MINOLTA DiMAGE Scan Elite 5400 35mm Film Scanner

Rating:
Summary: I like it
Review: After about one month using this scanner, I am very happy with what I got for the money. In fact, I liked it so much I bought two!
It is simple to use and gives almost professional results for a much less than professional price. The HW based cleanup features work great, even on Kodachrome slides, though it slows the scanning process considerably. But hey, good things are worth waiting for. I use the scanner basically for two things: output for the internet and output for making prints. I can scan 4 slides at 72 dpi with no image cleanup in about 4 minutes, including loading and unloading the slides. The same 4 slides will take about 40 minutes with image correction turned on, at high enough resolution for 8x10 prints. The results are outstanding!
If you are serious about finally doing something with all those old family photos (slides or negatives), this is the scanner for you.

Rating:
Summary: gets it done.
Review: I like this scanner. It is very simple to operate for basic scanning, and it includes a great scanning software to help you with more complicated tasks. The value is incredible. I have printed my scans from this scanner in 13x19 size and larger with success. Digital ICE and Pixel Polish are two welcome features that you'll be thankful for. Compare this unit to similar from Nikon or Cannon and you'll see the value Minolta had thrown at you.
The software allows basic image manipulation, such as crop, rotate, chose resolution, size, etc. Additionally, it offers you to correct color gamma, exposure and focus. There are Photoshop like controls, if you'd like to apply changes to the image.
4 slides or 6 negative shots at a time. Not very noisy - just a high pitch sound with a little humming.
Don't base your opinion on one review from a guy with a faulty unit - what product doesn't have at least one not working unit?

Rating:
Summary: Faulty design useless for serious work
Review: Please, check out postings on serious digital photography forums before even considering this scanner. I would suggest the Digital Darkroom forum at www.photo.net (you can search for DSE 5400 related threads) and especially the Film Scanners forum at www.photo-i.co.uk.

Regarding my personal experience with this scanner, my unit was faulty right out of the box (the "green lines" problem, see forums for more). As of now my (less than one month "old") scanner has been at Minolta repairs service once where it was cleaned. NOTHING was actually done to repair the problem despite the truckload of info (including my original slides and their scans) that I'd assembled for the repairs service. In the next few days the scanner will be shipped out for repairs again but I have a big suspicion that my problem will be ignored just as the first time.

This is what I think about this. Yes, if you are lucky to get a perfectly operational unit, it would produce excellent scans for you. However, my feeling is that Minolta is pushing a poorly designed and tested product that is inherently faulty and susceptible to various quality problems. Currently the risk of getting such faulty unit is fairly high, and if you read this post then you know how you will be treated by Minolta repairs. Minolta appears not to be an honorable company. There is a big chance that if your unit is not operating as it should it will not be repaired but you will not get a refund for it either.