The Visioneer 4400USB: A Review of a Great Scanner for $19
Written: May 28 '01 (Updated Jun 07 '01)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Inexpensive, Good Software, Easy to Use.
Cons: Toll Tech Support (but that applies to most scanners).
The Bottom Line: If you want to buy a decent scanner without spending a lot of money, the Visioneer 4400 USB is a good option.
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| DrDad's Full Review: Visioneer 4400 Flatbed Scanner |
When I first saw the ad showing a Visioneer Scanner for $19.95, I thought "Well, I bet it is a piece of junk". The Staples ad said that the Visioneer 4400USB regularly sold for 79.95, but that it came with two $30 rebates (one from Staples and one from Visioneer). I searched online for Visioneer 4400USB reviews, but found nothing. I mean nothing. I could not find a single review of the Visioneer 4400. It was like this scanner came out of nowhere. Was it a new scanner that Visioneer was promoting? An old scanner that Visioneer couldn't get rid of (so they attach rebates)? I was very skeptical of what I would get, but at the same time I decided that even if it is a piece of junk, for $19 it was worth the gamble.
(Before I continue with my review of the Visioneer 4400, I must tell you up front that I paid $79.95 (plus tax) for the scanner. I did send in my two $30 rebates, and I did receive my $60 back. I don't think the rebates are in effect anymore, but you should be able to find one for between $30 and $50. Use the Check latest prices link on this page to search for a good deal on this scanner.)
So did I get a piece of junk? No, not at all. The 4400 gave me only one problem, which is discussed in this review, but overall I am very pleased with my $19 scanner.
The Visioneer 4400 USB Specifications
The Visioneer 4400 USB is a flatbed scanner that measures 3.4 inches tall, 11.4 inches wide, and 17.75 inches deep. It comes with two cords: a 5 foot USB cord to connect to your computer and a 5 foot power cord. It has a scanning resolution of 600 X 1200 dpi. You can buy scanners with higher resolutions (1200 X 2400 dpi), but in my opinion most people don't need to. Scanned photos at 300dpi will be sufficiently detailed for printing or online viewing.
The scanner works with Windows 98/2000/Me and requires 32MB of RAM and 70MB of hard drive space.
The Software with the 4400 USB
Most scanners come with at least three different types of software: a photo editor, OCR (optical character recognition) software which is used to "read" text documents that have been scanned, and the scanner management software (including the scanner drivers). The Visioneer 4400 comes with all of that and a few extra titles to boot. Here is a quick review of the software you get with the 4400.
ScanSoft Paperport
This is the scanner management software. That is, anytime you want to scan something you first open up Paperport. I really like this software. Compared to other scanner software I've used, Paperport is relatively easy to figure out. The software offers a "preview" mode where you can view and crop what you are scanning before you scan it. It has advanced settings for descreening, brightness, contrast, and color adjustment. It also tells you how large a file it will create based on what resolution you set to scan. Once you scan your photo or document, the Paperport software automatically saves it in a folder and shows you a thumbnail image of it. You can click-and-drag this thumbnail image to any one of several program icons at the bottom of the Paperport window. For example, to print the document, drag the image to the printer icon. To open the document in Word Perfect, drag the image to the Word Perfect icon.
Both novices and advanced users should be pleased with the functionality of the Paperport scanner management software.
MGI PhotoSuite III
This is a decent, user friendly photo editor. You can "touch up" your scanned photo by removing red eye, scratches, blemished, and wrinkles. Each of these functions works very well. You can then save your photos in an online album, print them, or use them to make calendars, cards, etc. While PhotoSuite isn't a photo editor a professional would pick, it is one a novice would be pleased to have.
TextBridge Pro 8.0
TextBridge is Visioneer's OCR software and I have found that it works extremely well. You can have it automatically process the text on a page or you can manually highlight the text, images and tables for processing. Once a document is processed, you can save it in text format, rich text format, or in your word processor format. As far as making mistakes, Textbridge sometimes confuses and "l" for an "i", or adds spaces where there are none, but it performs at an acceptable level for OCR software.
Other Software
The Visioneer 4400 USB also comes with Photo Enhancer 3.1, Adobe Acrobat Reader 4.05, Internet Explorer 5.01, Quicken Expensable, and America Online 5.0. The CD-ROM has user guides for all of the software packages in Adobe Acrobat format.
