Scanner Reviews

I went through two scanners and about 10 hours before I realized it wasn't me, my computer or the "energy" of my office that was a problem. This scanner has a serious defect in its ability to scan anything that isn't very white or COMPLETELY flat against the glass. Vertical banding of dark and light stripes appeared in every scan I undertook with both 4600's.

I was given the runnaround by the HP tech(?) and am going to have to wait until HP or some other company revamps the technical issues of what is otherwise an elegant and smart design.

As a point of comparison I did identical scans with my Epson Stylus CX5400 all in one and when I could get a scan that wasn't plagued with the vertical banding I found the Epsons color and clarity superior at identical resolutions. (sarcasm here) Mind you, the Epson is a slightly more expensive ($50) printer copier scanner while the HP is only a scanner. This HP does not do what it is advertised to do.

This scanner does'nt work on an ASUS P4P800 motherboard. It is not recognized by Windows XP SP1. On other systems it works.
It is smart but only for the look, not for working.
It seems to be the same problem with HP 4700. I'm disapointed. don't stay in confidence with the nice look and the HP brand. This is not a good HP product, read the reviews on commerce sites.

Granted, this is a great scanner and an inventive design. For me, however, the design screams to be used in a mobile fashion. After all, the unit is touted as a great scanner for large or unwieldy items (as opposed to a strictly desktop scanner, for instance). In my case, I was looking to use it for copying from books for use in research. If you have tried copying from a book on a flatbed scanner, even one with an expandable lid, you'll know the difficulty involved. With the 4600, one can effectively crop the book in realtime, eliminating the guesswork. BUT, imagine my surprise to learn that the scanner comes with a wall wart AC transformer! The addition of a power adapter significantly undercuts the 4600's utility as a mobile scanner (e.g.--books in a library). As an owner of a usb-powered Canon flatbed scanner, it didn't even occur to me that the 4600 would be different. Note that the marketing materials leave the impression that the 4600 is usb-powered. It touts a "combination usb/AC cable", a phrase that is certainly open to interpretation. In this case, it isn't even true: at some point, the "combination cable" _must_ split into a piece leading to the pc and a piece leading to the AC adapter. What is the advantage in this??? Also, the marketing materials cryptically list among the contents this line: AC adapter (where applicable). What does this even mean? A big thumbs down to HP for crippling a potentially great scanner, and attempting to hide its true identity. It's great as a desktop scanner, but there are loads of competitors that are cheaper in that class.

Don't buy this product if you really need the document scanner to scan photos. It consistantly jams and misaligns photos. The software included and other scanning functions work great, but the document loader is not good for photos.

The main problem with this scanner is its below average scanning software. The scanning area of the preview is a mere 15% of the screen (and if you'd like a close up, prepare for a rescan of the document!). And forget about using a third party scanning applications, nobody but HP will be able to use this piece of junk.

Contrast in the scans are by default bad, making the content of the document difficult to read. You can adjust the contrast in the first page (although it is a time consuming process, and since the document scan is a mere 15% of the total screen area, you are left second guessing the optimal settings). But believe it or not, by the time you scan your second page, the settings will go back to default, forcing you to readjust them.

If you think you can scan a document to a third party application and manipulate it with it via TWAIN (such as Windows Imaging), and save yourself the pain of having to deal with HP Scan, think again. You will end up with a beautiful picture of THE LAST PAGE ("oh yes, this is by design" - HP Technician).

The ADF is prone to paperjams, and they are tough and time consuming to clear. Only the smoothest paper will allow pass through without problems.

I open a case with HP support (case no. 7161364157). They told me a technician would call back (this was a month ago). Still waiting for the call.

HP really dropped the ball with this twinky. If you are planning to buy a document scanner, this is not the way to go. If you are planning to buy a photograph scanner, I suggest one of Epson's Perfection scanners, and save yourself 500 dolars worth of junk.

After reading the review "correction and complaint" I was trying to figure out where this person was coming from. He/she is incorrect on all their points.

1) The color rendition is incredible and looks nearly identical to the item scanned.

2) You do not have to choose the image size. When I scan a letter document, the scanner knows it. And when I scan a legal document, it knows that too. I don't even know how to trick the thing.

3) As for the grayscale having to be chosen every time: Under "scan settings" you can choose your default settings. You can tell it to default to 1 bit or 8 bit grayscale, or many different color options. This will be the default setting if you elect not to change them every time you scan.

I wonderered if this reviewer had just opened the box and didn't bother to read the manual or play with the software settings before posting. Or maybe he's a Canon person.

Oh well. Just thought I'd dispell some untruths on the scanjet 8250. In my opinion and use, it has been a great, full featured scanner!

I strongly urge you to NOT BUY THIS MACHINE!
You have to replace the drum unit every 3-4 toners. They told me this at Brother after I bought my printer and it started splotching after the 4th toner.

