeds in color, grayscale, and black and white of up to 20ppm (40ipm) up to 200dpi for letter-sized documents. Fast, high quality duplex scanning in a versatile and space-saving design, perfect for all office scanning needs, from ad-hoc to market specific. Find reliable feeding, advanced image processing functions, customizable Scan-to-Job buttons and much more for your distributed imaging applications.

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