Rating: 
Summary: Best Bargain for Home!
Review: Last year, after extensive research, I purchased an Epson Perfection 2400 (Photo scanner) for my brother and was dead set on buying one for myself. At that time, there was no other scanner that had its quality and features at a bargain price. Well, I finally decided to buy a scanner and surprise, surprise...it's the Canon FIDE 30. Here's four reasons why: Quality of scan: I think the quality of scan should always be the primary factor in evaluating a scanner. This scanner produces scans equal to those of first-rate "professional" grade scanners like the Minolta Powerlook III (which I have at work). The scanner goes up to 1200 X 2400 dpi resolution and the results are stunning. Price: $70 (about $120 less than the Epson Perfection) Design: The small form-factor metallic body casing is durable and eye-catching. The small footprint is ideal for notebook users who like portability. Power is supplied through the USB connection so you have one less cord to worry about. The three buttons on the scanner for scan, copy, and email functions are a nice bonus (but not really needed). Software: The Canon scan control software is simple and intuitive. The OCR text recognition is excellent. Now for a scanner at this price, I shouldn't be nit-picking but I will anyways for those who need to find faults in a product: 1. The scan speed as other reviewers mentioned is relatively slow. So if you plan on scanning a large number of photos or documents in one sitting, it could get a little frustrating. But if you want quality WITH speed you really should be looking to a "professional" grade scanner (and get ready to spend some bucks). Even then, the speed difference would be seconds and not minutes. 2. The small footprint is great for portibility but for some people it may make the scanner seem flimsy because it is so thin and light. 3. XP users: DO NOT install the software on the cd that comes with the scanner. Go to the website and download the updated versions. Well that about sums it up. To get a scanner like this for $70 is an outright steal.
Rating:
Summary: Great for Travel
Review: I bought the LiDE 30 for use with my laptop when traveling. No power cord is a plus. It's slim enough to fit in the extra compartment of the computer bag right beside the laptop (and because it's lightweight, it doesn't load up the bag). It has a locking device for the moving parts inside. If you forget and leave it locked while trying to use it, it doesn't break. It just tells you to unlock it. The kicker -- it makes better quality scans than my giant multifunction machine. I used it to get high-quality scans of photographs from 1910. After applying PhotoShop, the detail and clarity of the photos far surpassed what the photographer would ever have dreamed -- astounding!
Rating: 
Summary: GREAT HOME SCANNER
Review: I PURCHASED THIS SCANNER AND AM VERY WELL SATISFIED WITH IT. I THINK THE MANUAL THAT COMES WITH IT COULD BE MORE HELPFUL. THERE ISN'T MUCH ON THE OPERATION OF THE SCANNER. THAT ASIDE IT DOES THE JOB IT WAS INTENDED TO DO AT A VERY RESONABLE PRICE
Rating:
Summary: O.K. Scanner & Software; better than I expected
Review: I purchased this scanner specifically for the task of digitizing a box of old, disintergrating/fading old family photos, almost all being Black&White. I tried a few photos at a local copy place, but the $18 per hour (plus $10 CD burning fee) quickly convinced me that I could purchase a scanner for a lot less than what it would cost to scan the photos on an hourly fee basis.
With a few dozen exceptions, this scanner was able to satisfactorily scan my old photos. Even though this scanner has a number of limitations, I gave the scanner the top rating because it did perform as described/intended and is a good value for the dollar. I would buy this unit again. The ease of hardware and software installation was a pleasant surprise, and are easy to use. Even the included OCR software suprised me with the quality and accuracy of the resulting Word or PDF documents; it even could, with a little tweaking, scan and convert tabular information. (This is an added, unexpected benefit, as I have a 200+ page document, mostly tables, that I have always intended to convert to PDF format but postponed the task due to the emense retyping involved.)
I have always disliked the "Stars" and "Best Buy" rating systems as I have been 'bitten' several times when I bought some highly rated products. No product is perfect; all have things that it can do well, and some things it can't do well (or at all). If you are unfortunate enough to buy a top rated product that can't do the one thing that you need it to do, top rated or not, you have wasted your money. [It is interesting to note that many 'impartial reviews' tend to rave about a product's good points and 'gloss over' deficiencies.]
So, you should be aware of what this scanner could NOT do for me:
.It does not scan transparencies (I had one 4 X 6)
.It has a VERY limited depth of focus: things not in intimate contact with the scan plate WILL be out of focus (a dozen or so photos mounted on stiff, warped backings could not be satisfactorily scanned, even with a phone book on the scanner cover)
.The scan plate is recessed making scans of oversized items impossible: the item is not in contact with the glass and thus out of focus (I had a couple of oversized photos and a few 8 X 10 photos permanently mounted on an oversized backing/frame that could not be scanned satisfactorily)
Also, the unit is a bit 'flimsy' (dropped my mechanical pencil on the cover and it left a 'door dingy') and the cover not heavy enough to flatten the folds even in standard paper to maintain full scan plate contact without assistance (phonebook).
Rating: 
Summary: Problems with the newer ones?
Review: Bought one 6 months ago and love it. Got another one for my sister but the background scan had a green tint to it plus it made a scratchy sound when scanning. Return it for another one, this time the scan image had a green tint to it. Both were brand new at the store so I can't figure out what the problem was?
Rating:
Summary: Love it!
Review: I bought this recently and am very happy. Its small, quiet and works exactly as described. Absolutely no problems setting it up in Windows XP - took just a few minutes. It only has one cable - USB - that provides connectivity to the PC AND power to the scanner! Very convenient and keeps me from adding yet another cable to the tangled mess behind my computer desk!
