Scanner Reviews

This is an excellent solution to several small office/home office needs: outstanding print quality, occasional copying, and plain paper faxing. The fax functions are particularly well thought out -- I am not sure how I lived without the machine's large fax memory (100 pages), multitasking ability (receive a fax while you're copying or printing), and so forth. The scanning is nothing to cheer about, but works fine for getting a document into the computer quickly for OCR. (A flatbed scanner is a much better choice, though.) Printing produces the fantastic quality that HP is well-known for.

Why only 3 stars, then? Because you cannot -- repeat, CAN NOT -- share this printer on a network. That's bad enough, in this day and age, but worse still, NOWHERE in HP's product literature or even the instructions is this limitation mentioned! (According to HP's customer support, some people have made it work using Win98's device sharing, but it's not reliable, and they don't support it.)

If you keep this limitation in mind and only need it as a fax/copier and occasional printer, it's the perfect choice. Just don't plan on making it your workgroup laser printer.

This printer is a home office dream! I print a lot, and the print is outstanding. The 6 ppm is plenty for me. Most of my documents are under 20 pages. But a hundred pages is no problem! I use the copy function a lot - I didn't expect to. LazerJet is permanent ink - no smudges, no runs. Lazer printing is a must for any kind of business correspondence. I bought a HP 1120C for my color needs. The software that comes with the printer is very complete and easy. I have had no problems with any of the functions -print, fax, copy, scan.

If you do a lot of envelops - this is not the printer for you - one at a time (pain).

Space is a premium in our home office. This machine does everything we need it to do in a smaller footprint than our older laser printer. Easy hookup and flawless printing, faxing, copying and scanning. I highly recommend this machine for your home office needs.

Would have given it 0 stars if Amazon let me - Please read my original comments dated May 31, 2004

UPDATE:

Well I received the 2nd replacement machine due to experiencing a modem problem AGAIN with this machine. So what happens when I plug the replacement machine up ? THE SAME THING! Lemark sends me another fax machine with a defecetive modem. Whatever you do, don't buy this product. I had to spend an extra $75 just for a spare fax for when my Lexmark machine goes down.

I bought this new machine for my office,I needed a Fax conformation,read the book,e-mailed the company finally I got teck support on the phone,this machine is not easy to understand. It took up to much space in my computer and my computer man had to come and re-install the softwear.Costing me too much time,buy something easy to install and use. The faxes are too light coming in and we don't know why,have plenty of ink. Not going to waste 45 minutes on hold,it is easier just to make a copy of the fax darker. Still cant get a copy of the conformation with the time on it.Must make a copy of what I faxed and staple it to the time conformation the machine prints out.Machine is fast and quiet.Need to have extensive knowlege of the computer world to even hook this up, my 21 year old asst.could not do it and she has been working with computers her whole life.

When setting up my office, I came to the conclusion that I needed an all-in-one which included a sheet feeder to make multiple copies/scan multiple pages. With that in mind, I chose the Lexmark x6170. For the reasons set forth below, I have been richly rewarded for my choice.

SETUP - Setup is a snap out of the box. Ink cartridges are easy to install and the alignment of those cartridges is also self-explanatory. The install software installed without a glitch.

PRINT QUALITY - Always very good. Bear in mind that it is not a laser printer, but for an Ink Jet, it will put out good quality prints.

SOFTWARE - Quite useful. In fact even the OCR reading software produced results.

FUNCTIONALITY - The Lexmark x6170 by a push of a button allows the user the ability to scan to various applications including Microsoft Word and Adobe Acrobat. The Printer Program also allows for double sided printing which is extremely useful. The 50 sheet feeder worked flawlessly. I have not yet had occassion to use the fax.

All in all, I would highly recommend this machine. I have not yet run into any major or minor problems with it to complain about.

I have Windows ME and have had no problem setting up or using my scanner. I has a quick scan time and provides better than expected photograph quality. The character recognition occasionally mixes a few words up, hence the 4 star rating. I am satisfied with it and my other HP products.

