HP Scanners and Vista drivers

[Summer1]

A user wrote that the HP 4200c was manufactured in 2001 and the HP 3970 was
manufactured in 2003 so why does the 'later' model (4200c) have an earlier
manufacturer year? (2001)

Wouldn't it make more sense for HP to create a Vista driver for a 'later' and
'higher' model of 4200c since it is 'newer?'

Did HP create a Vista driver for 3970 because it was 'mass produced' and
they had a lot of complaints from customers so they 'gave' in to customer
demand whereas 4200c was not 'mass produced?'

Any insight would be appreciated!

 

[DL]

Only HP can answer your questions, anything else would likely be speculation

 

[Paul]

A user wrote that the HP 4200c was manufactured in 2001 and the HP 3970 was
manufactured in 2003 so why does the 'later' model (4200c) have an earlier
manufacturer year? (2001)

Wouldn't it make more sense for HP to create a Vista driver for a 'later' and
'higher' model of 4200c since it is 'newer?'

Did HP create a Vista driver for 3970 because it was 'mass produced' and
they had a lot of complaints from customers so they 'gave' in to customer
demand whereas 4200c was not 'mass produced?'

Any insight would be appreciated!

There is no rule that says model numbers have to be sequential.

The model numbers could represent "families" or "categories" of
equipment. You have to understand how a company uses model numbers,
to draw any inferences from them. They don't always increment the
number, just to keep track of the rough release date.

If you wish to use your scanner, and don't want to spend any additional
money to do so, consider testing the scanner with a Linux LiveCD. Linux
has SANE drivers for scanners (equivalent to TWAIN), as a means to make
scanners work. If you really needed to scan from that 4200C scanner, you
could always try that (boot the Linux LiveCD, scan, then reboot back
into Windows).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scanner_Access_Now_Easy

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TWAIN

http://www.sane-project.org/sane-mfgs.html#Z-HEWLETT-PACKARD

"ScanJet 4200C USB 0x03f0/0x0105 Basic 8bpp color, 75/150/300/600 dpi only"

HTH,
Paul