Scanners.

[MADDOG]

So I was looking through the paper and found an Ad for scanners. I found one, and it's a good deal, but I don't know much about them. It seems "low end", but I'm just trying to figure out HOW low.

The main concern is that it's only 300x300dpi. That doesn't sound like much at all. I've seen WAY more than that.

And also, I'm not exactly sure how I'm going to plug it in! My printer port (only have one) is taken up by my printer and is already piggybacking with the cord for my Mp3 player. So can I run 3 things off it? Or will I have to plug it in and unplug it every time I need to use it?

It does have text recognition software and over a billion colours. (It's a Cannon Flatbed in case that helps), but like I said... 300x300dpi seems low. I'm not expecting the world, but will that just look shit?

And is ther anything else I should be considering? Any help would be appreciated.

MADDOG

 

[R Nitelight]

I loved Scanners. Wasn't it cool the way they made those heads blow up using just their minds?

 

[Matthew D]

Hey Maddog,
300x300 is not really that bad of a resolution for a scanner.. you really need to figure out what you want to scan if it is going to be high quality photos or something along those lines you might want to look around somemore. For attaching it to your computer, I would say get a switch box, it is a little box that you can attach to your printer port and it will let you hook up more than one device on the printer port.. I have one and I use it to hook my printer, my scanner, and the dongle for my 3d software off of it.. All I have to do is to remember to move the switch to the right position before I print, etc.. Hope this helps

 

[Guest]

Yes, Maddog, that extremely low resolution scanner will more than likely make everything you scan look like shit! You need one with about 600x1200 dpi I think. That's about average these days. I can't help you with the interface, though.

 

[Ezzy]

Scanners...

As MatthewD said for the most part though I to would look at both a higher resolution and if you have it a USB interface.

With USB hubs you can piggyback around 130 things, when playing piggyback on a serial port, you have to be very careful to install everything in exactly the right order, software included and then make sure that they all work correctly afterwards.

Given the choice I would go for a USB interface and a resolution of at least 600 by 600 and probably 600 by 1200, just for the better results these will bring.


EZ http://cgi.tripod.com/smilecwm/cgi-bin/s/cwm2/sleep.gif

 

[Weird Harold]

If your computer has a USB port, or a free serial port, then go that route for the interface. Or better yet, add a SCSI-2 card to your computer and get a SCSI-2 interfaced scanner.

Not all scanners are parallel port interface. IN fact, the USB port or SCSI2 interfaces are much faster than the printer port.

My scanner is a UMAX Astra 610p with a maximum resolution of 4800dpi. It's nominally a 600x1200 scanner, but can interpolate accurately to higher resolutions. It's NOT a high end scanner by any means, but it does manage to scan pictures and text well.

The big limit on using a scanner is memory. Scanning a 4"x6" photo at 400dpi results in a JPG file that's over 1 Meg. That's about as big a picture as my photo software could handle when I first got the scanner. I've since upgraded both the hard drive, and the memory so I can handle pictures as big as 5 meg. I usually don't because other than immediately printing and deleting such big pictures eat up space and take far too long to transfer to be useful for putting on the net.

If the printer port scanner is too good a deal to pass up, then installing a second printer port is the best way to connect it. (my second printer port was only about $30US)

 

[MADDOG]

Hey thanks for the info everyone. I decided to pass on it. I think I just got excited when I saw the price - $79au (Half that for $US). I want one, but I don't need one that bad, and then I realised that if I DID have one, it would need to be pretty high resolution for the type of things I'd want to do with it anyway. Not much point buying a piece of shit just because the price is right, is there?

What would I do without you guys? Thanks again.

MADDOG

 

[Wizard]

MADDOG, I have a 300 dpi and it works just great I bought it for 80 bucks (US) with a fourty dollar rebate. Plugs in where yours would and then the printer plugs in in the back of the scaner or you could get a A B switch which I have for other equip.

 

[Skibum]

Scanner prices have really come down in the last few years. You can get a pretty good one for less than $80 US, at least you can get them for that price in the US. And by all means go with SCSI2 or USB.