I got this scanner two weeks ago & it has been great. It took 20 minutes to install the scanner software & hook up the scanner. Very good quality, & mediocre character recognition. Scans in photo quality so it looks just like the original picture. The 4 buttons on the front make for easy access to all scanner options. It can also scan directly to the web, printer, fax, or photo program. Overall a very good scanner with very good features

This is a great quality scanner for scanning anything from photos to documents. I highly reccommend it!

I have had the same problems with my scanner as others have had. Starts off by making wonderful scans. Then after a while scans become a little foggy. Try calling Nikon to have a tech assist me or info to send the scanner to be checked out was drawn out and frustrating. I cant believe that Nikon, a world leader, has such...poor customer service. I bought Nikon becasue of all the wonderful things I had heard about the company, but when it comes to support, forget it. I hate to use such harsh words, but they simply [is bad]. Here I sit with a scanner that makes foggy scans and NO ONE to assist me. $2000 for this? I've been taken, but I only get taken once. I will spread the word and hope others who are in a similar situation will do the same. It's simply not fair.

I work for a doctor that lectures around the nation. Two years ago, he decided to go digital. That meant scanning all his 35mm slides and preparing them for PowerPoint. I checked out all the flat-bed scanners with the attachments for slide scanning, and finally decided that purchasing two scanners (one flatbed and one for slides) was the best way to go. I never regret that decision. We have scanned over 6,000 slides and still plan to be doing more. Here's a hint for those needing to do a large amount of scanning - buy the automatic slide feeder and then write your own batch commands in PhotoShop to save yourself repetitive work (like rotating the slides 90 degrees, saving them etc). I have also found that the scan quality is better than some of those scanners promoted to be the top of the class.

I see where others seem to have problems with this scanner and Nikon's support. My experience has been excellent. The folks who have had "fogging" experiences probably had dust on the lens... left the door open without an attachment in the access slot. The other problems were probably from not following the user guide and moving the machine without the transport screws in place. (very explicit instructions) The automatic functions work if one sets it in software. Nikon has improved their software to be very intuitive and there is a variety of ways to make adjustments now. When they put out the new LS-4000 and 8000 scanners with new software, they made the software compatible with the LS-2000 scanner too. It's compatable with all the new computer operating systems which the other manufacturers (so I've heard from users) haven't done. I have never had any problems with this scanner but when I needed service with a different Nikon product, I did a search for service and found it right away. When I have called customer service (24/7) toll-free number and went through "voice maze" to get to the right department, was on hold for about a half minute before I got to talk to a real person. I asked my question and she asked me to hold while she found an answer. She was back on the phone with my answer in a few seconds. Other calls to their customer service had the same sort of results. I can't speak for the experiences of others but mine was excellent. When I upgraded from the LS-2000 I bought an LS-4000.

I bought this scanner used from a closeout warehouse distributer for just a few dollars. For what I paid, it gives excellent results. Optical Character recognition works flawlessly, the max resolution (2400dpi) is so high, I haven't even come close to using it yet (honestly, what can you do with an 50MB JPEG?), and the built in film/negative/slide adapter is helpful. However, I would not recommend this scanner to a serious (or even serious amatuer) photographer. Normal scanning requires quite a bit of play to get good color results, and I'm finding it's better to make a semi-flawed scan at high resolution and fix it in Photoshop, than to manipulate the settings on the scanner. The biggest disappointment (like some other reviewers have said) is the negative scanning. While it works, I can't seem to get either tones or colors right--scans appear washed out and "soft" no matter what the settings. However, this is a nice function to play with and the results can again be improved with PS. Other complaints are noisy operation (I use Epson scanners at my school's lab that are whisper silent compared to the Microtek) and the bundled Scanwizard software, which is clunky and quite slow. While it hasn't crashed my OS yet, it definitely hesitates for a few seconds after nearly every operation.

