Looking for a budget scanner - need advice

[titaniumducky]

I'm looking for a scanner under $100 - a refurb (esp. of a model usually above or at the top of this price range) would be nice. So far Canon's Lide 20 and the 3200F are looking good.

The scanner will be used for scanning in older film photos and lots of documents. Negatives aren't too important as I don't have too many of them and future/current pictures I take will be digital. It needs to be able to do BOTH (color pictures and documents) well. Any advice would be much appreciated.

As for refurbs, I only want them if they are properly refurbished (i.e. come with proper warranty from company and are in good shape). Similar to Apple's idea where they refurb is in every way like the new one in terms of warranty and quality.

 

[JamesDPS]

After asking some graphic designer friends of mine, the consensus was to go with a Canon, so I bought the LIDE30 (a little more than a year ago). It has served its purpose perfectly -- both scanning old photos (a mix of snapshots and better quality art photos) and documents for school purposes (specifically, scanning music for incorporation into handouts, presentations, etc. - haven't used it with OmniPage yet though I see no reason for it not to be fine).

I've been very happy with it, though it is a tad slow, but for the price it's great! I'm definitely a fan of Canon's digital imaging equipment...

 

[oingoboingo]

I'm looking for a scanner under $100 - a refurb (esp. of a model usually above or at the top of this price range) would be nice. So far Canon's Lide 20 and the 3200F are looking good.

The scanner will be used for scanning in older film photos and lots of documents. Negatives aren't too important as I don't have too many of them and future/current pictures I take will be digital. It needs to be able to do BOTH (color pictures and documents) well. Any advice would be much appreciated.

As for refurbs, I only want them if they are properly refurbished (i.e. come with proper warranty from company and are in good shape). Similar to Apple's idea where they refurb is in every way like the new one in terms of warranty and quality.

I have a Canon LiDE 20. It does a good job of colour photos and documents, especiallly for the price. It's small and compact, comes with a stand for sideways mounting, and draws its power from the USB cable, so no need for an extra power brick or cable. It isn't the fastest scanner available for sure, but then again you are looking at the very bottom of the market.

I can send you a scanned document or colour photo file if you'd like a sample of the image quality. Private message me.

 

[titaniumducky]

In that case my next question is whether it's worth the extra $20 for the higher resolution LiDE 30 instead of the LiDE 20. Also, how well do the LiDEs work with OS X? I know they're compatible, but is it flawless, ok, or not great?