Very Very Cool!!!
Written: Apr 11 '01
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Pros: Great design, fast and accurate scans, easy installation
Cons: Price, flimsy USB plug
The Bottom Line: If you can pay the price, this is a great little scanner. Good software, easy to use, and simple installation make it a good choice for a home scanner.
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| randomaccess's Full Review: Canon CanoScan N1220U Flatbed Scanner |
My old 300 DPI scanner has been collecting dust in the corner for almost a year. When I built my new system last summer, I just didn't want to take the time to setup and install an obsolete scanner, which, at best, gave me marginal quality scans.
I have been using a digital camera for the last two years, but I have shelves of photos I have been itching to scan and assemble into albums on the computer, so the time was ripe to hit the computer stores.
My search for a new scanner narrowed down to two HP models, and the two Canon CanoScans, the $99 model and the $200 1220U.
I decided to go with the 1220U because of its 1200x2400 spec, and its sleek design and small footprint. My desktop area is tight and the scanner fits perfectly.
The scanner comes with several CD-ROMS, a special USB cable, a small holder to run the scanner standing on edge, a quick start guide and the usual disclaimers and warranty pages.
Setup is simple, just plug in the scanner and the Windows Add New Hardware Wizard pops up looking for the software. If you have Win98, all the software is on one CD, for Millenium users, there is a separate CD for the toolbox software, so skip installing the toolbox from the main CD.
The software provided includes Arcsoft PhotoStudio 2000, an imaging program, Arcsoft Photobase, which is an organizer for images, Adobe Photoshop 5.0 LE, and Caere Omnipage Por 9.0 for OCR.
I use Jasc Paint Shop Pro for image editing, but I installed the Arcsoft packages anyway, since they were free and I had the disc space. I had already received Photoshop 5.0 free with a Maxtor hard drive, so I didn't install it. If you have $60-70 to spare and spend a lot of time editing photos, then I recommend Paint Shop Pro for the complete control it gives you over the editing process.
The 1220U has one front button, which, by default, launches the ScanGear Toolbox. The toolbox allows you to make a quick copy, scan, fax for email an image, and has cusomizable buttons for adding other applications.
You can also scan by acquiring an image through the Acquire command within any TWAIN-compliant imaging package.
The 1220U is fast, and quiet, and scanning doesn't hog system resources, so you can do other things while the images are being scanned.
The quality of the scans is very good, I am limiting my DPI to 600 right now to keep file sizes down, and the details are very sharp and clear.
The only drawback I have found so far is pricing. At $200.00 the scanner is a little higher then other 1200x2400 models, but it is, by far, the coolest looking scanner on the market.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 199
Interface: USB
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Epinions.com ID:
randomaccess
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Member: Bob
Location: NJ
Reviews written: 53
Trusted by: 9 members
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