Overall, a great scanner for photos, text, and everyday use, especially if you can get one at a decent price. If you want part of a digital darkroom, go with Canon, Epson, or HP. I would even recommend buying an older version from one of these manufacturers with a lower max resolution (say 1200 dpi) as the only time I can imagine using 2400 is to make wall-size blow-ups from a 4x6 photo.

I started with a visioneer scanner... it was very fast, but had poor image quality and couldn't handle my 120 film. I took it back and got the 5900. The driver came up as untested in Vindows XP but I installed anyway. True as stated elsewhere, microtek's OCR would not install but it comes with ABBYY which installed fine.
Compared to the Visioneer, this thing is super slow but the image quality is MUCH better. A 600 dpi scan from the Microtek compares to a >1200dpi from the visioneer.
The scans from my 120 film negs are outstanding even only at 600dpi.
My only complaint with it is (at least on USB 1) scans are very very slow (my 6x4.5cm negative @ 600dpi took almost 20 minutes!)

All in all, even with the slow speed, I am very happy with the quality of the scans.

-UPDATE- I downloaded the latest driver from microtek's website. it fixed all of the issues I was having with this scanner. After turning off the instant preview, I have not had a single problem with this scanner and would definitly recommend it. Only issue for others might be a 15 meg download on a modem

I am a computer Technician and it took me a full day sorting out the errors that kept the software from working, I had to get into the registry and clean out All references to the software, and after many tries, finally got the software loaded in Safe mode, and finally working. The scanner works great, better than I really expected, so far. Does great for my slides and negatives. Quite surprised at the quality afetr working on them in my Digital Image Pro 9 Photo software. I did not load any other software sent with scanner only the ScanWizard 5.

Just the best scanner I could have bought for me.

It is easy and delivers information to the computer screen that I can understand and use.

The help function is very clear and simple.

The only problem I had with this scanner is that it does not recognise AOL's browser so the E-mail function on the scanner will not work with my internet provider. Not a big problem.

The photo program built in to the scanner is really functional and very easy to use.

Just the BEST !!!!!

Really do recommend this.

This is my first scanner, so I haven't much to compare it to. I picked it up to use mostly for scanning items to sell on eBay.

The resolution, in my opinion, has been great. I've been using the default resolution setting (which isn't the highest) and the scanner has been producing images with file sizes up to 5 megs. More than enough for eBay images! It also came with OCR (optical character recognition) software that will supposedly scan a text document and convert it into a Word/Notes document. I've yet to use this, but seem to recall another reviewer saying that it wasn't working as advertised.

The scanner could be smaller. I've seen a Canon unit that was about half as thick as the BearPaw. And I always hate it when a product, whether software or hardware, alters or adds programs that aren't necessary for running the product. Especially my 'startup' folder. In the case of this scanner, it added another copy of Adobe Acrobat Reader 4.0 into a different directory than C:\program files\adobe. So I had two copies of the Reader program and uninstalled one of them. I hope that didn't mess up the OCR software program since I haven't tested it yet. And the Photo Express program that it comes with will start automatically whenever you scan something. This became annoying since I feel more comfortable using Photoshop for image editing. Total programs uninstalled: 2.

Overall, I would recommend this scanner for someone looking for an entry level unit. It should suffice for most duties and then some. And the price is right. Just be sure to go the manufacturer's site and download the latest drivers. The packaged ones didn't work for my system (AMD K6-2 proc. running W98). Hope this helps.

The Mustek Bearpaw 1200 is a great scanner. It is easy to use and the copy and fax are very good. The buttons are right on the front so it is very helppful. This scanner is recommended for novices because of how easy it is to use. The OCR is okay but it could be better. This is definitely deserves 5 stars.

I thought I would be quite happy with this printer when I found it at a reasonable price. But with its splotchy printing, low drum capacity, and expensive drums, I found it cheaper to buy a HP 1012 than to keep this one running. Even the starter drum on the HP 1012 last longer than the DCP 1000 drums.

