Scanner Advice...

[djtet]

I have an old umax astra 2400 that isn't supported under OSX...It is about 4 years old and served its purpose so it's time to get a new scanner. I want something fairly inexpensive, decent resolution, and hopefully fast. The 2400, to me, was pretty slow...warm up time, slow scanning in higher resolutions. I have tons of photos, and negatives, from my recent wedding and would love to scan these in. I'm not going to be using the scanner in a professional manner, just heavy hobbying! I have my firewire ports open so a firewire capable scanner would be best. Don't really want to go over $200. Any advise...?
Thanks,
Dan

[Sweetfeld28]

I have used a couple of brands with OS X, HP and Canon. The Canon seemed to be the best in price and quality for me. Heres the link:

http://www.usa.canon.com/html/conCprCatProdIndex.jsp?minisite=10000&section=10200

I like the CanoScan Scanners the best.

[niter]

For Christmas, FH got me this scanner:

http://h10010.www1.hp.com/wwpc/us/en/ho/WF06b/15179-64195-215155-15202-f13-298547-298549-304755.html

All I wanted was a simple scanner, but this one turned out to be really nice. I read a few epinions and online reviews on amazon.com about how the negative scanner was not all that, but for me it worked so perfectly that I was very impressed. The pictures I scanned from the negatives came out even crisper than those I just scanned. Also, in Dec. this model was very fair priced at $100. I found most OS X compatible scanners to be over $100.

[jrv3034]

I got the Epson Stylus CX3200 alll-in-one (free from MacMall!!!) and the scanner is great. Works perfectly with 10.3, and it's a printer & copier on top of that!;)

[djtet]

I actually just got a great deal on a hp photosmart printer, so I really am staying away from an all-in-one package. I just need a midrange fast, decent scanner!
Thanks,
Dan

[couchcommander]

I think the Epson 3200 is being phased out atm as there is a succesor on its way, if you can get one cheap, Ive seen amazing results from this thing, and you can scan your medium+large format slides/negatives with it.
You may be better off with something "more professional" on the long run, and the epson seems like a pretty solid and futureproof investment to me..
good luck!

EDIT:
just to clarify this info:
Im refering to the Epson Perfection 3200 photo (I think thats the right naming..) not the all in one thing:D

[numediaman]

coachcommander's advise is dead on.

I bought an Epson 3200 just before Christmas on Amazon. They had cut the price, and Epson is offering a $100 rebate on the scanner. Free shipping, as well. It was a no brainer for me.

The 3200 comes with SilverFast scanner software which I really like. (It also comes with simpler Epson scan software, as well. I combined it with the Epson 960 printer and the combination is heaven. The combination allows me to scan everything at 600 DPI or higher, then print very high res images. The 960 also prints on CDs & DVDs.

The only downside is that the 3200 is fairly big -- just like the Pro level machines. But if you don't mind this, you would be getting a very good machine for a good price.