Scanning with the Visioneer 4400 USB
OK, a great software package (which the Visioneer has) means nothing if the scanner doesn't do a good job. Fortunately, the 4400 does a more than acceptable job of scanning both photos and documents. There are three characteristics which should be discussed in any scanner review: Speed, Noise, and Quality. Regarding the noise output of the Visioneer 4400, it isn't a quiet scanner, but I don't consider the noise level to be a problem. Speed and Quality are reviewed below separately.
Visioneer 4400: Scanning Speed
Compared to another scanner I have reviewed (the Canon CanoScan N650U), the Visioneer 4400 is much faster. Here are some specific scanning times to give you an idea of how fast this scanner is.
21 seconds to scan an 8.5 X 11 inch B&W document at 300dpi
20 seconds to scan an 8 X 10 inch color photo at 150dpi
16 seconds to scan a 4 X 6 inch color photo at 300dpi
The higher you set the resolution, or the larger the image, the longer it will take to scan (for any scanner). The Visioneer 4400 is fast enough, but remember that it does have to warm up the lamp once before you begin scanning. That takes less than a minute.
Visioneer 4400: Scanning Quality
The quality of photos scanned by the Visioneer 4400 is more than acceptable. Overall, photos tend to be slightly darker than the original, but I use the photo editor to adjust the brightness and contrast settings and I get results that match the original very well. If you plan to use your scanner to e-mail photos to friends, post photos on a web page, print photos, fax documents, or read documents into your word processor, the Visioneer 4400 USB will produce good quality scans for all of these needs.
Visioneer 4400 versus the Canon CanoScan N650U
I recently reviewed a scanner I use at work, the Canon CanoScan N650U. In that review, I provided links to side-by-side comparisons of photos scanned by these two scanners. I will provide those links here as well.
EXAMPLE-1: 4X6 photo at 150dpi scan
http://www.consumer-reviews.f2s.com/photo.html
EXAMPLE-2: 3-D object at 300dpi scan (cropped and enlarged)
http://www.consumer-reviews.f2s.com/third.html
In case you don't want to visit those links, what they show is that scans from the N650U come out lighter than those from the 4400. Also, they show that you cannot scan 3-dimensional objects with the N650U. The N650U uses a different scanning technology that allows the scanner to be extremely small. If you are looking for a small, lightweight, easily portable scanner, I recommend you check out the Canon CanoScan N650U. If you are looking for an inexpensive scanner that does a decent job, try the Visioneer 4400.
One Problem
One problem I did run into with the Visioneer 4400 was that after I installed it, I couldn't get Word Perfect (Version 7.0) to work. If I uninstalled the scanner, Word Perfect 7.0 would work again, but once I reinstalled the scanner, WP would stop working. Visioneer tech support tried to help me resolve this, but I finally decided to upgrade to WP 8.0, which I was planning to do anyway. Upgrading to WP 8.0 fixed the problem. I suspect the problem was specific to my system, because Visioneer tech support said that no one else has ever reported this problem. I doubt others will experience this problem, but if you do, you might try reinstalling Word Perfect 7.0 after you install the Visioneer scanner. I didn't try that, but I bet it would have worked.
Summary of the Visioneer 4400 Pros and Cons
For me, the Visioneer 4400 was a cheap scanner that turned out to function very well. It's small price tag, good software package, and ease-of-use make it a great choice for novices who want to try their hand at scanning without paying a fortune. It certainly isn't the fastest, quietest, or newest scanner out there, but its speed, noise, and resolution do not give cause for complaint either. One negative of this scanner is that it is rather large and bulky, taking up a lot of desk space. But before that makes you turn away from it, compare its size to other scanners and you will find that some new scanners are even larger than the Visioneer 4400.
How to get the Visioneer 4400
If you think you would like to try the Visioneer 4400, you can click on the "Check Latest Prices" link or the "Find at Auction" link up near the top right of this review. The problem with those particular links is that they end up taking you to prices for the Astra 6400 scanner (I have notified Epinions of this bug). If you use the "Find at Auction" link, you can enter "Visioneer 4400" into the search box on the auction page it brings up and you will see these scanners auctioning for around $30.
I hope this was helpful to you as you make your purchase decision.
Bret (DrDad)
My Review of the Canon CanoScan N650U:
http://recommended.epinions.com/content_24142712452
(updated 6/7/01)
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 19
Interface: USB
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DrDad
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