When I first started using this printer/copier/scanner, I thought it was a wonderful machine at a great price. But by the time I had almost used up my first toner cartridge, my printed pages contained white stripes, so I needed to replace the drum. Oh, Brother! The drum costs over half of what the entire printer does. Since the drum is considered a consumable, it is not covered under warranty. Maybe it would be cheaper to only use this machine as a copier/scanner, and get a separate laser printer to do my printing from the computer...

I've had this copier/printer for several months now and I find it to be a really cool and useful tool in my office. I can get really cheap compatible toner on the internet for it, so the cost of using it is therefore....cheap! Haven't had any problems with the drum. But the way I see it, I'm saving a lot with the cheap toner, so when the drum goes out, oh well. The machine functions really nicely. I love the document feeder. In fact, I like the whole package so much that I just ordered another via the web for $245.00 shipped. Drums can be found at databazaar.com for just $118.00. My opinion on the naysayers....you just got yours from a bad batch.

After studying professional reviews (including CR), I decided on the Dual4. Forewarned by other users' comments about troublesome startup, I followed the manual's detailed installation instructions step-by-step. No problem whatever! Realize well that this is NOT a Plug-and-Play unit you just plug into a USB2 slot; if you do, Windows will use its own lame-duck generic WIA scanner driver, and gone are all the wonderful enhancements that Minolta's marvelously sophisticated scanning software offers. THE big secret is patience; precisely follow the instructions (same goes for my HP flatbed scanner) -- install the software from the CD first, and *only then* connect the USB cable when you are instructed to do so. If you don't: well just read what dissatisfied reviewers have to say. Also, when the manual tells you to initialize the scanner "with the door closed", it doesn't explicitly tell you to remove the film holder [it's the only way you can close the scanner door, after all]. Although better written and organized than an Asian DVD-player manual, there are some dense spots that you will need to explore on your own. Still, you can't unlock all the treasures of the software until you read (painstakingly, I might add) the software capabilities. I've only had the scanner for a few weeks but, once I learned how just a hair on the negative will magnify to a tree trunk on the print, it does an astonishing job of converting analog film slides to digital images that you can enhance in the accompanying complete PhotoShop Elements 2 software. A magnificent tool indeed but, like any precision tool, it needs careful adherence to instructions and some experimentation to realize its full potential. An unbeatable harware product, with software fine-tuned to provide the ultimate in quality images. Even so, lack of online tech support, such as simple driver updates, is disconcerting. Ask Amazon for tech support? You must be kidding!

Yeah, I hear what some of the other reviewers are saying about the documentation and the fussy startup process - however complaining that you have to follow the instructions _exactly_ when installing it seems a bit odd to me... I had no problem with the install but then again I don't have a problem following instructions ;->.

But all that said, once you get it right it's a very good scanner. I've used others and this is by far the best. I'm suprised to hear the one reviewer complain about the sharpness of the shots - my scanner does an excellent job. I've scanned in over 500 slides so far (archiving the parent's slide collection from the 60s) and they look great.

The dust remover feature works reasonably well, although I've turned off all the pixel polish and image adjustment stuff - it doesn't make that big of a difference on my shots and makes the resulting images bigger.

The batch scan is great - I just sit here and work on other stuff and feed in 4 slides at a time. I've tried both color slides and negative film, both look excellent.

For those still frustrated by the startup sequence - here's what I do and it works every time.

1. Turn on your computer, let it boot.
2. Once up, turn on the scanner with the door closed.
3. Fire up the scanning software you want to use (batch scan, easy scan etc...).
4. once it barks at you to put the film in properly, then open the door and feed in your tray.

After that, you're good to go. I find if you deviate from the process you can come to grief. Once up, I've never had it fail and I've crammed through 150 slides at a sitting without a hitch.

