Rating: 
Summary: Good for prints; poor for film
Review: If you want a scanner that will allow you to accurately reproduce color photographs and maybe crop a particular section of a print and maintain an acceptable resolution for printing, then this is a good bet. But don't expect to use it to EVER scan a slide or negative that will be worth printing.If you scan at a resolution worthy of printing a negative, the scanner will leave large streaks throughout the image. And the color will be hit and miss, and even Adobe Photoshop will have trouble correcting the mess this scanner creates. And this is even after using the calibration tool for the LightLid 35 (an included accessory. Some scans of 35mm film were acceptable for screen display, but nothing else. (To Microtek's credit, they explain that the LightLid is really only meant for the purposes of video display. But this information is NOT included in the product information available to consumers before the purchase. It's also not mentioned in many Web-site reviews.) Another word of advice to potential consumers. This unit uses a deceptive labeling on resolution. The important number to remember here, of course, is that it's a 2400 by 4800 resolution scanner. Microtek, for some reason, decided to put that larger number first in its product packaging, likely thinking it could fool consumers who buy a product based on nothing more than the "higher number." How disappointed they'll be, I suspect, when they make scans at 4800 and discover fuzzy images. My advice: If you want a solid performer for doing nothing but scanning in prints, then this will do the job. If you want more accuracy in scanning negatives and film strips, don't waste your time with the included toy. Buy a dedicated film scanner or a brand, even one from Microtek, that has a built-in film scanner.
Rating: 
Summary: Great scanner
Review: Installing it was a snap and i was amazed at the speed it scanns and the quality it produces. In my opinion, for the money, thats the one to have! Only problem is the lid, as it catches when closing it, which i fixed by putting some tape under the lid, right at the rear edge between the hinges. (I took it back because of the flaw and the 2nd one did the same thing and i liked it so much that i decided to fix it and keep it.)
Rating: 
Summary: Professional-grade scanner, except for the imaging quality.
Review: Microtek has a genuine professional pedigree; for years I saw Microtek scanners at the newspapers I worked for. And the 4900 has the apprearance of being a professional model, with sophisticated adjustments for tweaking color, etc. It also has some great features for amateurs, such as seven buttons on the scanner that can be customized, so that you could, for example, scan the same photo at 100 dpi, 300 dpi, 600 dpi, 48-bit, 24-bit, tif and jpeg, all without fiddling with the computer. But the instructions are not written for amateurs, and many features are not clearly explained. The program seems to default to allowing multiple frames, with the result that I got several crop lines on the preview screen I could not get rid of, and multiple images each time I scanned. But don't try looking up "crop" or "auto crop" in the help section - they aren't there. I tried to find out more on the Microtek web site, but it was down. Earth to Microtek: Look at each of your screens and each of the functions on each screen and write instructions for how to use them for your help section, not just a one-sentence label of what they are. The bottom line is quality, and the images are not up to par for professionals. I tried using the film adapter and found it worthless, unable to produce sharp images. But what is worse, I discovered that there was heavy horizontal and vertical streaking. At the maximum optical resolution of 2,400 dpi the vertical streaking was about six pixels wide, and was obvious even on the small preview image. This streaking was typically down to about two pixels wide at 1,200 dpi, and was still visable at 600 dpi. When I switched to a grayscale scan it was even more obvious, meaning the light sensitivity of the CCD sensors was inconsistent. There was also horizontal streaking, though less obvious. When I switch to scanning an opaque subject, the streaking was not quite as obtrusive, but still obvious if you knew what to look for. Since the streaking is visable at 600 dpi, this means the useable resolution of this 2,400 dpi optical scanner is only 300 dpi. At this rate, the images are not even up to par for amateurs. The color of the scans was good, but I would not call it professional. And it did not seem to me to be exceptionally sharp. Scans are fast, but the scanner is slow to respond, so total time is not so good. Loading the driver after clicking on the icon is agonizingly slow on my 566 mhz Celeron, and there is no "wait" icon. The OCR program is the worst I have ever tried to use, and I've owned three other scanners. This may be the right scanner for some people. Basic functions are easy to use - if the scanner does not default to some cryptic mode. But anything more will take several days of experimentation to learn, unless you are a professional. I'm not, and this scanner is going back.
