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kcourt

macrumors member
Original poster
Jul 30, 2004
36
0
Southern california
I have the new 2.5 G5 and find that my old canon scanner does not work in OSX. I would like to get one to replace it that is light and has the USB connection. I want it to be able to scan pictures nicely and produce good clear text also. I like the Canon line.

I would like recommendations, any brand.

I want to stay below $150, if possible.

Thanks in advance.

Kathy :)
 
Under 150...Easy.

Go get yourself an all-in-one! Scanning, copying, printing..Best of all worlds! They are way cheap now and quite affordable and most are great quality. Sell your current printer and get an All-In-One. You won't regret it.
 
I got a Canon Canoscan 3200F for about £70 GBP. Very nice quality for the price, and very fast thanks to the USB2 connection. Does transparencies / negatives too, but I haven't tried this yet myself.
 
jet3004 said:
Under 150...Easy.

Go get yourself an all-in-one! Scanning, copying, printing..Best of all worlds! They are way cheap now and quite affordable and most are great quality. Sell your current printer and get an All-In-One. You won't regret it.

Personally, I say, personally I don't think a GOOD scanner comes with other devices á la all-in-one product... a device is what it is, if you need a GOOD scanner get a canon, really, those rocks, I have had already two, now I have the LIDE 50 and is good, small, portable, nice, good looking... But wait you may read HP reviews, HP scanners have been improving in the last months (Heard from a canon employee)... but a good point is the driver, canon (at least LIDE 50) gives you a photoshop plug-in, it has worked for me with PS, PSE, Graphicconv. and other app I had before ... if you will scan things occasionally, an all-in-one could be a good desktop space saver and maybe a good product, I could be wrong ...
 
I have a Lide 50 as well and it works pretty well... the canon line is great if you want a compact scanner (it uses CCD technology or something that allows the scanner to be really thin). That said, you can probably get better quality with the more conventional technology, although the scanner will be far larger. Consider the Epson line for high quality yet affordable scanners. Check out reviews on cnet.com for more info.
 
Pick up the current issue of MacAddict. They have a feature story on scanners with ratings.
 
Thanks for all of your help. :p

As for the all-in-one, I agree that they are not as good as having the individual items. I already have a photo printer (canon) and a color laser (HP), so I am all set as soon as I get my new scanner.

Kathy :D
 
rdowns said:
Pick up the current issue of MacAddict. They have a feature story on scanners with ratings.

Yeah, I was in the market for one and ordered an Epson 2580 based on their recommendation ($150). Ick. The thing's hissing at me right now for no good reason. Bundled apps don't work aside from the one for simple scanning -- and did I mention it was hissing at me right now?

Hopefully I'll dig up some updated drivers/apps, but beware the MacAddict reviews! ;^) You've been warned.
 
Maxicek said:
I got a Canon Canoscan 3200F for about £70 GBP. Very nice quality for the price, and very fast thanks to the USB2 connection. Does transparencies / negatives too, but I haven't tried this yet myself.
i got this at comp usa for 75 american dollars. it was amazing til lightning struck it....
 
I have a Canoscan Lide30, and I thought I liked it, but have changed my mind. . . . The LED scanners (the 20, 30 and 40 that I have used) seem to have pretty severe problems with tonal drift. I was scanning graphite drawings with it, and when one side the image was correctly exposed, the other side would be way too dark. You might never really notice this when scanning photos, but it really sucks if you want to get a good range of greys. Also, I have been quite un-happy with the focus. Again there are areas on the scanner bed that are sharp, near the peripheries, the focus tends to soft. Unless the Lide80 is much improved, I don't think I would touch it.

Epson scanners on the other hand, I have had much better experience with. Image quality tends to be better both in the tonal ranges, and also in terms of focus across the entire scanner. (admitted most of my Epson experience is with Expressions, although the time I have used their consumer stuff, I was not unhappy). Oh ya, Epson drivers tend to be a little dicey, but thats the price you pay for better hardware.

Really the best thing you can do is take the kind of things you want to scan to the store and try the machines out. If you're happy with one and the price is right, then great.
 
For imaging you can't go wrong with an HP product. I like Canon for digital cameras... HP for printers and scanners. I had a nice 486 dx2 66 Canon computer once come to think of it. It worked well. I've just never been a fan of their printers or scanners (epecially printers).
 
obsessive compulsive

Again, though well intentioned as may be, this kind of question gets you nowhere on these boards...much like asking what's the best pair of speakers or powerbook cases....

you'll have a zillion people giving their 2 cents and literally contradicting one another from one post to the previous one.

Someone says "Canon" and the very next person disputes that claim. I mean who can get anywhere with this OCD nonsense?
Go with your gut. Read a few reviews and take the plunge. Don't worry about the $50-$70 price differentials even if that. You'll be saving alot more time and actually USING the product rather than thinking about what could've been ...
 
I bought the Canon lide 80 and I'm very happy with it so far. Scans reasonably fast and it is very portable. I think I got it for less than $120 at Newegg.com. Plus it comes with a full version of Photoshop Elements 2.0 which I sold for $40. Can't go wrong with that price.
 
yep, you can't go wrong with canon INPUT devices - but canon printers are whole another story. their top-of-the-line laser printers are very good (better than hp indeed, as canon does postscript better) but canon inkjets are just full of crap (imho) especially compared to hp inkjets. so no, i'm not a total canon fan ;)

i have tried canons, epsons, hp's, umax's scanners and almost "a million" different brand digital cameras - and have for a good reason chosen to buy canon scanner and digicam for myself.
 
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