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General discussion

What is a good quality scanner for photos mostly?

Jun 11, 2006 1:13AM PDT

I would like to buy a scanner that I could use to scan all of my old photos and then burn them on to CD. Does anyone have any suggestions? I would like to find something between $60-$100. I could even find something on Ebay if someone has a suggestion for an older model. Any suggestions would be appreciated, I don't know alot about this area. I have a Dell Dimension 9100 if it matters.

Thank you
Curt

Discussion is locked

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I'd send you an example...
Jun 11, 2006 7:04AM PDT

If you had an email contact in your profile, but there is none.

Drop me a line via my profile and I'll email something from an Epson scanner.

Bob

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From my experience
Jun 29, 2006 8:29PM PDT

Hi, I own a few scanners over the years.
Mustek
HP
Canon
Epson

After all those and all manufacturs calimed. I think Epson has the best quality. The interface of Epson isn't the most user friendly. However, after a few scan, you can get to use of it. And the sharpness and color is what I like the most.

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What Scanner
Jun 29, 2006 9:39PM PDT

I use an Epson Perfection 4180 Photo which is absolutely brilliant - it does far more than I am ever likely to do, and their Tech Help (should you need it) is the best of any company I have ever had to call up. I don't know if it is within your price range but it might just squeeze in at the top end, as everything in the USA is half the price that it is here in the UK! Good luck from fellow Dell user.

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Epson!!! Buy it here for $39!
Jun 29, 2006 10:26PM PDT
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Scanner for Photo Collection
Jun 30, 2006 2:03AM PDT

I recently decided to begin scanning my old Photo collection and took the advice from ''About Graphics'' on the (www.about.com) website.
If you are going to be scanning a large number of photos you will want to be able to scan a number of photos all at once and be able to save them as individual files rather than as a whole single file or having to scan them each individually.
Also if you want to scan slides and negatives you will need a scanner to acommodate that feature.
Thirdly it is nice to have a software program to help make the scanning, organizing, edititing, backing up and archiving of your photos much easier.
Sue Chastain on the ABout.com website has adressed this task quite well.
The scanner that she used is the Canon CanoScan 8400 and the software is Adobe Photoshop Elements version 3, now currently at version 4.
I purchased both of these items and couln't have been more satisfied. They are both quality products worthy of the value of preserving your photos.
If you shop around on the internet you can find them for reasonable prices. I purchased the scanner for $120.00 and Photoshop Elements 4.0 for $45.00.
I'm sure that you will recieve other opinions concerning the hardware and software, but keep in mind that having the right tools makes a big difference in the final outcome.

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Here's one.
Jun 30, 2006 3:41AM PDT

As an old film user who shot for sharpness and image quality, I'm very happy with my Epson Perfection 3170 Photo. Old Kodachrome slides scanned and then printed with my HP Photosmart 7960 are at least as good as the prints I got from the commercial processors.

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fantastic scanner
Jun 30, 2006 7:08AM PDT

my old 5 year old scanner bit the dust and i purchased a hewlett packard scanjet 4070 photosmart scanner. i have photos that are over 100 years old and it scans them beautifully and true. i have photos that were taken in the 1950's when ink was so terribly unstable and my scanner has actually restored them to a degree. i also lost my home in a tornado in 1983 and of course lost all my childrens photos. this scanner will copy negatives and create a new photo. i paid 129.99. it was well worth the money. i do not recommend buying used or old. not always, but most of the time, you are buying someone elses problems. it is worth a few bucks to get new. check on the hp website. this scanner might be lower priced by now. mine is almost a year old now. it is also very easy to use. i don't understand half the computer, camera, scanner or whatever jargon. i just buy what i need to get the job done and learn the features of my particular piece of equipment. works for me. this scanner is EASY!!

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Canon
Jun 30, 2006 8:11AM PDT

I have a Canoscan 8400F and I am delighted with it. Scans printed photos as well as colour negative film and Colour slides. Quality is outstanding. So good in fact, that when scanning some old family photos (60+ years old), the resolution of the scanner was better than the print - it showed up the grain in the photo really well! So choose your scanning resolution carefully.

The colour negatives are perhaps the most impressive, almost indistinguishable from photographically produced prints, except that the greens are just slightly brighter than the photographic process.

As others have said, this scanner comes with Photoshop Elements (mine was version 3.0) and this is a truly outstanding piece of image editing software - even while you are learning to use it, the auto-levels will enhance your images dramatically.

All in all, a great package, at