Canon are good quality, fast & seem reliable:
o Scanner selection comes down to what media & how many
---- what media -- what resolution you need, photos need quite low
---- how many -- what speed you require, re sitting around
o CanoScan LIDE 20
---- great for occasional use -- good image out of the box
---- LED based scanner -- great quality, but can't use for irregular shapes (*)
---- relatively slow -- however fine for photos vs multipage docs
---- USB powered -- ideal for use with a laptop
---- light & compact -- small footprint, light to carry
---- no film scanner
o CanoScan 3200F
---- great for regular use -- good image out of the box
---- Cold Fluorescent tube -- some warmup, handles irregular shapes (*)
---- very quick indeed -- fast preview, fast scanning
---- mains powered -- another mains socket needed
---- F means film scanner -- not great, but usable, lightsource in lid
(*) Irregular shapes means non-flat objects re depth of focus.
On the Canon watch for:
o Install the drivers first - only then the scanner
o Dust under the glass - seen a couple, rare (but on your scans)
For non-serious home light photo use I'd go for a low CanoScan,
you would be really surprised at the quality achievable from them.
If your photos are very heavily scratched, creased-lines, tattered &
generally in poor shape then the issue is scratch removal software.
That can come with the scanner, or a 3rd party software supplier.
Operating system is an important consideration:
o XP is rather tough in h/w support requirements
---- drivers initially were few & far between
---- using Win2k drivers may or may not work (XP warning etc)
o CanoScan seem stable under XP
---- stable enough that I have no concerns having had 3
Before you spend on bigger ticket h/w remember the IT industry:
o Operating Systems change - as do their demands on drivers
o H/W sellers change product lines - as does their support of h/w
Just because you bought a top or pricey product does not mean
that driver support continues according to your assumptions
Driver wise there's a lot of left-column thinking that that 800$ SCSI
scanner will continue to be supported - when very often it is not
That is more an issue for the expensive negative scanners, yes
there have been 3rd party drivers - however at quite a high price.
Epson burnt a lot of people on this re GT9000/10000 ($$), so a lot
moved to Canon which delivered at least usable USB scanners.
Interface:
o USB has 1.1 & 2.0 standards
o Often USB 1.1 is called High Speed & USB 2.0 Full Speed
If you are doing lots of 1) colour 2) high resolution then you are
creating high bandwidth files - lots of data so USB2.0 will help.
Under USB 1.1 you may find scans pause whilst data catches up.
o Identify your requirements
o Read the specs carefully - particularly if something is unclear
o Create a shortlist - then google for support under your O/S
Specifically enter "scanner-name +XP +driver" into Google and
just make sure before buying that you aren't a guinnea pig. Just
because the IT industry sells a product doesn't mean it works.
Compatibility has improved greatly, but it is still not perfect:
o Product lifecycle times have dropped considerably
o So testing with every permutation has become uneconomic
Whilst my CanoScan 3200F is very solid, I'm not sure it works with
my Epson 1160 A3 printer also connected - to the laptop at least.
That is probably an Epson or laptop issue, and MSFT definitions
