Thread: Fast(ish) scanner required

A couple of months ago I bought a CanoScan LiDE 600f. I can't find the receipt, but I think I paid somewhere around $200.

Couldn't be more happy. It works really well, supports Vista, has great resolution, and a great scanner user interface. It also came with a 35mm transparency attachment, which we've used to upload a few old family photographs.

Not cheap, but (in my mind) worth the money.

Fujitsu make a very fast, two sided, scanner. We had one at work in a high scan rate office and it worked better than anything we had seen before or since. I notice that some hospitals are using them too.

They have a bulk paper feed tray that works well (standard fit).

Originally Posted by Ron Dunn

A couple of months ago I bought a CanoScan LiDE 600f. I can't find the receipt, but I think I paid somewhere around $200.

Couldn't be more happy. It works really well, supports Vista, has great resolution, and a great scanner user interface. It also came with a 35mm transparency attachment, which we've used to upload a few old family photographs.

Not cheap, but (in my mind) worth the money.

Thanks Ron, my present one is a Canon, any idea how many seconds for an A4 page in 300dpi colour?

Originally Posted by Groggy

Fujitsu make a very fast, two sided, scanner. We had one at work in a high scan rate office and it worked better than anything we had seen before or since. I notice that some hospitals are using them too.

They have a bulk paper feed tray that works well (standard fit).

Might be a bit outside my budget Groggy! Also, I need it to be able to scanning from books etc, can't see a double sided scanner do that.

Originally Posted by Big Shed

Might be a bit outside my budget Groggy! Also, I need it to be able to scanning from books etc, can't see a double sided scanner do that.

Yikes!

I didn't see the price before, probably outside the home user range unless you could eBay it. As you say it would be no good for books.

Originally Posted by Groggy

Yikes!

I didn't see the price before, probably outside the home user range unless you could eBay it. As you say it would be no good for books.

I didn't see a price Groggy, just guessed by your description that wasn't going to be $200 scanner

So, how much is it?

Hi Big Shed,

I just plugged it in (USB powered, not always connected) and tested. To preview the first sheet was 10 seconds. To scan that sheet (A4, set to 300DPI colour) was 20 seconds. 1200dpi took 124 seconds. That was long enough, so I didn't bother trying higher resolutions.

Big Shed, I just noticed you're in Bendigo. So am I. You're welcome to try the scanner if you wish ... just PM me and I'll give you my phone number.

Originally Posted by Ron Dunn

Hi Big Shed,

I just plugged it in (USB powered, not always connected) and tested. To preview the first sheet was 10 seconds. To scan that sheet (A4, set to 300DPI colour) was 20 seconds. 1200dpi took 124 seconds. That was long enough, so I didn't bother trying higher resolutions.

Thanks Ron, appreciate you taking the trouble

Timing is bit slower on mine, preview = 19secs, A4-300dpi=49secs, A4-1200dpi = 8mins 45secs!

So, it appears the later scanners are a tad faster! Mine is a Canoscan D660U, so I may have to do some shopping around.

Got a dedicated canon scanner (somewhere)

Also got a 3 in 1 lexmark ita about 3yo ans scans easier & faster than the canon.

If I want to scan an odd shaped or oversized object I just take a hi-res pic with my digital camera and use that

Big Shed, if you get one make sure it is USB 2 Hi Speed, I know USB 2 is faster than USB 1 but apparently Hi Speed is the full bottle.

My mum bought a new scanner a while back that she raves about for speed, will suss it out & post info.

Originally Posted by Big Shed

So, how much is it?

Let's just say you could by 4 normal scanners...

Originally Posted by scooter

My mum bought a new scanner a while back that she raves about for speed, will suss it out & post info.

Courtesy of the mum:

"My multifunction is a Canon MP600 USB Hi Speed Printer, Copier, Scanner.
The best speed feature as far as I am concerned is that you can scan as
many pics as will fit on the glass with a small gap between & they will
be straightened & opened up automatically in separate files, which makes
for fast batch scanning. I am very happy with the performance of the
machine. You can get a similar model which includes the fax facility
which I didn't need. Hope this helps."


Cheers.................Sean

Thanks Scooter, the problem with getting a multi-function machine is that most of them are a bugger to use for scanning items from books or magazines. Aaprt from that I would be paying for facilities I already have (in spades!)

So far, the Canon Lide series sounds the way to go, might even see if they make one that scans medium format negatives and positives (trannies).

My $50 all in one is quick enough for me and it does a good job of scanning and printing photos. It can also convert scanned documents, or newspaper articles to text so there's no blurry words to read.