Rating:
Summary: The LiDE 30 or LiDE 50? - Depends on your USB Capability
Review: I read the great reviews here (and elsewhere) on the LiDE 30, prompting me to buy the newer, faster 50. I have USB 2.0 ports and wanted the better performance ? and wasn't disappointed! The 50 can scan a full 8.5x11 color image in less than 30 seconds at 300dpi, including several seconds for the scan mechanism to reposition itself afterward. The optional "preview" was so fast it wasn't worth timing. My guess is 5 seconds or so for the above preview. I won't rehash all the nice features of this scanner since many of you have read the LiDE 30 reviews. It seems to be an LiDE 30 with impressive USB 2.0 Hi-Speed performance added. It's also capable of generating 48bit color output and 16bit monochrome output, whereas the liDE 30 is half that, not that this is really important. 24bit is 16 million colors and 281 trillion colors is something I don't relate to. Aside from speed, I was pleased with the space saving design and attractive "stainless steel" appearance. The scanner bed has sufficiently high edges to allow me to easily position a sheet of paper in proper alignment, without it trying to climb over the edge. A lot of human engineering went into this product! Windows XP really loves this machine. The software installed without the slightest hiccup. This scanner is as hot-pluggable as any device could be. XP recognizes its presence and absence immediately. Even though the LiDE series requires no power source other than from the USB port (boy do I enjoy the absence of another power brick!), I prefer to remove power from the scanner when it's not in use and it's a snap to pull the cable from the front USB port. (If you're curious, the LiDE requires 498mA against the standard USB output of 500mA. Probably 10% or less of the current draw of CCD technology scanners.) The package comes with some impressive looking software but all I wanted to do was scan images from PaintShop Pro and Adobe Acrobat and enjoy convenience copying. There is appx. 500MB of software if you load everything but I only installed the XP Driver and the CanoScan Toolbox. I did this not because I didn't want the other software, but really to see if the scanner would be fully functional without it (including the 4 "one-touch" buttons). I was glad to discover that the CanoScan Toolbox has everything that's required to Copy, Scan to a program (PaintShop Pro?), Scan to email, and Scan to a file (including a PDF file). You may like some of the other programs they offer if you want to try your hand at OCR, manage photo albums, and similar tasks. I did install the Adobe Photoshop Essentials 2.0 because I respect Adobe software and wanted to see what this entry level image editing program can do. Not counting the 95MB for Photo Essentials, the driver and Toolbox took only around 30MB or less out of the potential 500MB. The CanoScan Toolbox is very functional, impressive software. It allows you to setup 7 discrete type of scans with their unique resolutions, scan method (color, grayscale, etc.), paper size, your printer, specify your pet image editing program, etc. Then, you can associate your choice of 4 of these 7 functions with any of the 4 physical buttons at the front of the scanner. Canon has preset reasonable defaults. There are a couple negatives to be aware of. CIS technology, as has been reported by some LiDE 30 users, is sensitive to the item scanned hugging the glass. This is quite true and even a thin pamphlet will produce a distorted scan, especially at page edges and corners where there's curl. The solution is to press the lid down to flatten the page against the glass. Consider this if you do a lot of scanning from magazines and books. Another negative is my mild disappointment with the automated scan functions and single button functions --- a bit overrated in my opinion. Scanning to a program or file creates a JPG file first and then saves it and/or gives it to the image editing program. The quality of that JPEG was not to my satisfaction and I'd rather have the imaging program manage the scan and work with the raw scan data. PDF files can be created automatically but may be a bit bloated and can have a grayish background. This can be improved considerably by choosing "Text Enhancement" or "Black and White" as the scanning mode. If you want to create an occasional PDF file, the Toolbox can do it for you rather easily. The scanner appears to be durable. I scanned 120 8.5x11 color glossies over a 2 day period and it didn't breathe hard or make any strange sounds. It's also pretty quiet, in my view, although a few have complained it was loud. It could easily be used in a home office environment while you're talking on the phone. Today I called Canon's technical support to ask some "how-to" questions. It was not toll-free but I got through very quickly and the technician was extremely courteous, knowledgeable, and generous of his time. After one year, they will continue to help but at only $10 an incident. Very good first impression here! I hope you learned something about the LiDE 50 and its software and technology from this review. If you're on the fence between Canon and another vendor, you'd likely be happy with the LiDE series. If you're on the fence between the LiDE 30 and 50, you'd save $$$ and probably be just as happy with the 30 if you don't have USB 2.0 capability or plan to install a PCI USB 2.0 adapter. (Canon explicitly supports a wide array of Adaptec adapters.) Good luck with your decision and enjoy the Canon experience if you take the plunge.
Rating: 
Summary: faulty buttons
Review: My buttons also do not work. Reinstallation did not help. I returned my scanner and got a new one. The buttons still don't work. Has anyone figured out what the problem might be?
Rating:
Summary: Thin but noisy
Review: This is a sleek scanner that performs well overall. No adapter needed for power in most computers including mine which is a Toshiba Satellite laptop. You can have it to stand on its side as well. On the other hand, it is more noisy compared to other scanners, so if you really want to get it, try to see it in action first. The noise is not that disturbing but definitely noticable.
The three buttons that come on the scanner do not work at all and other users have had this complaint so there is a good chance yours won't be working if you purchase it! I would recommend this product esp. at the price Amazon is offering but if you don't like noisy and screechy scanners, you would be better off with another one.
Rating:
Summary: compact scanner at a great price!
Review: no problems with installation. scanned images from many different sources for a number of powerpoint presentations - images looked great. highly recommended
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