Thanks everyone for your input! It's been a "busy" few days trawling the web for potentials! Have to agree that HP is not my cup of tea, after the grief this one caused, then caused again after a months.
UMAX is definitely up there, and I particularly liked the look of the Astra 3450. However, have come across a review at ZDNet UK thru Neoseeker that really put the dampers on it
Quote:
"But the most significant disappointment is in the Astra 3450's performance. We had to place this unit in last place, and the difference in image quality between this and the fourth place product was more significant than between the first four."
http://www.neoseeker.com/resourcelink.html?rid=15033
Epson is also tempting, since I'm very happy with the Stylus Photo 750 printer's performance. The "Perfection 1240U Photo" looks right up my alley, but is probably too expensive.
Microtek friom Taiwan have a pretty good looking range, the Scanmaker 5700 would be lovely
The only price I've found online was US$550 or so, bah!
Thanks for the price watch link xsimba, always useful to compare. As I'm in HKG, I use this one :
http://buycomp.hkgolden.com/default.asp - it's updated regularly and pretty much summarises the offerings in the infamous Golden centre in Sham Shui Po.
I'm off again today, after two failed trips on Wed/Fri. Everything shut down for Chinese New Year - the ONLY days in the whole @#$% year when shops will shut - and me gagging for a scanner
Cheers all! Happy year of the snake.