Rating: 
Summary: I expected a fight
Review: Almost everytime that I buy something for my computer, I have to fight to get it to work. I'm a software Developer, so I know my way around computers pretty well. After struggling for 5 hours to get some new peripheral to work, I often wonder why non-geeks put up with it. HP used to be my default brand for everything, especially printers and scanners. I've had such bad luck the last few years with them, that I'm reluctant to purchase anything from them, except laser printers. So, even after reading all of the wonderful reviews about this Cannon scanner, I was still surprised that the installation went so well...put in the CD, click a few buttons, connect the scanner, begin scanning. I really like this little scanner...one cable, no power cord. It scans pretty fast and doesn't require warm up time. Cannon has showed me that it is possible to make quality computer add-ons at a low price. In addition, I also recommend buying this from amazon.com, instead of just reading the reviews and buying it from somewhere else. I could only find the LIDE 30 model in the stores I check, and the price was $30 over the price here, plus there isn't tax. I used the Supersaver for free shipping and it got here in 3-4 days. Impressive!
Rating: 
Summary: Unfortunately, it didn't work out
Review: As usual, very impressed with Canon. Packaging is supreme: you open the box, the documentation is all neat in a plastic bag, screaming to be taken out first, then the scanner itself wants to come out second. Installation was a snap: I have Mac OSX, so I first downloaded the driver from the canon website, and after restarting my computer, the scanner appeared seamlessly in Photoshop's Import feature. The software interface was very user friendly: both basic and advanced modes were possible. The basic mode is very simple - preview and scan, pretty much. The advanced mode has color and resolution adjustment, among other things. The speed was pretty quick for a device which powers itself through the USB cord. Very quiet, too.
Scanning of black and white text was excellent at 300 dpi, but not legible at 72. However, scanning of photographs or color pictures in a book is the reason I'm returning this scanner. I scanned a dozen or so different pictures, and all were significantly off in their color balance. Some were too red, some were too dark, some were too green. And obviously so. Of course I was able to bring the levels back to normal using Photoshop, but this shouldn't be necessary. As a comparison, I never had to go through color balance adjustment with Canon's LiDE 80.
I expected more. Easy to unpack, easy to use, black and white scanning worked great. But color scanning was subpar.
Rating:
Summary: Very nice scanner.
Review: Beautiful imaging quality, quick, quiet, small footprint. I'm impressed by the whole package. Works great with my Canon i550 printer. Quickest install of hardware that I've ever done. All function perform as promised (all buttons work, etc.). A very pleasant suprise. Note: This scanner was picked as the best available under 100 Pounds Sterling by U.K. PC Mag. I agree.
Rating:
Summary: Mixed results with new Macs
Review: Executive summary: the scanner has good and bad points.The immediate problem is that the drivers available as of 9/2003 do not support Apple's new USB2.0-based Macs (G5, new iMac). Canon acknowledges the problem and says they're working on new drivers, but no promise on when they'll be delivered. Another, less obvious downside is that the current generation driver leaves a background process running whether or not the scanner is plugged in, which process prevents the computer from going into "sleep mode" on its own (OSX 10.2). Also, I noticed that when I linked the scan button to PS Elements, it started Elements in classic mode (solution: link to files Preview, or scan from within Elements). Again, as others have noticed, it can be slow and noisy. I do believe that when it works with USB2.0 Macs, it will be faster; currently, some scans finish (in the scanner) while data remains to be transferred to the host. Lastly, the OCR software still runs only in classic mode. So, what are the good points? For one, price. For another, its form factor, including the fact that it's USB-bus powered (even with a PowerBook) -- no wall wart or line lump required. With the driver installed, you don't have to start the "Canon toolbox" program to use the keys on the front of the scanner, and once you've configured the software, there's no delay to click buttons on-screen to make the scanner scan (for example, to copy). Four buttons are nice, too. Less obviously, its origin for scanning is at the front left of the scanner, rather than the back; if you need to scan a bunch of cards or 4x6 photos, it's more ergonomic. I haven't tried the "Z-fold" lid trick yet with books. I haven't used it enough to judge its quality with color photos, but scanning index cards in black&white or grayscale, or using it as a black&white copier, it seems fine. I think the scanner is a keeper, but then, my requirements are for a simple flat-bed scanner, and not for a graphics powerhouse model. If it were working with my USB2.0 iMac today, I'd rate it a star higher.
Rating:
Summary: Easy to use, good results -- RECOMMEND
Review: I bought this scanner after a couple of weeks of research at consumerreports.com, epinions.com, amazon.com, etc. Finally decided to buy this unit for my small office graphic scanning needs (small web design firm). I couldn't be happier. It is VERY easy to install the software and get the scanner up and running -- less than 10 minutes! Unbelievable. I previously had a scanner that took forever to warm up and almost every time gave me a conflict error with my printer (I had to daisy chain the printer and scanner). The USB/power cable is a fantastic idea. I just started scanning some previous magazine work I did and the results are good -- I have yet to work out the specifics of adjustment. However, due to the ease of which this installed and was ready to use, I have no doubt that this will be a piece of cake also. I highly recommend this scanner.