I am totally impresed with this scanner. I was scanning 35mm film with an Epson 2450. What a difference! More latitude in the tonal range. Very sharp, Scanner has auto and manual focus. Professional driver software. Images consistant in color from scan to scan.
Have not used the dust remove feature yet. So far all my negs and trans are flawless. Even thou it is only 3200 dpi, if you know photoshop, the quality of the scans are so good I have no problems enlarging to 36x24 poster. I did a test and enalrged in the computer to 100 inches and just checking it out on the monitor it still held together NO PROBLEMS!
Have had the scanner for about a month and use it everyday and have had no start up problems or any other sort of problems, yet. But then again I use a MAC. Read the instruction manual before you do anything!
Anyway, well worth the $270 I spent !

Why didn"t HP include the necessary software to install this program ( Precisionscan Pro no. 2.52. ) or at least offer it at no cost without having to download such a very large scanning program. This isn"t very good for HP consumer relations. My next scanner will be a cannon.

I had many many slides from years of photography to scan and so I set out to find a scanner that (at least had a built in slide adapter) would allow me to scan them fast, and in high quality.

This product has done just that.
I've read that the drivers for this product (for some operating systems) were not shipped with the product. I have Win 2000 and it was basically a plug'n'play experience. (i think that problem was basically with ME)

I've used it to scan my photos, and the quality of them far exceeds my own expectations.

I've used other scanners before and i find it just as slow, or maybe slightly faster than others. This must be a persistent problem throughout the technology of scanning, and not reflective of this product.

The only thing i will say that is bad about this is that the three buttons on the front of the device are annoying! I have "hit" them many many time by accident, hence launching the program and starting the lamp, all unnecessary. (user fault of course) But i wish the buttons were on top... (and i'm sure there is some way to disable them... or maybe i just have to move my scanner to a new place in my room!)... But honestly they should not be in that location.

Overall, great quality, awsome price and a great product. I'm specially impressed with the slide adapter.

I bought this scanner at a wholesale club-- I've got no complaints with it. Scanner allows you to copy, fax, email and print all with a touch of a button. Plus it warms up faster than other scanners I have used and no annoying clicking noises. The resolution is nice and the scanning software is pretty straight forward. Great scanner, however an on/off switch would be nice.

This is an abomination! I had to return my first WorkCentre because the copier didn't work. They sent me another one and every now and then it goes into a loud "HUMMMMM" mode in which it won't print or shut up (it needs to be turned off for a few minutes to cool down). 'E1' errors abound all the time, forcing you to reload paper on average of every 5 print/copy jobs even though there is no paper jam.

On top of all this, the software driver acts also as a printer monitor which takes up significant system resources. The worst thing about this is when you print, or if the printer is shared and somebody else prints, there is a huge lag depending on the size of the print job, rendering the OS unusable until the printjob is completely sent to the printer. So basically, you can't use your computer for a minute or so after you hit the print button.

In short this is a very bad choice. Others I know purchased the HP printer/scanner/copier/fax and have had much better experiences.

I bought the XE90fx when it first came on the market (through Amazon because it was not available in retail stores yet). It was the only machine that did everything I wanted for a reasonable price. I am now on my fourth machine. No, I have not bought more machines, rather Xerox has replaced the first three. On the first machine, the clip on the paper tray broke (it is rather flimsy). Xerox replaced that machine with a refurbished machine which did not feed straight. The third machine (also a refurbished machine) did not feed at all - right out of the box. Since we'd had so many problems they sent us another new machine. This one has developed spotting in the printing. None of them have been able to print on my letterhead (the ink smudges). I love the variety of functions, and wish it actually performed. Unfortunately, it is not nearly sturdy enough. Xerox has been good about replacing the machines, but after awhile enough is enough.

This machine is everything I want in a single machine and easily fits in my home office. Great quality! However, this machine will not scan if you have an AMD processor found in high-end Compaqs such as mine. So beware of that since the company does not mention that in any literature.