[sane-devel] Scanner recomendation

[Gene Heskett]

On Sunday 01 September 2002 11:19, Dwight Tovey wrote:
>I'm sure I just heard a collective groan from the list as yet
> another newbie asks for a basic recommendation.  But after
> looking through the archives a bit it looked like the only
> recommendations recently have been about film scanners, so I
> thought I would ask again.
>
>I'll admit to being fairly ignorant about scanners.  I used to
> have an old Umax 1200S scanner that I used on an old Win95 box,
> but I didn't use it much and I got rid of the whole package a few
> months ago.  I now have a need for a scanner for both the kid's
> school projects and so that I can archive old photographs.
>
>I have a system running Red Hat Linux 7.3, as well as my laptop
> (also R.H. 7.3) and the kid's system running Win2K.  What I think
> would be the ideal setup for us would be to have a scanner
> connected to the first Linux system and the other machines
> accessing it over the network. Looking through the Sane
> documentation I get the feeling that this would be fairly easy as
> far as Linux <-> Linux is concerned, but there might be some
> issues with Linux <-> Win2k.  For that reason I think that I will
> probably want a scanner with a USB interface to make it easier to
> move the scanner between systems when necessary.  I do have an
> Adaptec 1542 SCSI card that I can install in the main R.H. system
> dedicate to the scanner.
>
>As far as scanner properties, I figure I want the highest
> resolution that I can afford (I'm currently thinking around
> $300).  I think that I would like to be able to scan film
> negatives (using a scanner with a built-in film adapter) as well
> as prints.  I realize that the quality of negative scans won't be
> as good as would be possible from a dedicated film scanner, but
> will it be acceptable?  Should I just forget about scanning
> negatives altogether unless I'm willing to shell out big bucks
> for a dedicated film scanner?
>
>It looks like Epson and HP scanners would be the most compatible
> with Sane.  How about Canon?
>
>From looking at the compatibility list, I have the feeling that
> the list is a little out of date (kind of hard to keep up with
> all the new stuff coming out all the time).  Will I have any luck
> if I get a new Epson or HP scanner even if it isn't listed?  Are
> there really any "new" features in these scanners?  On the other
> hand, it may be difficult to find some of the older models
> without hitting the used market.
>
>As I said, I'm completely new to scanners, so I would appreciate
> any advice that you all could give.
>
>Thanks
>	/dwight

I'm also in the camp that says Epson is the best on price points vs 
performance and I own a 1250u that sells for a hundred dollar bill 
at the local office supply vendor.  There are 2 drivers for it, 
with the plustek backend being a bit more versatile than the epson 
supplied linux driver, but the image is a bit better (not much 
really) when the epson driver is used.  Its obviously a USB model, 
and some earlier motherboards WILL have trouble with any usb item 
that generates more traffic than a mouse.  My TYAN S-1590 locks up 
needing a power switch cycle solid but my biostar M7VIB works great 
however.

And forget that 1542 scsi card, its *only* good for scsi hard 
drives, failing miserably when a tape drive or scanner is attached.
Personal experience.  Ebay flooded the market with those things for 
way way more than the card was actually worth.

-- 
Cheers, Gene
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