Rating: 
Summary: Mac OS X Users Be Forewarned!
Review: I first pick this scanner because it was nice and compact looking, with an eye catching silver slim design. It had USB 2 and good resolution, but like most scanners doesn't have too many other features. It ran fine on my PIV XP laptop with 512mb, the driver and software install perfectly on the first try. People, who say they have software issues, should reformat their machine, because there are some software or memory conflicts from human error. Usually people install thing and erase system files improperly or accidentally. Performances:
Scanning images on this machine is fast and the scans look great. Its actual scanning perform is a lot better then the machine that replaced it. The HP 6110 all-in-one scanned a lot slower and produced very grainy images. Canon's scans were much smoother quality. Bad bulb that went lights out:
I like everything in this little scanner, but Canon cut corner on two major issues. The first, which was the reason I had to return it, is: there is no ON/OFF switch. The scanner power up through the USB cable when the computer turns on. Sometime I leave my laptop on for whole day, which also leaves the scanner on for a whole day: this is how I figured the light bulb died within the first month. At first, I unplugged the USB cable, but over time you forget or get careless. Maybe there is a setting to control this, but it was too late. Canon cut corner on the ON/OFF switch simply to save money. The other smaller problem, but annoying feature is the driver software doesn't let you customize scanning sizes. After using a HP for years, I would like to pick my own scan size, sometime like 72dpi or 350dpi. Canon preset dpi in increment of 100s is annoying. The return to the store
Good thing the bulb died on the 28th day so I got to return and exchange for a more feature HP 6110, but with lesser performance rating. I stayed away from Canon's cool but cheaply constructed design, until the overly impressive Canon's I960 photo printer changed my mind.
Rating: 
Summary: Cool design with no ON/OFF switch that went lights out.
Review: I first pick this scanner because it was nice and compact looking, with an eye catching silver slim design. It had USB 2 and good resolution, but like most scanners doesn't have too many other features. It ran fine on my PIV XP laptop with 512mb, the driver and software install perfectly on the first try. People, who say they have software issues, should reformat their machine, because there are some software or memory conflicts from human error. Usually people install thing and erase system files improperly or accidentally. Performances:
Scanning images on this machine is fast and the scans look great. Its actual scanning perform is a lot better then the machine that replaced it. The HP 6110 all-in-one scanned a lot slower and produced very grainy images. Canon's scans were much smoother quality. Bad bulb that went lights out:
I like everything in this little scanner, but Canon cut corner on two major issues. The first, which was the reason I had to return it, is: there is no ON/OFF switch. The scanner power up through the USB cable when the computer turns on. Sometime I leave my laptop on for whole day, which also leaves the scanner on for a whole day: this is how I figured the light bulb died within the first month. At first, I unplugged the USB cable, but over time you forget or get careless. Maybe there is a setting to control this, but it was too late. Canon cut corner on the ON/OFF switch simply to save money. The other smaller problem, but annoying feature is the driver software doesn't let you customize scanning sizes. After using a HP for years, I would like to pick my own scan size, sometime like 72dpi or 350dpi. Canon preset dpi in increment of 100s is annoying. The return to the store
Good thing the bulb died on the 28th day so I got to return and exchange for a more feature HP 6110, but with lesser performance rating. I stayed away from Canon's cool but cheaply constructed design, until the overly impressive Canon's I960 photo printer changed my mind.
Rating:
Summary: I can't say enough bad things about its OS X Drivers
Review: I got one of these for a friend and I am appalled at how bad the drivers are for OS X. The scanner does NOT work with OS X's "Image Capture" application, and the provided application is hideous. It looks ugly.
It has horribly translated dialogs and instructions.
I can't even allow you to select standard applications (such as Preview) for viewing the scans.
Rating:
Summary: Awsome Scanner Dudes!
Review: I had a Canon FB630 that went belly up so I bought a Epson perfection scanner because Consumer Reports rated it a fast scanner. Yeah Right! Its fast alright, after it takes time to warm up. So I sold the Epson and bought the Canon Lide 50, Damm! I thought it was the second coming of Christ! No warm up, goes right into a scan and its fast. The scans come out very clean. I would highly recommend this scanner to anyone. The only thing I miss is the Fax button on the canoscan toolbox.
Rating:
Summary: I thought this was supposed to work with windows XP!
Review: I have a fairly new computer with a 2GHz AMD, 1gig ram, onboard USB 2.0 and plenty of HD space. The computer would recognize the scanner and install the drivers, but the scanner would not operate. I purchased and installed an adaptec USB 2.0 controller hoping it would solve the problem since Canon certified compatibility with it, and it still didn't work. My old scanner still works OK with the new computer, and I managed to get this new canon LiDE 50 to work with my old computer with USB 1.1!!! Go figure. I would definately not recommend.
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