Page scanner recommendations

[szilagyic]

Hello:

I am looking for suggestions on a page through scanner (automatic
document feed), within the $500-800 price range if possible. I have
done some homework and narrowed it down to the following 3 models:
Kodak i30/i40, Xerox Documate 250, and Visioneer Strobe XP 450.

I am mainly interested in a model that has good quality (color and
black & white), has good Twain drivers that support auto descewing and
cropping, and supports some form of duplex (front & back) scanning
whether it is manual or automatic. From reading, I have come across
mixed reviews on how good the Twain drivers are, so I'm looking for
more feedback from people that have used these. I am not concerned
with the bundled software as I will be using Acrobat 6 to scan
documents, or speed of the scanner.

I really appreciate all feedback on these models (or any others that
people may suggest). Hopefully this will help others looking for the
same as well.

Thanks much,

 

[szilagyic]

I have done as much research as I can do with the information published
out there on the models I mentioned in my original post. I have
decided to take the chance on the Visioneer Strobe XP 450. I did read
that all of the models seem to be manufactured by the same company
(possibly Avision?), so the main difference between the brands seems to
be the software bundled with them. Avision has the same model that is
marketed as the AV220, but after reading the documentation that comes
with it, it seems to come with Mr. Scan TWAIN driver, which I have seen
complaints about in previous postings. The Visioneer Strobe XP 450 is
more expensive but seems to have the best software package, and is the
only one I can confirm that supports manual duplexing.

If anybody has a Visioneer Strobe XP 450, I'd be interested to hear the
feedback on it! So far I have read all positive (no negative) reviews
on it.

Thanks,

 

[szilagyic]

I just wanted to add some more info on the Visioneer Strobe XP 450. I
received the scanner and installation was a snap. The scanner itself
is simplex, however with Paperport (bundled with the scanner) it can
scan two sides (scan then flip the pages over and continue scanning).
However from what I can tell, the Avision AV220 is the exact same
scanner, it just doesn't come with any software (but does include a
Twain driver). The driver interface looks almost exactly the same as
what comes with the Visioneer. So if anybody else likes the Visioneer
and only wants simplex scanning, the Avision model is about $100
cheaper.

So far I've only been able to scan in bi-tone, but the page feeder
works flawlessly so far.

Thanks again for all feedback!