Umax Astra e5470 Scanner

Rating:
Summary: One of a kind
Review: I listened to a rep at a local computer store and purchased the UMAX e5470. After using it for just under 2 years, I am amazed that UMAX is still in business. The software in marginal at best. The scanner is SLOWWWWWW. Look at the UMAX web site as to what it takes to install the scanner under XP. 3 pages of instructions on how to update device drivers. Finally, the main light source burnt out. UMAX now wants $127 + to fix it. Now I have the needed reason to dump this in the trash can and get a real scanner, maybe HP or Cannon.

Rating:
Summary: Fine when it works...
Review: I've had this scanner for less than 6 months and it's worked less than half of the time. It began giving me problems 8 weeks after I bought it by making a heinous clicking sound instead of scanning. I've tried to email Umax 3 times and have been ignored each time. I'm not usually one to dog a company in public, but this is worth noting. I've been using Umax scanners for 5 years and this is my first problem, but it unfortunately makes me wary of dealing with them again in the future.

Rating:
Summary: Not what I expected.
Review: The scanning specifications of the Umax Astra e5470 seem appealing. I chose this unit because of the indicated resolution, built-in transparency adapter, and reasonable price. I was not impressed.

I spent a long day experimenting with this scanner, and I found that both reflective and transparency scans always come out blurry, even without cropping and/or enlarging the image. The result of scanning a photograph is dissatisfying, and the result of scanning a transparency is simply unacceptable. Scanned transparencies come out unclear and without true color, plus there are always disturbing lines down the middle of the scanned image because the transparency light reads and records imagery from the internal scanner parts which are located right underneath the area where it is necessary to place a negative/transparency. Aside from this, the included software is not good. I returned the scanner after one day of throughly frustrating use.