Rating: 
Summary: My first scanner, and I love it! Great for personal use!
Review: After much searching throughout the internet, I finally bought this wonderful scanner here at amazon.com. While I have used scanners before, this one truly blew me away. First of all, you cannot help but noticing the size. I live in a dorm at a university and it was the perfect size! It's only 1.3 inches thick. The USB power supply is also great for small spaces.The photo editing software is also nice. I took a scenic picture from my last trip to Peru and made it into a nice work of "art" with the oil painting feature in PhotoStudio 2000. This scanner is incredibly easy to install and use. Just press the purple button and go. I have a 300 Mhz. computer and I do not have any complaints about the speed of the scanner and the software. It'll scan a good quality picture in no time! And at the now reduced price (...), it's a great deal!
Rating: 
Summary: A nice scanner to use on the road
Review: Although this scanner uses lower-cost CIS instead of CCD sensors, its output quality is very good. Where it lacks a little is in the dynamic colour range; for greyscale and B/W, I cannot tell the difference from consumer-grade CCD units. I like its thinness, and to Canon's credit, the bottom of the scanner is also fairly smooth so that it won't snag on anything when you insert it into your briefcase. Yes, it has a small footprint in addition to being thin. One nitpick I have is that it sometimes draws so much current when it is first connected (large inrush current), that it may turn off the hub because has a large initial current draw (I use Belkin and other brand hubs, and all have the occasional effect). Because of this, I usually plug it into a separate hub of its own, so that if that hub goes down, I can reset it easily without affecting any other USB devices. Only twice so far has the N656U surprised me when it triggered the laptop's USB current protection when I plugged it into the laptop directly without using a powered hub to isolate it from the laptop.
Rating:
Summary: Nice scanner, but a little more expensive than HP.
Review: I actually own the HP ScanJet, but this is a close second. They essentially scan at the same speed and resolution, but this one is a bit thinner than the HP ScanJet. But for that privelege you have to pay an extra $30. Other than that, they are the same - speed, resolution, USB conncetion. Go take a look at the "Hewlett Packard C7682A ScanJet 3300Cse Scanner" for $79. You and your wallet will be glad you did.
Rating:
Summary: Sleek, Compact Size Scanner
Review: I did not know much about scanners nor what to look for. One thing I had in mind was the size. I came across several different types of scanner. Bulky, and poor constructed scanners were all I have encounterd. The Canon was in a class by itself. It features a very slim look and compactness. The printing quailty was superb. It includes serveral programs for all types of users. I, for one, do not know much about scanners, but I do know this Canon prints out great 4X7 prints. With a HP 812C deskjet printer[...] I can not complaint.
Rating:
Summary: Great starter OCR scanner
Review: I got one of these for Optical Character Recognition (OCR). Setup was easy, but the scans are a bit slow. It does a good job of scanning photos for me. The OCR output is about 93%+ for most documents. Books with tight bindings are sometimes difficult to scan accurately, but I haven't found any thing that does a better job in these situations. The image quality is very good, so it is generally easy to make out the correct 'reading' when the OCR can't make out the source. The OmniPage OCR is perfect for my purposes.
Rating: 
Summary: USB Power Troubles
Review: I got the NanoScan N656U Scanner thinking that it was the way to go. Not having to worry about another power cord to keep track of and to find a open power socket to plug into. But after installing it on my eMachine that has Windows Me on it, I was able to get it to preview, but when I tried to scan even on the lowest dpi setting of 75 dpi it would freez up the scanning TWAIN program giving me a errar with a code 30e (I think). I was not sure if it was the eMachine or Windows Me which I have grown to hate both for their cheap parts and constant bugs. I called Canon who was helpful. The 30e code means that the scanner is not getting enough power to complete the scan. At the Canon's personale's advice, I tried it on another computer. I found I could scan at up to 180 dpi with the USB cord provided, I got worse resaults with another USB given with another type of hardware, but I did get better results with a brand name USB cord getting up to 300 dpi scans completed successfully. Canon did suggested that if the problem continued that I could contact them again to get a free replacement or other approvable action. I decided to send it back and got a Visioneer 8???? scanner with USB and two parralel ports and a power cord for around [price] and have had no problems.
Rating:
Summary: USB Power Troubles
Review: I got the NanoScan N656U Scanner thinking that it was the way to go. Not having to worry about another power cord to keep track of and to find a open power socket to plug into. But after installing it on my eMachine that has Windows Me on it, I was able to get it to preview, but when I tried to scan even on the lowest dpi setting of 75 dpi it would freez up the scanning TWAIN program giving me a errar with a code 30e (I think). I was not sure if it was the eMachine or Windows Me which I have grown to hate both for their cheap parts and constant bugs. I called Canon who was helpful. The 30e code means that the scanner is not getting enough power to complete the scan. At the Canon's personale's advice, I tried it on another computer. I found I could scan at up to 180 dpi with the USB cord provided, I got worse resaults with another USB given with another type of hardware, but I did get better results with a brand name USB cord getting up to 300 dpi scans completed successfully. Canon did suggested that if the problem continued that I could contact them again to get a free replacement or other approvable action. I decided to send it back and got a Visioneer 8???? scanner with USB and two parralel ports and a power cord for around [price] and have had no problems.
Rating:
Summary: Plus and minuses
Review: I had difficulty setting up my scanner and had to call technical assistance three times at my own expense (no 800 number), but I finally got it set up with the help of cordial, patient technicians. The main thing I don't like about the scanner is that to copy text to my Microsoft Word, I have to go through several steps to convert the text. It would so much simpler if I could scan it directly. Also, the directions for use are on the enclosed disk. I would prefer a manual. I love the quality of the pictures. Excellent. Also the price was very affordable. I also like the small size and light weight of the scanner. I have no regrets on this purchase.
Rating: 
Summary: The most user unfriendly software--
Review: I have an HP ScanJet 3300C and love it. It works well and is so much fun to use. I went to buy it for my sister and ended up with the Canon CanoScan. Set up was a breeze, not needing an outlet was great but, I thought I was going to throw the scanner out the window. It had the most user unfriendly and ridiculous software I've ever used. Because of this, whether or not the rank of the quality, I truly disliked this scanner and promptly returned it. I do not see what other reviewers see in this scanner.
Rating:
Summary: Been using for over a year and still love it.
Review: I love it even after a year of use. I did have a few initial problems with software installation but I love the Arcsoft photo studio. I use it for editing my scanned photo's and I am very pleased with the results. I even managed to scan a very old photo (sepia) that my daughter had drawn on. I edited it with the Arcsoft program and you can't tell it was ever damaged. The results are fast and quality. The usb plug in is also a dream come true. I had no more plugs left behind my computer and my strips were full.
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