Step up from basic scanner

[JES]

Hi All,

I'm looking for an easy-to-use scanner. I've seen those $79 Canon LIDE ones. Would a step up to $200 get me anything in term of quality? If so, what do you recommend?

I'm scanning photos and written documents. Speed will make a difference, and portability would be nice. Ease of use and Mac compatibility are musts.

Thanks.

--JES

 

[MacDawg]

I'm using a CanoScan 8400F now...
No problems with it

About $130-$140 as I remember

Woof, Woof - Dawg

 

[iHacker]

Uhh. I use a all-in-one... and I like my scan uality atleast for whaat I do. I have a HP Psc all-in-one 1610.

 

[JES]

Thanks guys, I will check them out!

 

[pulsewidth947]

I got a canoscan lide-30 and its great for text/occasional photos. I havent tried it with a Mac at home, but all the Macs at where I work use them (running 10.2.8) without a hitch.

The scans are not perfect, but for the price they are nice enough. If you intend to do some important scanning where colours have to be reproduced faithfully, then I guess you need to spend more money.

They are easy to use (I use through Photoshop), incredibly thin, and they are pretty fast - under a minute for an A4 300DPI scan.

 

[Gizmotoy]

I have an old Canon LIDE model like the one you mentioned, and it's been working great for going on about 3 years now. It can scan at pretty high resolutions that I really only use for CD and DVD labels (I like to have copies). I saw my exact model on sale about a year ago for about $40, but I'm sure the newer ones are of better quality and have some more features. Unless you're using it for something in particular, I don't think the extra cash for a $200 scanner is really worth it.

 

[wordmunger]

I don't think the bargain-basement scanner is going to be the same quality as the 8400F mentioned by MacDawg. The 8400F got good ratings, nearly as high as $400 scanners in a MacWorld review. I have one of the LIDE models and I can't say I'm especially impressed with its quality.

 

[MacDawg]

I don't think the bargain-basement scanner is going to be the same quality as the 8400F mentioned by MacDawg. The 8400F got good ratings, nearly as high as $400 scanners in a MacWorld review. I have one of the LIDE models and I can't say I'm especially impressed with its quality.

I had a LIDE, and it did a reasonable job, and was thin as mentioned. The only reason I changed is that it quit working Had to have a new one for my wife's photos you know... its all about what SHE needs! Now if I had wanted one... well, you know. I bought me a digital camera when I got my last Mac, and now I don't have one. She does, but I don't.

Woof, Woof – Dawg

 

[Gizmotoy]

I don't think the bargain-basement scanner is going to be the same quality as the 8400F mentioned by MacDawg. The 8400F got good ratings, nearly as high as $400 scanners in a MacWorld review. I have one of the LIDE models and I can't say I'm especially impressed with its quality.

Obviously, but for written documents and photos it may not be worth it to spend twice as much on a scanner. I get very good results for the money from my LIDE, and while a $150 scanner will almost definately produce better results, it may not be worth it for the uses specified. I've had reprints of print photographs made (no negatives ) using the output of the scanner, and the resulting prints were surprisingly good in quality. Of course, I scanned them at the highest resolution.