Rating: 
Summary: Nice for amateur photographer
Review: Slick CanoScan LiDE 80 works well with documents and pictures where 600 dpi resolution is more then enough. Hi-quality full color slide scan with minimum 2400 dpi resolution - this is a real challenge for newly introduced CIS technology. IMHO Canon made it satisfactory with new LiDE 80 model. I don't want to go digital with my Canon Rebel Ti camera, but for inexpensive photo enlargements, graphic works and WEB design projects I need a good scanner, otherwise digital dark-room with powerful Adobe Photoshop post-processing will be unavailable for me. I do my photofinishing in Fuji minilab, "Frontier" can dump my digital images on CD-R in bulk (1840x1232 JPEG with 300 dpi resolution, price ~6$ per roll) - that's all you can get from advanced minilabs today :-(. As alternative, you can buy professional Nikon Super Coolscan with 4000 dpi - it will cost you 10 times more than SOHO flatbed scanner and you'll never be able to capitalize this investment in our "digital" future.Today with CanoScan LiDE 80 I am in control of my pictures! Software bundle is adequate and Elements 2.0 is a real bargain for Adobe Photoshop novice.
Rating: 
Summary: Fast and Convenient
Review: The Canoscan LiDE 80 is easy to use for a variety of applications and the USB Hi-Speed (no longer USB2) interface is super fast and convenient since it not only is the data link, but supplies power to the scanner. If your power hub is as congested as mine, you'll appreciate this bonus. The LiDE 80 comes standard with a film adapter unit so you can scan 35 mm film or unmounted slide film. although the literature claims the film scanner runs at 2400 x 4800 DPI, I don't buy it. My Nikon fim scanner is 2900 DPI and gives MUCH better scans of 35 mm film. No contest. Then again, it was quite a bit more (4X)expensive than the LiDE 80 and only scans film... The LiDE 80 includes software for automatic retouching of scratches and dust - and it also now has grain and fading correction. I tried these features on color photos taken over 50 years ago and was pleasantly surprised with the results. Overall, this is a nice package that goes well beyond the typical bargain scanner.
Rating: 
Summary: Great hardware for the price, terrible OS X software
Review: The image quality is very, very good for a scanner of this price. The size is convenient, the use of USB 2 for power is convenient, the scanner looks good. It's fast at 300 dpi, slower at 600 dpi, and remarkably slow at 1200 dpi.
Two issues, however. First: the box says max resolution of 2400 x 4800; the software shows a max resolution of only 1200 dpi. Yes, 99 times out of 100, 1200 dpi is plenty; but why market as 2400 dpi then? Second: with the exception of the included copy of Photoshop Elements 2.0 (a great deal), the software for OS X is horrible. The installer requires classic to run; and the installer is not necessarily successful in running. I downloaded an update to the drivers, and that was set to run in classic, even though it will only run in native OS X (not classic). I ended up having to install the CD, download the update, and copy the install script from the CD to the correct location in the update to get that installed, and then make an alias in one of the library folders. Compare this to the process for installing a digital camera: just plug it in. So while I'd recommend this as a nice home scanner for the price (don't expect the quality of a professional scanner), I'd also recommend that Canon do something about their installation software.
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