Cheap, Yet It Works Really Well!
Written: Apr 27 '05 (Updated May 03 '05)
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Pros: Thin and stylish, does a really good job at a cheap price.
Cons: There are faster scanners with higher dpi out there. Scan is slow at highest dpi. USB 1.1
The Bottom Line: Perfect for people who occasionally scan in photographs. Scans look really nice. Professionals will want to spend more for a beefier scanner.
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| mizgnomer's Full Review: Canon CanoScan N670U Flatbed Scanner |
We really didn't need another scanner. Sure, a few years ago I was scanning all the time -- I didn't have my digital camera yet, and I needed a way to get all of my son's snapshots onto his website so I could share the photos with friends and family -- but our old clunky scanner worked fine. I really must admit that when my husband walked in with the sleek and stylish looking CanoScan N670U Flatbed Scanner it was definitely much more attractive than our old scanner. When quizzed as to why he thought we needed another scanner, he informed me that everyone at his office was talking about how nice the scanner was yet it was bargain-basement priced at $40 (nowadays you can get it at Amazon for just $35). After giving it a test run I too was impressed, and have been enjoying it for a few years now.
Product Description:
The CanoScan N670U is a flatbed scanner with some nifty features that definitely made it more impressive than our older model. Some of the features I think are cool include:
* It doesn't use a power cord -- rather it has a special USB cable (included) that it uses for both power and data.
* The lid has a nifty hinge that allows it to expand upward when you're scanning bulky things (like books with thick spines or magazines that won't open flat).
* The scanner itself is really thin - measuring only 1.4 inches tall! Even though it is thin, it is still long and wide enough to scan originals 8.5 inches wide and 11.7 inches tall. It's lightweight too - according to the literature it's only 3.3 pounds!
* A nifty multi-photo mode automatically crops your photos, straightens them, and sends them to the calling program as separate files (a nice feature when I've got 3 4x6's in a single scan - it saves me some hassle).
Max resolution is 600 x 1200 dpi (dots per inch) optical with 48-bit internal color, but it will let you go up to 2400 dpi interpolated. These days you can get scanners with higher dpi, but the photos I've scanned in at 600 dpi look pretty darn crisp and clear, so I can't really complain.
You can use it in a vertical position using the included plastic stand (and a velcro strip to keep the cover closed), but we haven't done so (and I figure it must be a bit cumbersome to load your pictures if it is vertical). It is an awfully nice space-saving option, however.
There are 3 handy quick-start buttons on the front of the unit -- "scan", "copy" (which automatically prints your scan), and "e-mail" (which automatically attaches your scan to a MAPI-compliant e-mail message), but I really haven't used them (I typically scan from within my graphics software).
System requirements (copied from documentation):
64MB RAM or more
Color monitor with 800 x 600 or higher display and 256 or more colors
CD-ROM drive (2x or faster)
USB port (excludes add-on board)
Windows: Windows 98/Me/2000 Professional; Pentium 150Mhz processor or higher
Mac: Mac OS (8.6 to 9x), Mac OS X (Classic mode only); iBook; iMac, G3 or G4 processor
The Software:
ScanGear CS-U is the software used when scanning in images on the CanoScan. It actually isn't a standalone program - it must be used from within another application that launches it (it's used as a TWAIN driver in Windows and a plug-in for Macs). My weapon of choice is Adobe's PhotoShop, and I've had no problems scanning from PhotoShop whatsoever -- the CanoScan pops up as an option in the dropdown for importing images, and selecting it opens up ScanGear CS-U. Another image editor, ArcSoft PhotoStudio 2000, comes bundled with the CanoScan in case you don't already have an image-editing preference.
ScanGear is a fairly simple little application to use. You can "preview" scan your images, which will do a quickie (15 second) low-res scan and pop up the results in a window so you can crop and position before you do the "real" scan (which takes longer). You aren't required to do the "preview" scan. You have plenty of options - from setting color modes to the dpi. There are some advanced features too, such as fine grained control for the image brightness, contrast, and color, as well as the aforementioned multi-photo scan. It's a simple little application that works well.
Plenty of other software comes bundled with the CanoScan, however I haven't used it. The included software includes ArcSoft PhotoStudio 2000 as an image editor, ScanSoft OmniPage Pro 9 for OCR/optical character recognition (something I wanted to play with but still haven't gotten around to), and ArcSoft PhotoBase 2.1 for image-management.
Our Thoughts & Experiences:
Sleek and streamlined, I love the look of this little flatbed scanner. Not only that, but it does a good job of scanning without making a loud racket in a reasonable amount of time, and my images look really great. At our old house the scanner stayed hooked up to the computer at all times on a little cart next to our computer desk. In our new house we don't have a place for that little additional printer/scanner table, so I unhook and store the scanner each time I'm done using it. The fact that it is so lightweight, so thin (I store it upright so it doesn't take up much space at all), and so easy to hook up (just one cord and I'm done) makes me appreciate this scanner just that much more.
I mostly scan in pictures for uploading to my son's website, so for me a lower dpi is fine (75 dpi is the standard for web images), however I do occasionally scan in photos for printing too (which I'll scan at anywhere from 300 to 600 dpi - typically 300). I can usually tell the scanned in reproduction from the original, but just barely and not enough for anyone who isn't holding it next to the original to notice, so I don't really have any complaints (and some of the difference may be my printer - everything always looks great on-screen). The color capture is really great - absolutely no complaints color-wise. As I noted above, there are scanners with higher dpi available, but this one does a darn good job (and I'm pretty picky about my photographs). That being said, I usually don't print anything larger than 5x7's or try to blow up my scanned images very large.
The higher your dpi and the larger the image the longer it will take to scan. Comparing the CanoScan against our older scanner the CanoScan is super-duper fast, however it came out in 2001 so there are plenty of newer scanners that go much faster these days. Since it is an older scanner the USB is only 1.1 (which also affects the speed). For the cheap price I'm not expecting super-fast scans. To give you an idea of the speed - I can scan the entire bed (which would fit 3 4x6's) at 300 dpi in 40 seconds. The entire bed at 600 dpi takes a whopping 3 minutes, and at 75 dpi takes 20 seconds.
We installed our CanoScan so long ago I really don't have any memories of the installation, other than the fact that it was so quick and uneventful I have no reason to remember it. The scanner itself is plug & play (on Windows machines) -- just plug in the USB cable and you're done! The software installation wasn't anything unique either. If you lose your discs and need to install the scanner on another computer the drivers are available for download online.
This scanner has been a little workhorse for us for the past few years (since we purchased it in early 2003). Granted, I don't use it as much anymore since we got our digital camera, however I recently got into digital scrapbooking so I find myself scanning in items other than photographs for use on my scrapbook pages. The CanoScan hasn't given us any problems down through the years, and I feel safe recommending it to anyone with scanning needs similar to ours.
Final Thoughts:
The Canon CanoScan N670U Flatbed Scanner is a nice, cheap scanner that gets the job done and does it right. If you're going to be doing a large amount of scanning or have images that you want to blow up very large, you'll probably want to look elsewhere for scanner with a higher dpi count and/or faster scan time. For my needs (the occasional photograph for web use or for printing), the CanoScan N670U fits the bill perfectly and didn't put a big dent in our wallet.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 40
Interface: USB
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mizgnomer
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Location: Tennessee
Reviews written: 306
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Don't meddle in the affairs of dragons, for you're crunchy and taste good with ketchup
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