WRC123's Full Review: Hewlett Packard Scanjet 3300c Flatbed Scanner
I have always had some fun with scanners. But I have found that scanners, in my opinion, can be some of the most troublesome PC peripherals. They can be slow, crash, and have poor software bundled with them. I have found that the ScanJet 3300c is the best scanner I have ever used, but this means little since the scanners I previously used were crappy.
I'll cut to the chase. Once you hit the scan button, (which is right on the scanner, a nice touch) be prepared to wait a few minutes for the picture to scan. It appears to calibrate itself and mess around for about a minute before it actually begins to scan. And while it is scanning, it is best not to try and do other things with the computer, as the software seems to "chill" the system. (I consider "freeze" a complete system stop, and "chill" to be a performance degradation, and the possible stopping of the main program running, IE: the scanner software.) I have not had many freezes, and after a minute or two you get the picture on your system. However, this seems to take too long, especially when we're taking about a product made by HP, that usually makes excellent hardware.
The Adobe PhotoShop bundled with it is pretty good. For "power users" or people who have used computers for a long time, the fact that the software tries to "hold the users hand" too much can be annoying. This includes an explanation and instructions on how to do even simple things. However, if you are new to computers this may make your work easier. For more experienced users, it can be a pain in the (expletive removed). The pop-up help feature can fortunately be turned off. The software is pretty good, with the options to try out useful and cool effects.
The "copy machine" feature is nice; it scans and prints automatically. The drawback is that copying one page at a real copier takes under 15 seconds. Scanning and printing (with a moderately fast HP printer) takes ::forever:: (approx. 1.5 minutes per page.) AAACK!!! Copying four black-and-white pages took almost 15 minutes. Don't buy this scanner and think: "Gee whiz! I don't need a copier!" Ha ha. Don't think so. If you are going to do serious copying, BUY A (expletive removed) COPIER!!! NOT A SCANNER!!!
Overall, what you pay appears to be what you get. If you do once-in-awhile scanning work or just need stuff for school projects, this will work OK for you. If you need something more heavy-duty, look for a more expensive HP scanner, because this one isn't for you.
New HP ScanJet 3300C Color Scanner C7680A Product description This easy-to-use color, flatbed scanner allows you to: · Scan and save images to the co...More at eBay
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