posted on May 4, 2001 11:04:46 PM
I have a digital camera that I am happy with, now I need a scanner. Can anyone recommend a good quality scanner for under $200.00? I was thinking about buying an Epson Perfection 1240U.
posted on May 4, 2001 11:42:04 PM
I don't have any auctions up right now to show you the quality (I use a scanner exclusively), but I have had people email asking what I used.
I use a visioneer OneTouch 7600. I love it and the PaperPort software that comes with it is easy to use.
posted on May 5, 2001 12:02:38 AM
I highly reccomend that you DO NOT buy a scanner. They are impossible to use unless you are a techy genius. Take my advice and pass on the scanner.
posted on May 5, 2001 12:08:27 AM
Hello,
I have the 610 Epson. It's great resolution.
A bit slow. It's got not so great software.
But it does come with a Hotshots photo editor that can handle the large files for reducing.
Rou
posted on May 5, 2001 06:03:36 AM
I recommend the Epson 1240U. I purchased one 3 months ago and of the 5 that I have have owned previousley, this is by far the best and fastest. I have scanned several thousand pages with it and have had 0 problems. It connects through a USB port and will work with a PC or Mac. I paid $163.00 for mine they are now $151.00 here:
posted on May 5, 2001 07:18:08 AMPrettyKitty: these days scanners are incredibly easy to use. I have an HP ScanJet 4200C that is a waltz in the park to operate. Puts out great scans, too.
posted on May 5, 2001 08:17:46 AM
The need of a scanner depends on what you sell. We started with a scanner, but that was back in the stone age of the mid 90’s when digitals were terribly expensive. Now, we use both a scanner and a digital camera. Over the years we have been through a couple of scanners, and in fact just purchased a new one last week. This time we went to an HP, I don't recall the model, but it is doing an excellent job, and we pull ALL OF OUR SCANS and PHOTOGRAPHS through PaintShop Pro 7 -
There is detail in certain items that a scanner can only capture - there are items which definitely require a digital. Or one could use a standard camera and then scan the photographs, but that is a MAJOR waste of money and time, but that is what we did originally back in the mid 90's.
I will agree with someone who posted the information on zd-net, check recommendations on all scanning units. - also check c-net for comparison shopping of quality.
Best of wishes with your scanner, whatever you chose.
posted on May 5, 2001 08:37:45 AM
My scanner will be used 80% to scan pictures, and the other 10% of the time it will be used to scan movies and CD's.
[ edited by wbfan on May 5, 2001 08:39 AM ]
posted on May 5, 2001 12:14:25 PM
I'm on my third scanner in 6 years. This one is a Canon N650U, cost under $100, and connects through a USB port. It produces great scans and makes me VERY happy. It also comes with a 1-year warranty extendable to a 3-year warranty, which makes me even happier (see next paragraph).
My second scanner was a Hewlett Packard 5200C, and it was a complete piece of crap.
I owned it just over a year; it required repairs within the first 60 days of owning it, and malfunctioned in the same way exactly a year later (suddenly stopped communicating with my computer--it could tell something was connected to the USB port, but not that it was a scanner). HP's warranty period is only 90 days, so I was going to be stuck paying for the second repair plus shipping. So the HP went in the trash, and I used the repair money to buy the Canon.
I don't hate all HP products. I had a LaserJet III printer that lasted ten years, and I replaced it with a LaserJet 2100se, which has been a real performer for the last year and a half. But I definitely would NOT buy a HP flatbed scanner again, especially the higher-priced spread ($250+).
My first scanner was a SCSI scanner by Mustek. I got it 6 years ago, and it was hooked up to a 486 computer. Never managed to get the jumper settings on the SCSI card set right for it to speak to any of my subsequent Pentium machines, so I passed it along to a techie friend. Happy to say he got it to speak to his computer, and it is still working just fine for him. Which makes the HP "dead twice in a year" debacle even worse.
(Bad HP, no biscuit!)
You should be able to get a decent scanner for $100 or less these days. Try some of the websites where you can compare features and pricing on some of the more popular models. Good luck!
posted on May 5, 2001 12:46:10 PM
HEY!!! I have a 610 too!!!
I got it for $98 at buy.com last september.
so far it's a no brainer...push da button!
The highest resolution does give you time to go heat up a cup of coffee though.
Low res isn't so bad.
High res you can see a cat hair about 3 inches long!!! I can even tell which cat it's from!!! aaaaaaagh!!!!!
Crop! Reduce!
I bet the 1240U is hot.
posted on May 5, 2001 01:05:48 PM
I bought an Acer 620P scanner last year, and I am entirely satisfied with the images I get from it. Cost? After rebate... $20
posted on May 5, 2001 01:20:40 PM
We bought a Microtek Scanmaker 3700 that came with Unlead PhotoImpact software that came with it. I scan everything~and it's the best scanner I have ever used. Paid $199.99, then got a $75 rebate, so it cost $124.99. Check my scans, and see what you think. You can use it for photographs, and literally hundreds of other things. Gets my seal of approvial!!