We bought the printer expecting it to be a good buy. We could not install the drivers and the software for 3 days. When we called their support, they also did not know what to do. Btw, got hold of a representative only after many hours of being on hold and only after 4 calls (each with many hours on hold). They said they would call me back..but did not. Brother's customer support ... And the software would screw up your PC.

This is a great machine for small home office. The letters are good quality; I didn't need color. I have had it for over 6 months and all the faxes have gone through and come in without a problem. Toner easy to change.

I purchased this scanner, and it worked fine until one day the document feeder stopped working. For a few months I thought It was something I was doing, and worked around it. I finally called tech support, and was told I was out of warranty. Said ok, I will pay to get my ADF fixed. They do not fix anything. If you are out of warranty, you are stuck. Connected to Customer support, same thing. Can you imagine buying a car, and after a year, the tranny went bad, you were told you have to buy a new car because they do not fix cars over a year old. This is the type of company that has made us a disposable society. How can you charge $600.00 dollars, then when it breaks, tell the people to buy a new one. Something stinks with this logic.
Larry McKinnon

This scanner is faster & quieter than the similar HP product I tried. HOWEVER, it does NOT scan at 42 bit color or 600 x 1200 dpi using the Paperport software provided. Visioneer tech support said I needed to use Adobe Photoshop (not included, of course) to scan. I tried that and it still scanned at 24 bits and 600 x 600 dpi. After 3 calls & 1 email, Visioneer finally told me that it won't scan at the advertised levels with the Paperport software and that I needed to buy new software and/or consult another vender's tech support if I wanted to scan at 42 bit/600 x 1200!! It doesn't measure up with their provided software or even the gold-standard Photoshop 7. UNBELIEVABLE!!

This is a decent scanner with respectible specification. It works as well as comparible scanners on the market and includes a good software bundle. But do yourself a favor and buy the Xerox Documate 510 if you like this scanner. It is the exact same hardward/software bundle with a different name on the front for almost half the cost.

If you like the poor working device with NO support - the Visioneer CardReader is just for you!
I have tried to download and install all recommended updates but it doesn't work.
The customer support is unacceptably awful!

I had to return this scanner because it did not capture text near the edges of most of the business cards, no matter what I tried (Calibrating, Re-Orienting and re-feeding the cards). Updating the scanner drivers with the website download did not help. Visioneer's online support is unacceptably awful. Also, the bundled OCR software is not up to the task. The trial version of Corex Cardscan which I loaded for comparison performed much better with more accurate text recognition and field placement.

buy from Mfg for $99.00 and do not pay Amazon's list plus pricing.

This is one of the easiest scanners I have ever used. The quality is great and I was extremely pleased with my purchase. Then, after less than 2 months of use (and believe me, I didn't use it that often!) it broke! It prints squiggly lines on anything I attempt to scan. I can't believe it broke now that the warranty is no longer good!

My visioneeer scanner broke down after 3 months of use ... Visioneer isn't standing up to its warrenty claims.

I've had limited experience with using flatbed scanners, an honest to goodness AMATUER! Until I got my Visioneer 8800...

Out of the box, hooked up to the computer and using it by the end of the day! No problem! Now I can help to design the programs, program inserts, and special event brochures for my Church. I've made some "special" one-of-a-kind Certificates of: "Acheivement", "Attendance", and "Vacation Bible School Completion" for the kid's in Sunday School. One-of-a-kind Birthday cards are a ** "Snap!!!" **, no more searching through all those mountains of cards at the stores...What a welcome relief that is!!! And my friends and family are so surprised to receive such personal cards. And I love being able to scan all my old paper photographs, so I can put them on to discs. They'll last so much longer now... Like when I saw my Grandpa's old "tin type" photographs... It's helping to store so many of my family's memories...

So if you were wondering; "Would this be a good scanner for me?" And; "Is it worth the price?" The answers are both; "YES!!!" If I can use it for so many different things, and so easily...SO CAN YOU!!! And it's well worth the price!

IT WOULD HAVE BE NICE IF IT HAD A ON AND OFF SWITCH, I THOUGHT THE ONE I ORDERED HAD ONE, WHEN I CALLED A CUSTOMER REP THEY TOLD ME THAT ONE DID, AND ONE DIDNT, I JUST HAPPENED TO GET THE ONE THAT DIDNT,IT IS VERY ANOYING TO HAVE THE LIGHT ON ALL NIGHT AND IN ORDER TO SHUT IT OFF I HAVE TO PULL THE SCANNER OUT OF THE SPOT IT IS ON MY COMPUTER DESK AND UNPLUG IT. ALSO, IT HAS TO BE ONE OF THE SLOWEST SCANNERS IVE EVER SEEN. I THINK IT WAS OVER PRICED AND THAT THEY MADE IT SOUND LIKE YOU WERE GETTING A GOOD DEAL, I JUST HOPE I GET MY REBATE BACK.

