Rating: 
Summary: Nice hardware, worthless software
Review: The scanner itself is nice and a good idea. I pre-ordered this unit because I needed a scanner that would scan flat. I could not wait to get it. Boy was I disappointed. The scanner looks good but the software it comes with is pure junk. I first installed on a win98 machine which the cd claimed was supported. It would not work, javascript errors everytime. I installed on a 2nd XP computer and it worked without the javascript errors. I really needed it to work on my portable 98 system but at least I got it to work at all. I wanted to scan poster size artwork and re-assemble it using the arcsoft panorama software but it does not even work. I never could get it to go past the screen when you arrange your images. The hp scanning driver software is even worse, it will not remember your settings, you have to reload everytime, it closes when you scan from photoshop so you cannot scan multiple images without it taking 5 minutes each. If you scan using the hp software alone to get multiple scans it will autosave to jpegs(junkpegs to graphic artists) which are worthless to me. I need tiffs for the quality. There is no purpose in making a high resolution scan if it is going to be destroyed by saving to a jpeg. There is no option to change the filetype either. This software was clearly rushed to market with no thought as to how it would be used. I tried to get new software from hp's website but the links do not even work to download updated drivers for this scanner. This could have been a very nice piece of equipment but as it is, it is of very limited use and can only be used when you have plenty of time to waste with the software.
Rating: 
Summary: Better than Expected
Review: This scanner I've found turned out to work much better than expected. I needed a replacement when I put my printer/scanner on a network interface and lost it's scanning abilities. I gave this one a try, because of the small space it takes up. But, I was wary of the negative reviews it's been receiving. I got it and installed it. I didn't have any problems with Windows XP. Properly installed with administrator rights, and not making the mistake of hooking up the printer before installing the software, I didn't have any problems with the computer not recognizing the scanner. Admittedly I don't use the HP software, but my own 3rd party software. The software isn't really that good. Scan quality is good. The first scan does take a long time, but subsequent scans are very fast in comparison. The negative and slide scanner does turn out good scans, if you're using the default quality settings of 300dpi. It's better on higher settings, but takes forever to scan. Overall, an excellent buy.
Rating: 
Summary: Not what I had hoped
Review: This scanner is a work of art to look at.
The software is also not too bad.
The slide and negative scanning attachment is really cool. As for everything else, well..
Higher resolution scans are extremely slow. I tried a scan at 600 DPI using maximum bit depth settings for text and graphics, and it took almost *20 minutes*. On the other hand, scanning at 300 DPI with the standard bit depth settings, I got a scan in 1 minute. Not bad, but still, a bit slow for 300 DPI! The quality even at 600 DPI was not what it should have been. If you want the most stylish scanner ever created to date, and don't mind really REALLY slow scans in order to get decent quality, then I'd recommend you consider getting one for yourself. But if you scan lots of documents, and need decent speed-to-quality ratios from your scanner, stay away. And maybe a future driver upgrade will fix some of these shortcomings.
Rating: 
Summary: Nifty design, nice scan, but a little slow
Review: This scanner is versatile, compact, and makes great scans. It was incredibly easy to install on my 3.5 yr old computer (with Windows XP). In the short time I've had it, I've successfully scanned photos, negatives, and text using the OCR feature. The picture produced from the negative was about 3"x5", but was adequate for my needs. The text scan was produced by placing the portable scanning screen over an open book. It produced only a few text errors.
My only complaint is that it's slower than I thought it would be. It's still faster than my 3 yr old Canon, but not nearly as fast as the similarly priced flatbed HP scanner my sister purchased last summer. Perhaps when I have a big batch of pictures I'll still have to go to her house to scan them...
Rating:
Summary: Great Scanner and a work of art at that
Review: This thing looks more like a picture frame than a scanner. It is truly out there as far as its design. It looks great and takes up very little space.
Installation and setup was a breeze. It installed and worked first time. No problems what so ever.
And as for quality, it does a great job. It depends on the quality of the photo. If a photo is grainy it seems to magnify the graininess a bit. But this is easy to fix with any decent photo editor. But if the photo quality is good the scanner does a great job. Colors are very good. Speed is about average for the scanners I've seen. I really have high hopes for the film scanning quality.
The price is high but I would still recommend this unit.
Rating:
Summary: HP ScanJet 4670
Review: We recently purchased the HP ScanJet 4670 and evaluated it in the following areas: Software:
The software is excellent, although the scanner comes with multiple software so it is confusing to know which one to use for what purpose. Speed:
Sometimes it takes up to one minute to warm up the scanner. On average the warm up time is 30 seconds which is relatively fast compared to others. Overall, we are happy with the scan speed. Appearance:
Very stylish look that doesn't take up a lot of space. Price:
It is pricey at $199. Compared to the HP 3970 Flatbed scanner which has very similiar features, we felt that this scanner was expensive.
Rating:
Summary: More Bands Than A Rock Concert...
Review: What can I say? - apart from adding my own voice to the overwhelming chorus of complaint about this scanner?
I didn't intend to buy it, I went shopping for a 'normal' scanner - but I'm a styley sort of guy, and when I saw this techno-icon winking at me from the shelves of PC World I just *had* to take it home with me.
So I did - and after just a few fraught hours with my new style companion I just had to take it right back to PC World again!
The banding problem is absolutely everything that everyone says it is - large light & dark stripes plastered across every single image that wasn't bright white. I tried it on line art, on black & white photo's, on subdued colour photo's, even on a black video cassette box - and every scan was turned into a passable imitation of a well manicured lawn by this infernal machine.
I downloaded drivers, plugged and unplugged the machine while holding various combination of buttons (as per HP wesite instructions) but all to no avail - nothing, but nothing, could persuade that scanner to produce an image without stripes.
So, after reading about the scale of the problem, I realised that I was about to start flogging a dead horse by contacting HP support - and not wanting to waste any further time or money in pursuit of the seemingly impossible (anmely, a properly working 4670) I bundled my stylish friend back into the box and whisked him back to the store to await purchase by someone with more patience than me.
For some reason I've never been terribly keen on HP products - and this brush with the 4670 has only served to further convince me that my prejudice against the brand is a justifiable one.
Incidentally, I purchased a Cannon 35 (for half the cost of the HP) and, while it doesn't flatter my style sense, it does turn out excellent scans with no software glitches - and no fascinating image banding to liven up the pictures.
Blast you Cannon! - you've left me nothing to complain about!....
Rating:
Summary: HP4670 requires USB 2.0 hub on Dell 8300
Review: When the HP4670 was connected to my Dell 8300, the Intel 82801 USB Universal Host Controller reported "Device Not Recognized" and "Unknown Device". The solution is to buy a USB 2.0 hub. The software install reported error 1904, hpgwiamd.dll failed to install; this error can be ignored.
Scanned photos look great. 35mm slides are cumbersome to swap in and out.
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