Rating: 
Summary: All Pain, No GAIN !
Review: One Word - WORST EVER SCANNER for Slides.
Wasted a looooooong weekend over this scanner, trying to scan some contrast and some dark slides. No amount of 'Gamma correction' or 'Brightness and Hue/Saturation Correction' could even get it anywhere near right.
Since the built-in software with the scanner was pretty limited, I thought I could try some 3rd party software . But the scanner does not support either of them.
Realllyyyyyyy SLOWWWWWWBR>
Rating:
Summary: Problems with dark colors/shadows
Review: Quality for dark photos and shadows is poor. Dark areas come out with uneven/banded colors. It seems like the severity of the problem changes with where you place the photo on the scanner. The best area I've found is at the top of the bed near the lid hinges. I'm going to exchange mine to see if it is a problem with my specific unit.
Rating: 
Summary: Great sleek scanner; great price
Review: The scanning is done beautifully. I love the fax/e-mail/text copying, as well as the way it handles photos, which are easily adjusted with the Adobe Photo Deluxe included...although their stand-alone options work great! I'm very happy with this USB-based scanner!
Rating:
Summary: Supper Scanner
Review: This is the best scanner for the price .
It does everything the more expensive scanner does.
It is fast and easy to work with .
I think it is the greatist
Rating:
Summary: Works for me!
Review: This scanner works well for me. I'm using it to scan documents and images for web design and it does the job nicely. I haven't tried the slide attachment but since that's a freebie I couldn't complain if it didn't work well. Scanning photographs is simple and the resolution is plenty. The buttons on the front are very nice for doing things like sending a document straight to your printer, or to an e-mail. There is even a button that you can configure to perform a certain task when pressed, like turn the lamp off. THE BAD NEWS: I must press this button every time I start up my computer, unless I unplug the scanner, because the software fails to turn off the lamp after so many minutes of idle time (like it is supposed to do). If I run the software, then it works. After 10 minutes or so the lamp shuts off. I contacted Microtek and told them all about it (It's windows XP, blah blah blah) and they said they can't replicate the problem and have a nice day. Probably won't buy another Microtek when this lamp burns out, which might not be too far away unfortunately. A nice scanner except for that, however.
Rating:
Summary: Good Product, No Service
Review: This scanner works well for me. I'm using it to scan documents and images for web design and it does the job nicely. I haven't tried the slide attachment but since that's a freebie I couldn't complain if it didn't work well. Scanning photographs is simple and the resolution is plenty. The buttons on the front are very nice for doing things like sending a document straight to your printer, or to an e-mail. There is even a button that you can configure to perform a certain task when pressed, like turn the lamp off. THE BAD NEWS: I must press this button every time I start up my computer, unless I unplug the scanner, because the software fails to turn off the lamp after so many minutes of idle time (like it is supposed to do). If I run the software, then it works. After 10 minutes or so the lamp shuts off. I contacted Microtek and told them all about it (It's windows XP, blah blah blah) and they said they can't replicate the problem and have a nice day. Probably won't buy another Microtek when this lamp burns out, which might not be too far away unfortunately. A nice scanner except for that, however.
Rating:
Summary: No gain, All PAIN!
Review: Wont waste too much time on this. It aint worth it !
1. The scanner is darn slow.
2. Go for scanning dark slides and you are in for a real shock. No amount of 'Gamma Correction' or 'Hue/Brightness/Contrast Setting' would set it right.
3. WORST EVER Technical Support. The only free support is email based. Whats worse is that the site doesn't have this 4900 model mentioned in some of its driver updates section. Free Technical support is only for Installation - that too only for the first 90 days. All others s 15$ incidental !
4. Talk about using the good scanning software like VueScan or SilverFast and u'r in for another surprise ! None support this scanner. I have been sitting before this piece non-stop for the past 3 days. Just cant figure out how can anything be sooo horrible. This piece goes back and I can finally have some peace of mind !
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