Flatbed Scanners

[Squiddley]

My HP5100C has more or less given up the ghost, and there's no support since it's "discontinued" :mad: So, I'm shopping for a replacement. Would anyone care to rant/rave about their own experience. Reviews and such online are all well and good, but how about from a layman's perspective?

For home use, mostly scanning photos and the odd document, so an included transparency adapter would be better. Price at this stage is no problem.

USB is the best bet, but I see IEEE1394 versions are starting to appear, such as Umax 6450. Looks good.

TYIA

[gas path]

Hi Squiddley
Try Epson, I've got a 1240u, good software package and works fine. The 1640u comes with a transparency adapter as standard. (available as an option on the 1240u). The only niggle that I've got is that there's no switch so it has to be plugged in to an accessible socket!!

[Flyswift]

I've had a few Hp scanners in my time, including a 5100c. The have all been good, and I believe they give the best quality and speed for the money.

My latest model is the HP6300C. Can't fault it. It does every thing I throw at it without fail. Only criticism maybe that its slightly big, but I can put up with that for what it does in return.

Oh; and the '5 shortcut' buttons on the front are a great feature, and has both parallel and USB interfaces.

Software it comes with is good also.! :)

[AquaPlane]

Apologies Flyswift, got to disagree with you here. We run 10 HP 6300C's here in the office, and 3 of them have died in the first year and continue to do so. We tend to have to hard reset them on a quarterly basis to keep them running. The one on my Workstation still refuses to work over USB so I'm still on SCSI (no bad thing really). The PrecisionScan Pro software is absolutely awful and you can't replace it with anything else.

I'd really highly recommend UMAX scanners. They are aggressively priced and great performers. UMAX make some very high end design bureau level scanners costing many thousands of pounds, so they know and understand the technology and apply it well to their SoHo products. I've got two UMAX scanners at home, an old (1995) VistaScan S12 and one of the newer (1999) 2000U/P units, both excellent. The VistaScan software is also a factor of magnitude better than the HP drivel.

Aq (edited to correct typo)

[This message has been edited by AquaPlane (edited 26 January 2001).]

[xsimba]

No recommendations for scanners but when you want to buy, a good starting point is http://www.price-guide.co.uk/index.asp

They will search lots of online sources and give you a list of all the prices that apply to the model that you're looking for. A good site for everything electrical.

[fobotcso]

Thoroughly agree that Umax scanners bring professional standards to us at SoHo level. My (now old) Powerlook II with Transparency Adapter is excellent. Built with Mac in mind originally, but works well with PC with a mini SCSI card (with none of the anguish associated with setting up SCSI). With transparency adapter you can do a good job with just a negative or slide even if you have lost the photo print (Look for a good software bundle package. If you can get Photoshop you'll be well pleased).

If you are going to do a lot of Optical Character Reading of text go for a scanner with good optical resolution - at least 300 dpi. The difference in accuracy of text reading between 200 and 300 dpi is surprising. One is inclined to go for low resolution to increase speed and reduce file size, but this turns out to be false logic.

"Bit depth" is fashionable. Thirty-six bit is ample and gives enormous file sizes anyway. You'll be offered 42 bit but I shudder to think of the effect on file size if you use it to enhance the colour range.

[bengal_lancer]

Squiddley,

I fear that Aquaplane is correct. If you visit the 'Scanner Woes' thread (http://www.pprune.org/ubb/NonCGI/Forum35/HTML/000636.html) you will see the grief that I have had with an HP Scanjet 6200c, a close relative of the 6300. I have had nothing but trouble right from the very beginning when I installed the HP Precisionscan Pro software (July '99) - a load of garbage. Constant monitoring of HPs site for updates and nothing (for W98 anyway). Still version 1.0! I have now given up with it and uninstalled the software. I am now looking around for a new scanner and I will definitely look at the UMAX ones based on Aquaplane's post.

Good luck.

[This message has been edited by bengal_lancer (edited 27 January 2001).]

[Squiddley]

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 http://www.pprune.org/ubb/NonCGI/frown.gif

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.

[Squawk 8888]

Got an Agfa Snapscan e50 a couple of months ago and it works like a charm. USB interface and built-in transparency light, software handles negatives as well. Paid CAD $350.

[Ausatco]

I have a Plustek OpticPro 9630P which I'm very happy with. It's a bit old now but works like a charm and the software is great. Later models have a negative/transparency scanner.

Based on my experience with the brand, I'm happy to recommend it.

AA

[Squiddley]

Right - mission accomplished!

Thanks everyone for the ideas. Spent three hours blundering around being indecisive ;)

Top three options were:
1) Microtek Scanmaker 4700
2) Epson 1240U Photo
3) UMAX 3450

I managed to get a good demo of the 4700 and it was SUPERB. True optical 1200*2400 and included a negative tranparency adapter too. The guy showed us how the Epson is NOT truely 1200 res, and the promotional blurb is very carefully worded.

A scan of a HKD100 note proved this. You could actually zoom into the micro-dot security printing and it was legible with the 4700, not so the Epson. The 4700 is quick, and the software VERY easy to use yet powerful.

I ended up buying a UMAX 6400 though. :)

On the way back to the helpful demo man to buy the 4700, I spotted the UMAX 6400. Although it wasn't setup for a demo, the thing that decoded me was the fact that it uses the IEEE1394 interface, and is bundled with a decent PCI card.

I intended to get both the scanner and a DV editing package, but decided it was too much loot. So, since both scanners were the same price (HKD1799/1790) I decided to get another IEEE1394 cable for the DV camera, and get the software separately. (This is HKG afterall ;))

A snap to install, documentation consists of simple how to install the software, and asusmes you know how to install the PCI card. NO printed manual at all, it's all in an Acrobat document on the CD.

The scanning software and results are NOT as good as the 4700, the most obvious being the resolution. Anyway, the IEEE1394 bit is what swayed me, since I can kill 2 birds with one scanner and save plenty for the next "needed" purchase.

In anyone has any doubt, although only having seen/played with it for about 30mins, I would HIGHLY HIGHLY recommend a look at the Microtek Scanmaker 4700 if you're in the market for a USB scanner that does very nice, quick, sharp scans. 35mm negatives came out wonderfully too (even though the neg was scratched).

I'm off, got gallons of stuff to scan all of a sudden!!
TTFN