WOW for the Price!
Written: Mar 24 '05
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Does not take up a lot of space, dependable
Cons: Scanning is slow
The Bottom Line: For those looking to have a inexpensive scanner that produces a lot, this would be the one.
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| patricia63126's Full Review: Hewlett Packard HP 3970 Scanjet Flatbed Scanner |
My family never had a scanner before this one. I purchased this item directly for Hewlett Packard for the purpose of creating photo videos for family and friends and starting a small business in doing so.
I did not want anything too expensive, not knowing how this venture would pay off, starting out small but versatile.
This scanner has an optical resolution of 2400 dpi, is compatible with all Windows versions, along with MAC. Connects with a Hi-Speed USB 2.0 (included), the maximum scan document size 8.5 x 11.7. I have found this at times to be sometime of a problem, older photos were made bigger most of the time, trying to scan only the portion needed, it does not scan well, even if it is placed in the middle of the bed. Preview speed in as little as 13 seconds. Other task speeds, letter-size black and white text to Microsoft® Word as little as 43 seconds 4 x 6-in color photo to Microsoft Word as little as 46 seconds and email photo as little as 32 seconds. It takes media types of 35 mm slides, negatives, transparencies, plain paper, newspaper, photo paper, etc.
It weighs about 5lbs and is about 19x12 in dimension. It also comes with a universal AC adapter, and produces all file formats, i.e., jpg, bmp, etc.
It has 4 front tough panel buttons that will allow for scanning, copying, HP Instant Share and HP Memories Disc Creator.
As I stated earlier, I purchased this scanner to get me started with just scanning pictures. I did not need the speed just the ability. When I scan pictures, around 200 takes about 5 hours with scanning, previewing and formating size. I am only doing 1 video at a time. The speed for me is currently not an issue.
I really have enjoyed the ability to scan negatives and transparent documents. It comes with a TMA, Transparent Materials Adapter. Some of my relatives and friends no longer can find the printed pictures they are wanting to use or the photos are in such bad shape that even scanned and fixed, no longer look good. Being able to scan the negative of those photos and have them look as if they were printed by a professional photo developing service is a great asset to this scanner.
I normally scan photos in a 200dpi, even scanned at this low resolution, they come out clear and crisp. Also, in this low dpi, they do not take up as much room on the computer. Now when scanning old black and white or other types of photos, I have increased the dpi and found that it does help.
Scanning a photograph is very simple. You place your photo face down on the bed, close the lid, press the scan button on the front of the scanner.
Now the software, depending on your computer speed can take a while to open. It tells you the lamp is warming, the scanning begins. Once the scan is complete, the scanning software opens a preview of the scan. At this point you are able to crop the photo to eliminate anything you want out of the picture or change the size. Once that is complete, you click on the accept button, the scanner re-scans the photo to your requirements, once this step is completed, it will ask if you have another picture to scan. If YES, click it, remove the scanned photo, put another photo in face down and click new scan in the scanning software on the computer screen. The process begins again. If you click NO, the photo window is opened and the photo is saved to your computer, normally with the name scan0001.jpg.
I know there are always downfalls to scanners, trying to scan a document into Microsoft Word, editable text, everything usually get messed up and it takes more time to fix then it is to retype it. That is no different with this scanner. But whenever I have scanned a document to be emailed, I place it in a jpg format which is smaller than bmp and that really just takes a picture of the document, that works well even though the size is much bigger, normally 1-2mb in size.
I have used this scanner regularly and have had no technical issues or software issues. It has worked extremely well.
I would recommend this scanner for those individuals who need it for small projects or scanning photographs. I eventually want to upgrade to a automatic feeder tray for photographs, but until then, I am extremely happy with my purchase.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 99
Interface: USB
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Epinions.com ID:
patricia63126
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Member: Patricia Ceriotti
Location: Arnold, Missouri
Reviews written: 31
Trusted by: 0 members
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