[MacNZ]

My sister wants a scanner for her Rev. B iMac which she can use to scan images into Photoshop and Illustrator. She wants it to be an easy to use and fast scanner but obviously it has to be USB.
I was thinking of the Epson 1200u because we have Epson printers. It can then use the auto print option this scanner includes. I have also studied a few Microtek scanners like the 3500 and 3700 and the agfa 1212u and 1236 u. I was wondering which model people thought was best and why?

[Jim Retzner]

Try Canon's 630Ui scanner. I use it on my G4 350 with Photoshop 5 and Illustrator 8. It has a small footprint and is USB. You will have to use a powered USB hub.

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I have the Umax 2100U and like it very much! You could also try a search of the forums...this topic gets asked a lot!!

[Feathers]

The above mentioned Canon is CIS (Contact Image Sensor) as opposed to CCD and the quality is slightly lower that equivalent CCD devices. The benefit is that they're smaller and don't require their own power-supply.

Your initial idea about Epson-Epson is fairly sound reasoning.

Personally I have a UMAX but at the economy end of the market there is very little to choose between the devices.

[MacNZ]

I'm not really worried about size. It would probably be better to have a slightly faster scanner (my friend has a compact one and it is soooo slow) for what we need. Thanks for the suggestions, will look into the cannon to compare, thanx. Please keep the posts coming!

[Bugs Bunny]

Have a look at the Epson Perfection 610 USB scanner. Super fast previews/scans, very easy to use, but somewhat limited software. Outstanding color reproduction. This is one of the quickest USB scanners available. I have previously owned 2 Umax, and 2 MicroTek scanners. Umax software is buggy, and the MicroTek scanners are slow and have poor color/image quality. The Epson is by far, in my opinion, a much better choice in the price range. When teamed with my Epson printer, the results are oustanding.

[This message has been edited by Bugs Bunny (edited 07-16-2000).]

[Cipher13]

I have the Microtek X6 with my G4 and Epson Stylus Colour 740 - a great combination!
The X6 is a little slow (not too bad) but the picture quality is truly excellent!
You won't be disappointed with it.
I'm sorry, I know this just adds one more scanner to check out... You should test drive them all and see what you like best (duh).

Cipher13

[kwiersma]

I have a Microtek X6 SCSI scanner and I really like the image quality and the preformance. It may not be the fastest scanner out there but the image quality is definatly up there in its class.

One complaint I do have is the software that comes with it. The PS plugin to acqure images seems really dated. You can do everything you need with it but is seems you are back to 1990 with the interface. Does anyone know if there is an update to Microtek's scanning plugin which has a more modern interface?

--KW

[Evangellydonut]

Epson's Perfection 636U (U=USB) is ranked #1 for scanners under $500 by ZdNet. It is fast and accurate, and only goes for $150. I got a refurbed one for $130 prior to the $50 price drop which occured 2 days ago, and I'm very happy with it

Hope that helps

Oh yeah, it's 36-bits...42 bits isn't necessary unless you are a true graphics professional, then you'd be using $1000 scanners...

I highly recommend the Epson 1200U - very fast and available for about $160.