Rick
In the begining, God created the heavens and the earth.
posted on May 5, 2001 02:39:36 PM
I have a UMAX Astera 2000P I bought a couple of months ago and to me its not worth the powder to blow it up.
I just got done taking it OFF my computer.
I had to change my resolution everytime I wanted to use it, it took WAY to long to scan, it took all my memory, and once you cropped the pic, I could do a better job with my MAVICA.
So the scanner is HISTORY!
I tried to uninstall the damn thing and it won't totally get off my machine.
How can I get rid of it? I'll bet a dozen programs downloaded with that thing. Its taking up my space and I want it OUT.
posted on May 5, 2001 03:52:52 PM
Scanners are NOT difficult to use. At least mine isn't. I use it all the time and I am computer illiterate!
Bought my PrimaScan (Colorado 2400p) for only $9.99 (retailed for $79) after rebate, during the day after Thanksgiving Xmas sales just to see if would like a scanner.
I love it and wouldn't be without one now. My friend who has a HP scanner asked what brand mine was because the quality was good.
Although, I will say that the editing software that came with it (called Visioneer) was difficult to use. I changed over to PaperPort and now it is a breeze.
I edit pics with the PaperPort before saving photos and it only takes seconds to edit. Total time to preview, crop, then scan in a book page, edit pic and save, is a total of about 3 minutes.
P.S. The hint given in another earlier thread about carefully laying the scanner on its side and scanning something, really works. Just be gentile when putting objects on your scanner as to not scratch the glass.
posted on May 6, 2001 10:00:02 AM
Let me be the third recomendation for the Visioneer 7600 One Touch scanner. The software that comes with the scanner is adequate but I use Microsoft Picture It! software to do the adjustments after the scanning is done. It's really quite easy.
posted on May 6, 2001 03:31:11 PM
I gotta put my two cents in!
I have been through --------6--------- scanners in 3 years!
I took them back IMMEDIATELY if they were difficult to use of did poor quality scans. Then I bought the one I have now, the 6th one, and only realized I've had it for 11 months when I went to get the box to copy the model # for y'all. It's a Visioneer 6200 USB, cost $129.00 at Staples The Office Store. (that was almost a year ago). It has PaperPort Deluxe. Keep in mind a couple of things;
1. If it only for auctions you will not need every bell and whistle ever invented, get the lower priced model of a reputable company. Pics on your auction pages only show the low resolution version of the scan, so if you're scanning in deluxe or 'high resolution' it takes longer and then all those nice lines cannot show on the web anyway, they're for printwork. You don't need to 'do' all sorts of things to your scans, in fact it could be unethical and misleading to alter pics.
2. Please do not buy this one item off the net. Buy at a local store! (I'm speaking to wbfan & other newbies) You need to be able to return it within the typically 30 days they give you, and if they aren't offering at LEAST 30 days.... forget them! Also, although easy to use, like everything else scanner companies think it's charming to heavily load the user's manual with 'new-to-you' techie terms. Once you are bogged down and frustrated and mad it is even harder to decipher. Go back in the store and ask to see the manager of the department, sadly say "I need some help figuring this out or I'll have to return it". Repeat this as long as it seems to be needed. Take notes!
3. The first couple of things you're going to scan should just be to practice. Mess around and try all the buttons. Don't have a dead-line or auction item waiting a perfect scan. Put in your m-i-l's picture, or if she's an angel, put in a pic from a magazine. Enlarge it, reduce it, warp it, add a border, tint it, add text, add a moustache. Send it to YOURSELF as an email. Try it on one of your auctions just as practice...... hit preview, (hope it comes up) enjoy it but do not submit.....just backscreen out.
misskitty, please try again. The guys who write the manuals HOPE you feel like that, it makes them forget how narrow their lives are. If you ever learned to operate a telephone answering machine, VCR, or for cryin' out loud..... you can drive a car..... those are on par with operating a scanner. (I worked for HP, but not techie)
posted on May 6, 2001 03:47:20 PMThe first couple of things you're going to scan should just be to practice.
Those are the most accurate words you will ever read regarding learning how to get a good scan. You can read and read and read about how scanners work and the way scanner settings affect the final image until the cows come home, but ultimately, you actually have to scan some things, and fool around with the different settings yourself just to see what happens when you do, if you ever hope to figure it out.
posted on May 6, 2001 07:28:26 PM
I have an eighteen month old UMAX Astra 2100U that has worked faultlessly from day one. My recommendation would be to by a cheap USB model and throw it away when it breaks out-of-warrentee. There is no reason to spend more than $100 if you are only making scans for eBay.
posted on May 6, 2001 08:29:58 PM
Hi iowa,
I got my UMAX Astra at Best Buy in Des Moines. I live 80 miles north of there so its real hard for me to go back in and bug them about how to operate the darn thing.
I'm glad its off my computer(some programs still linger). After spending(wasteing) hours trying to get it to do good pics, I ended up retaking them anyway with my camera.
They looked great untill I resized them, then most of the detail I wanted disappeared.
Puts out great scans, too.