Can I get some scanner recommendations?

[Boone]

Believe it or not I've never owned a scanner. It's probably time that I got one though. I'm not sure how much photo scanning I'll be doing, but sometimes you have to scan stuff to send to other people. Anyway, I'd like to stick to USB2 or Firewire, but that may be overkill. Any recommendations on a scanner that
a) doesn't suck (hardware or software) and doesn't break (hardware or software)?
b) Won't be priced so high that I'd feel bad if I didn't use it all the time?

Thanks!

[BurninMan921]

These might help:

http://www.tomshardware.com/consumer/20 ... index.html
http://www.tomshardware.com/consumer/20 ... index.html

And hey, don't feel bad...I've never owned a scanner OR a printer...

[CDRecorder]

I've never owned a scanner OR a printer...

Wow... no printer? I don't know what I'd do without one.

[CowboySlim]

Boone,

Earlier this year I was where you are, no scanner and didn't seem to be suffering for the lack of one. Then I saw a $15 Staples deal (AMIR, $75 BMIR) and how could I let that pass. It turned out to be a Memorex 48U, which is a bottom of the line scanner. However, now I find it quite convenient, and of course, will never be without one. I now use it to copy things (like the rebate paper) and can also use it to FAX, whereas before, I had to drag that kind of stuff to work and back (had no other copy or FAX capability at home).

Although it is no frills type, 1200 x 600, max, it is quite good and has good software. I am quite pleased with the OCR S/W. You might look here for some real good scoop. Two things that I learned from those sources is that 600 x 1200 is all you need for mundane things (including scanning photos) and that those film holder jinglebobs that the $100 and up scanners have for scanning film/negatives aren't very good. If one wants do a lot of that and get good results, the advice is to buy a single purpose film scanner.

Good luck and let us know where you are going with this.

[pranav81]

Get a HP scanner.They have scanner for every budget and they have given me great performance until now.You may select one from their large range.
See ya later,


::Pranav::

[David]

I'm using an older model Acer now Benq scanner 600 x 1200 works fine never had a problem with it.
If you go with an HP scanner watch out some of their low end ones only come with a 90 day warranty.

[CowboySlim]

If possible, get the same brand as your camera. Then you can lay the LCD/TFT viewer face down on the scanner glass and print directly without fooling with that nasty hard drive and stuff.

[Boone]

Any thoughts on a refurb HP Scanjet 4570cxi for $78 shipped?
http://www.xpbargains.com/#14666

[CowboySlim]

I've had good experience with manufacturer refurbished items. Most of them aren't really used at all, and if so, very little. Most of them have been returned without any defect at all. Many are returned unopened but the stores have to open them to make sure that you haven't taken the item out and replaced it with an equivalent weight of dogsh__ and then did a professional job of resealing the package. Places like Fry's will check these returns, reseal them, place the white sticker on the box and put it back on the shelf at full price. More reputable retailers will send the items back to the OEM for "refurbishment". My son used be a tech at Panasonic and a lot of his work was checking out returns that had nothing wrong with them.

Go for it, $79 is the right amount. For a new one, you'd be looking at a 600 x 1200dpi, which as I indicated above, is not insufficient. At 2400dpi, you've got overkill, but for $79, why not. As a coincidence, I just scanned a fifty year old, black and white photo at 1200 to get max resolution. It was beautiful but a little dark so I wanted to work it a little in MS Photo Editor. Too big to open! So I rescanned at 600dpi and it is still real good and now opens. 10:20PM PDT so I'll work it some more tomorrow.

Good luck and keep us informed.

[TidusTheCoolest]

Been using Canon D646Uex for almost a year now . This scanner retail for about U$ 50 now . Don't have anything to complain . The software is a bit old , ArcSoft Photo Studio 2000 , but this software can give ya better JPEG compression than Adobe Photoshop .

[Matt]

I have a UMAX Astra 1220S (bet you cant guess what the S stands for) which I've been using for about 6 years solid now. I've found that scanning at very high res is usually pointless unless you're trying to do some kind of enlargement. Most typical scanning purposes can be done at 180 or 300 dpi.

It's been a while since I've paid attention to scanners, but back in the day Agfa, UMAX, and Epson were the names to look for..

CNET Scanner Reviews
CNET Editor's Choices (No surprise Epson is still on there)

[CowboySlim]

I agree with Matt.

I scanned a 4x6 photo at 1200dpi and at 600dpi and printed at 4x6 and couldn't see the difference. However, the 1200 scan was too big for subsequent work with Microsoft Photo Editor, wouldn't open. Printed at 8-1/2 by 11, the 1200 looked real good.

I haven't scanned any 35mm negatives, but there is where resolutions like 2400, 4800dpi may be worthwhile.

Boone: WHEREYAT, with that refurbished?