Scanners...

[tigerboyce]

Hey guys.

I'm in need of a scanner, but have no clue what to go for at all. I really should have thought about this when i bought my printer about 4 weeks ago as i could have gone for a All in one..

So basically I'm after suggestions for a cheap as possible scanner, so that probably means an old second hand one off Ebay, But it must be compatible with Vista...

So anyone got anything thats working well in Vista and i can find somewhere for cheap?

Been looking at this too: Canon Canoscan Lide 25, seems like a good choice, anyone have any experience with it?

[chrestomanci]

I have not used it but it looks decent from the spec. The fact that it is USB powered could prove usefull if you are a laptop user as you will be able to pack it in your laptop bag and power it directly from your laptop. You might for example take it with you to a libary.

Alternatively, you could try to buy a seccond hand one for not much money. I brought mine for £5 from a for-sale list at work, where similar ones appear about once a month. I dare say a post in wanted here would generate a few offers.

I would be very carfull about anything that need posting though. The glass in scanners is fragile and breaks easily. I once has a job at a computer mail order compay testing returns, and there where a lot of scanners with broken glass.

[chrestomanci]

Duplicate post, please ignore

[tigerboyce]

Yep, buying a second hand one was an intention, although yeah i didn't really think about the implications of getting it posted... At least with a retailer i *should* be ok getting a replacement if the worst should happen.

[Webby]

Be glad you didn't get an all in one! On the whole they do everything okay but nothing really well. Oh and they tend to have tiny ink cartridges which run out in no time which cost the same as larger ones for stand alone printers... me bitter never!

Not my all in one my GF's but I end up buying the ink... how exactly does that work!

As to a scanner they are not overly expensive (~£30-40) so I would probably go for new unless your budget is really limited at least then you have some come back if it breaks within the first year.

[vinnyT]

I have the canoscan lide 70, it does the job well, runs from the usb port, is really thin (about 2 magazines in depth), is light (very portable, and easy to move from one pc to the others) and the software that comes with it is quite useful (although I have upgraded the ocr to omnipage 14, was an offer from serif).

[Areku]

Another vote for the Canon Lide scanners. I picked one up for my dad as he goes away on business a lot and they are very nice and portable. He has the Lide 25 which is a pretty nice piece of kit. Scan's come out really nice too.

[tigerboyce]

Cheers all, Gone for the Lide 25 from Ebuyer