Rating: 
Summary: An Excellent Bang-For-You-Buck Scanner
Review: Canon's new LiDE 30 is certainly a step up in overall image quality when compared to other slimline scanners, especially for under ... I was surprised at how good this scanner was for the price. Canon's adjustable Z-lid feature, a much-needed scanner improvement, is a must if you scan from bulky sources like books or magazines. All photo and text scans made were very crisp and accurate. (Poorer photos will need futher software manipulation to improve their quality beyond the originals.) No power cord--power drawn through the USB cable from the computer--and the lightweight portability of this scanner make it ideal for use with laptops. It can even be set up vertically if space is a problem. The only real drawback to the Canon LiDE 30 is that's it's a bit slow--20 seconds (approx.) for a 4" x 5" photo. Still, in this price range and for a 1200 x 2400 scanner, that's faster than most of the other models at this price. Like most included software packages, the software that comes with the LiDE 30 is adequate for most home uses--though no doubt some can benefit from other scanner software packages available in the aftermarket. If your scanning needs are modest-to-moderate, and your budget demands tight, this is definitely the scanner for you. The best, bar none, in terms of over all quality in this price range that's been offered to consumers up to now.
Rating: 
Summary: Very impressive for the money
Review: I was a bit hesitant to buy this scanner given its low cost, but I find myself very happy that I did. It is very easy to install (just remember to follow instructions and install the software before connecting the scanner to your PC).I've scanned about 50 photos and a dozen documents the past week, with very good results. Documents come out clean and crisp, and photos scan very accurately. What more can you ask for? The only complaint is that it is slower than other scanners I've used. And more DPI scans are very slow. Given that I am only scanning a limited number of documents, that is not a big deal for me. I find the 3 buttons upfront very useful and easy to setup. The first button I use for scanning documents, the second for copying documents, and the third for copying photos. Re: copying photos, I've had inconsistent results scanning multiple photos at once. In multi-scan mode, the software is supposed to automatically recognize and seperate multiple photos, yet I experienced inconsistent results. Not a biggie for me, and I remain very pleased. This scanner is a great value for the money.
Rating:
Summary: great product and software for a low price
Review: I bought this scanner primarily for document scanning & OCR, and it would be hard to find a better value than the LiDE especially if this is your main interest. It comes bundled with Omnipage SE, an excellent OCR app (but with very limited file conversion capability), as well as decent photo editing software by Arcsoft. The 'toolbox' user interface software allows you to create PDFs from document scans, which is helpful since Omnipage SE doesn't do this. It takes about 20 seconds to scan a page, which is a bit long, but if you need to you can scan a whole book reasonably quickly. A great value for the price.
Rating: 
Summary: Not good for Mac OSX
Review: This scanner seems like it would be a good value, but not for Mac OSX users. Mac OSX was an afterthought on this product -- you must download special OSX software from the Canon web site, you must also have Adobe Photoshop 7 and not even the newer version Adobe Photoshop CS, and even then, every time I tried to scan anything Mac classic had to launch. Those are just too many steps and too many restrictions in order to make it a nice experience for Mac OSX users. I recommend avoiding this product if you are a Mac OSX user.
Rating: 
Summary: Disappointed
Review: The LiDE 30 is not a great scanner. I am disappointed with the product. I would return it but Amazon doesn't pay for return shipping costs. The design of the scanner is pretty good. It is slim and does not require a power cord. It has three specific autorun buttons on the scanner. However, it would be better to have only one button that opened the main menu. The scanner can be stood and used on its side. The scanner is slow, but fast enough for occcasional use. Legal size pages do not fit on the scanner. Tech support by phone is very good and accessible. Web based tech support is weak. My main complaint is that the driver for Windows XP is very poor. It is not compatible with the Windows XP built-in scanner wizard. The scanner does not show up as a device in the "My Computer" menu. The driver does not work well with networked printers. The driver will not accept a networked printer as the default printer. Overall, the driver and software are clumsy.
Rating: 
Summary: Good Value
Review: I purchased the CanoScan Lide 30 scanner from Amazon about six months ago so I have enough usage history to have an opinion and I find it to be an adequate scanner for the price. The features I like best are the USB connectivity and the size. The USB cable also powers the scanner and reduces clutter by not having a separate 12volt transformer. The scanner is quite thin (a little more an inch) and compact and can be easily carried in a briefbag for those, as myself, that require portability. I have never used the small stand that allows the scanner to be positioned sideways. The optical resolution of 1200 dpi is generally adequate for me and I would guess would be the same for the average consumer user. The color rendition is passable. The scanner speed is slow but I knew that when I purchased the unit. The most objectionable feature I have found is the scanner produces longitudinal alternating streaks of light and dark that are visible when a photo is zoomed to close range that gives an appearance that could be compared to corduroy fabric. Prior to using the CanoScan Lide 30, I used a HP v40xi, 4 in 1, printer, scanner, copier and fax and the streaks are not seen in these photos. I believe the streaks are probably caused by the LED light source and the LED technology is what allows the scanner to be so diminutive. Since buying the scanner, I have become active in the restoration of old photographs with PhotoShop 7.0 and at times I wish for a higher end scanner and will probably buy another scanner down the road. Even if I owned a second, higher end scanner, I could still find times that I would use the CanoScan Lide 30 for it size and portability and I rate it as a good value for the price.
Rating:
Summary: I like it!
Review: 1. Software installation was easy and straightforward.
2. Connecting the scanner to the computer was easy.
3. Full color preview took 20 seconds.
4. Full color scan took 60 seconds (file size was 18 MB).
5. The scanner is extremely light, and thin. I just scanned a color photo I am really impressed with the scan quality. I highly recommend this scanner for any home user or general business user. Since I just hooked it up 15 minutes ago, I gave it 4 stars because I don't know how durable it is. For the {money} I paid I am extremely satisfied with the Canon LiDe 30. My other scanner is a SCSI UMAX 1260, which is a 3 pass color scanner, I bought in 1995 for {a higher price}. * I have read reviews from users who said the scanner is extremely slow, and others who said it was fast (as it is on my computer). This difference is caused by the USB version (1.0 or 2.0) that is installed in your motherboard BIOS. To really appreciate this scanner, make sure your computer motherboard BIOS is running USB 2.0!
Rating:
Summary: Excellent Scanner
Review: I recently purchased this scanner and very satisfied with its performance.I did not have any problem with installation on my Windows XP pro. I just followed the instructions.
Rating:
Summary: Easy Install and Use
Review: Installed and used with minimal directions. Is my first scanner purchase and is working perfect for personal use. Reccommend for first time user. Using for photos and documents, who needs a copy machine.
Rating:
Summary: The Rube Goldberg of driver installations on OS X
Review: This is hands down the worst user experience for software and driver installation under OS X. I don't think Canon has actually used a Macintosh. The driver installation stuffit archive expands into an installation application. Launching that produces yet ANOTHER installation application. Somewhere in the process, one of these installation applications launches Internet Explorer (despite it not being my default browser) and displays a bunch of screenshots on how to complete the install. Its all very confusing and Rube Goldberg like. It took me 4 tries to get this thing installed. I also notice that the software uses a fair amount of CPU cycles while idle. I would recommend you skip his product if you are using Mac OS X.
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