Review Visioneer 9320:

+The side open covers is a nice feature.
-The user guide is not up to date for the current release - 8.x.
-The software installation aborted and required an extensive search of the Visioneer web site to locate utilities to remove Registry entries.
-The 35mm Negative scan terminates at high (>4800) resolution.
-The 9320 is available for $25< @ competitive outlets.
- No configuration option to keep the Scan Monitor from loading at Start-Up.

Summary: Don't waste your time or money here.

Lacks the size and quality control of the Epson Perfection series as well as other scanner models. Also, the copy function is black and white only. Every other scanner I have owned (including Epson and HP) is capable of direct color copies and I was very disappointed that this one only copied black and white. You can scan in color to the OCR, but the OCR decided I didn't have a printer despite the fact that my printer was in it's list of possible choices. The scanner worked fine directly with the printer, but I needed to make color copies and this product wouldn't do it (surprising considering my other scanners cost far less and could do so much more), so I returned this frustrating product.

I had to replace a UMAX 5420 this morning, found this unit at another local ***'* Club for $92.30, installed it, and HOLY CRAP! It is FAST! Scanning from within PS took around 10-13 seconds for a preview, from the time I clicked "Preview", happening in real time. A 300 dpi scan took just about as long. My UMAX would take 1-2 MINUTES JUST to warm up before scanning, and Lord knows how long to do the actual scan.

The color of the 9320 scan at 600 dpi is MUCH more accurate than anything I've used in the past, pretty much dead-on, at least so far, with wonderful color saturation and little to no artifacting. The couple of pics I've scanned so far have come out better than ANYTHING I've EVER scanned with three other scanners I've had, although I'll look out for problems once I try to do 35mm stuff...

I haven't encountered a problem with this unit as of yet. I would hate to be disillusioned because at the moment I'm thrilled to have it.

Pete (see review above) is right--my scanner was fine, but stopped working about a month after the warranty expired. the power indicator NEVER went off, and I suspect that the power supply burnt out.

Of course, you can get a "refurbished" unit for the price of a new one. Don't bother.

Although I was able to get some nice quality scans from the HP 4470C, in general the scanner was very slow and unreliable. The warm-up time for the lamp was very long and scans in transparancy mode (slides & negatives) consistantly had excessive scan lines at higher resolutions. My biggest complaint about this scanner is the fact that it stopped working about 10 days after the 3 month warranty expired. At that point HP will 'repair' the unit for the same price as a brand new scanner.

In short, I would recommend taking a pass on the HP 4470C and use your money to buy a similar Epson or Canon scanner (which both come with 1 year warranties).

The HP 4470C generally provides good quality scans but it is very slow and un-reliable. It takes an exceptionally long time to warm up the scanning light and thereafter scanning and previewing is still slow. The scan quality from the slide/negative adapter was poor with persistant scan lines at higher resolution. My particular HP 4470C scanner stopped functioning about ten days after the 3 month warranty expired. At that point there is basically nothing to do but throw the old unit out.

We purchased one for our small office. Set up went smoothly, but it would hang in the middle of printing any job over 3 pages. The web site and user's manual had no description of these problems. The web site is particularly useless. 6 days after setting up the printer, the power went out. This printer never recovered, even though every computer in our office was unaffected. Don't waste your time or money.

It is not only Mac users who will want to throw this thing out the window. I had numerous errors using a G3 and G4 Mac running OS9, including printing and especially scanning, so I finally gave up and connected it to a PC running Win 98, only to experience about the same thing. Errors, system crashes, etc. I give this one star because as a copier and standalone fax it works fine. The software is abysmal, atrocious, etc., and I tried to get help on their website which is hopeless and then they take over 24 hours to respond to emails with no real help. I have a HP 4M+ which has been 100% reliable for ten years so I thought I was safe to stick with HP, but apparently they think in order to compete they have to churn out junk and then run and hide.

The HP LaserJet 3300 mfp printer is not Macintosh compatible. it is, I would like to see the circumstances that pass for the determination of "compatibility"

Some people have been waiting months for updates to drivers. HP's suggested workaround is to enable print-only functions by using Apple's newer Jaguar ppd. However the ppd that would enable (EN-able?, come on, DIS-able) the multiIfunction device to ONLY print is overwriten by HP's outdated pre-Jaguar ppd on installation. I have spent a month of weekends trying to get just a single print, on OS 10.2, to no beneficial result. I have gone from clean system installs (in order to recover overwritten ppd's) to the lastest releases of GIMP print and HPIJS and Foomatic printer drivers. LinuxPrinting.org suspects that HP is using an incompatible version of USB communications for printing to this device.

Operating while connected to an Mac OS 9 is (occasionally) possible, but HP states that the 3300 is incompatible with Apple's usb printer sharing, further thwarting attempts to set up an OS 9 shared usb printer and printing via LPR.
Note that any success with this printer on an OS X or mixed environment involves the addition of a network interface (3330 etc.) and not simply USB.

I am now (after 30 days) left to hope that Amazon will accept the the return of the HP Laserjet 3300 mfp for a device that renders toner on paper.