Great Scanner if you can get it to work.
Written: Jan 27 '03
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Pros: Easy to use. Decent software. Great photo scanner. Decent slide scanner.
Cons: Poor USB 2.0 support.
The Bottom Line: A fine scanner hampered by poor USB 2.0 support and clueless tech support staff.
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| davidhu's Full Review: Canon CanoScan 5000F Flatbed Scanner |
Like Berkelydb, with whom I have been corresponding, I have had nothing but grief installing and running this scanner. I am running it under Win XP but the scanner refuses to work well with USB 2.0, though occasionally I can get a scan at USB 2.0 speeds. The scanner seems to have trouble with USB 2.0 ports other than those found on Adaptec PCI to USB 2.0 adapter cards, which are recommended by Canon in a flyer included in the box. Never mind that I have a brand new 2.4 MHZ Pentium IV, the Canon won't work reliably (in fact, rarely) with the SIS 7001 chipset and ports included on my Microstar 6635E motherboard. Canon tech support has been courteous and has attempted to be helpful but they are not very good at problem-solving and I have been unable to talk to someone high up enough to do something about the problem.
Well, why write a review if the scanner doesn't work? I have been able to get the scanner to work perfectly by plugging it into an old USB 1 hub and connecting the hub to my USB 2.0 port. This slows the scanner down to USB 1 speeds, which leaves it usable and 100% reliable, albeit a little slow. I will have to say, that apart from the USB problem, it's a fine scanner. It is fabulous with photos, reproducing them so close to the original, it's hard to tell any difference. And I was pleasantly surprised to find that it's quite a decent slide scanner, producing good usable images, though certainly inferior to my Nikon Coolscan IV. The Scangear software is easy to use and the advanced features fairly complete. The scanner and software will choke on 2400 dpi scans, taking forever and producing 100 MB files on a slide, that even saved as jpegs are still 31 MB, much bigger than jpegs produced by my Nikon. I did do a couple of high resolution slide scans but wouldn't recommend it. My film scanner is much faster and better.
If you can live with slowing this scanner down to USB 1 speeds or spending $40-60 additional for an Adaptec USB 2.0 card, it's a fine scanner. Maybe Canon will improve the driver but after contacting them, I wouldn't hold my breath. Without the USB problem, I would have rated the scanner 5 stars and ease of use 5.
Recommended:
No
Amount Paid (US$): 215
Interface: USB
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Epinions.com ID:
davidhu
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Location: Calabasas, California
Reviews written: 4
Trusted by: 0 members
About Me:
60 y/o physician, interested in computing, digital photography, fly fishing and digital music
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