this is THE definition of sweet and sour
Written: May 10 '07
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Pros: the hardware - fast, accurate, smooth/quiet
Cons: the software, bar none.
The Bottom Line: If you are the sole user of your computer and always log in as the administrator, give it a try. Otherwise keep looking.
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| ttocsmij's Full Review: Visioneer OneTouch 9020 Fbscan Flatbed Scanner |
Excellent scanner hardware. Absolutely terrible scanner software / drivers. We have a stock Dell P4 computer with Windows XP Home that is kept totally up-to-date. We have six members of the family and each has his/her own login (besides the admin login which is used only ... yep ... for admin purposes).
From day one, we had problems getting the scanner driver to work. I should have known right then to take it back and get an HP (but I didn't have the 2X money though now it seems a moot point based on the hundreds of hours and lost opportunities this unit has cost me).
Literally dozens of contacts with tech support yielded little beyond the stock advice to "clear the cache(s)", "reload the operating system" and/or "reload the scanner driver". Their final solution was to declare it EndOfLife (ie, no further support no way no how we got your money too bad for you sucker).
The problem is that the only way to get the scanner driver to work is to re-install it before each use. And only from the admin login.
Apparently, once you log out it forgets some critical connection internally because logging back in results only in the icon re-asserting itself in the task box -- and the icon "about me" link will happily tell you it is connected -- but if you try to use the scanner, or use a device wizard to check it, you will find that it isn't connected as far as the driver is concerned and it will refuse to cooperate with any known Windows program.
And logging in as any regular user is just a waste of time. The program will run and display the icon but the scanner driver will NOT talk to any known Windows program.
Having said that, ONCE you are logged in as an admin, and have uninstalled and reinstalled the driver, it works like a champ. The hardware is first-rate [we wish to God someone would write a new driver for this hardware!!] and delivers great scans. I haven't used the slide scanner so I cannot debate the other reviewers comments on that. And to be honest, the WIA-Visioneer 90xx USB Scanner interface is great. All kinds of tweaks are available and one can re-size the window and the auto-frame on the prescan ... all great!
Too bad it is crippled by someone not understanding how to write drivers for XP. I'm guessing they just pulled out the Windoze 95 driver and changed parameters enough so XP would accept it. They TOTALLY failed to realize that XP is completely different from earlier 9x versions in the areas of multiple user interface, permissions, personal file storage, etc., etc., etc.. IMHO, coders that fail to take these facets of XP into account when "updating" drivers should lobotomized and set free in Central Asia to work on a farm. It certainly wouldn't be any less harsh than the endless hours of pain and frustration they caused the rest of us!
So, if you are the sole user of your computer and always log in as the admin, then Visioneer scanners will probably work very nicely for you. The rest of us will better off spending the extra $ on H-P. Have a nice day.
Recommended:
No
Amount Paid (US$): 100.00
Interface: USB
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Epinions.com ID:
ttocsmij
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Reviews written: 9
Trusted by: 0 members
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