Canon CanoScan LiDE 35 Scanner

Rating:
Summary: I can't believe Canon made this garbage!
Review: How did Canon, known for quality, let this pile of trash out the door? After having this for 2 weeks, I have not been able to perform 2 scans in a row. Actually I've only been able to scan successfully twice. I get one error message after another; "Is the scanner locked?", "Is the cable in?", "TWAIN error", "Restart toolbox". The motor runs, and strains, then cuts out. The scan bar is noticeably cocked. The manual is indecipherable and useless. Calling the support number results in a 20 minute wait with no actual help rendered. Restarting XP does not help.
Buy ANYTHING else.



Rating:
Summary: Excellent ! Works great with XP.
Review: First. I don't know what the previous reviewer's problem was BUT this scanner works great with Windows XP. I had no difficulty at all with installation.

The Canon LiDE 35 is a very compact scanner powered off of the USB port. For my needs it does excellent quality scans including photos though I use it mostly for documents. It also is much faster than my old Visioneer Paperport. The four front panel buttons make it very easy to make a copy to a printer or archive a document by simply push the button and you are done. To save disk space it can save files to Adobe PDF format which most users can take advantage of with the free Adobe Acrobat Reader.

The Toolbox makes it easy to configure the various scan operations. The included software is great. For image editing it includes ArcSoft Photo Studio 5.5. I like it because it is very easy to crop an image and then resize. Of course it can do a lot more, but those are the two most important features that I use. For OCR it includes OmniPage SE2.0. I have not used it too much but what I like is that I can scan a document and save it to a .bmp file. Then if I right click the .bmp file and select " convert to OmniPage SE2.0 " it opens the program an starts to convert the file to a text document. It works VERY well and is fast. It usually asks a few questions about the conversion and then I can save to a Word file. This is a great feature to convert old documents into Word files so that they can be edited from there.

For the money you can't go wrong buying a Canon LiDE 35 with the performance, small footprint, features, and included software.



Rating:
Summary: A "best" entry level scanner almost substitutes for copier.
Review: I am a private user with no Cannon affiliation. This is a fine product that I hope lasts for years. The scanner and software are a tremendous value for the money. While this is not a full blown professional scanner it is great for what it was made for: getting printed data onto your computer quickly, easily, and cheaply while substituting somewhat for a copy machine and doing some graphics work. The included CanoScan Toobox software makes the scanner do simple functions with ease.

Copy Timing & Quality: I love the copy directly to printer function. You can shrink and enlarge by 25% to 400% or custom % size. The 75-300 dpi setting works fine but the 600 dpi copy function locks up my system and is too slow and the files are too big for my liking anyway. For most quick copy non critical uses the fast 150 dpi setting is fine though text picks up a slightly "blocked up" or "bold" look with fat edges. 300 dpi gives a more normal looking copy. A 150 dpi scan to "copy" in color (color scan looks better even for black and white images in my experience) takes about 15 seconds from start to being dropped on my print spooler. A 300 dpi takes about 30 seconds. Reasonable times compared to most cheap home copiers I've used but not blazingly fast. You have to add your printer's print time to get the total time to make a copy. The copy quality is almost up to a regular copy machine but not quite unless maybe you spend time tweaking the settings. There is a tendency to get a slightly gray rather than white margin with the 150dpi copy that seems to go away on the 300 dpi copy. This could also be due to a smaller bulb in this small scanner verses the larger bulbs in normal copy machines. As I say with some adjustments to the software and at 300 dpi it usually goes away but I just want to automatically copy without adjustments. Buy a dedicated Cannon copy machine if that is what you need and they are reported to me to be better than other brands during this time of "sell it before it brakes" trash office products that are presently available in the mass selling office stores.

File Size: The scan to "copy" function has a jpg file that is rather large and might print slow on some systems. I wish I could adjust the jpg quality level to my desires in speed and quality. 150dpi color gets a decent, fast, scan to printer for a quick copy function and size of about 5-6 meg, 300 dpi is half as fast (makes sense) and much larger in jpg (20-24 meg). The 24 meg is a slow print even from my postscript HP 4500 color laser.

The scan to "file" (pdf) makes smaller files maybe only 10% of the size of jpgs from the "copy" function in my experience. The pdf is more efficient.

The scan to "email" jpg file function uses a more compressed version of jpg that makes a good looking mailable image and allows you to limit the max size of the scanned file. This is of great help to speed emails and get them through servers that don't allow large files. It also will save the file in a folder so you can use this small size jpeg for other uses.

The ArcSoft program is needed to get to 1,200 dpi since the CanoScan tool box maxes out at 300 to 600 dpi depending on options. This is okay since scanning is slow past 300 dpi anyway and the files get big.

Physically: The buttons on the front are reassignable but I don't know why you would want to. They are too hard to read from their low position. Click on CanoScan's "Settings" function to see what they do and to reassign. The top has a flimsy but adequate hinge. The "turn it on the side" attachment is a joke, since HP tried this others follow, but to position correctly you will want the scanner on a flat surface so you can press the top down on the print or magazine, don't delude yourself into thinking that a flat top scanner needs no space. It has no "film" holder which I also consider a joke. You need a clean top and flat film to scan film and most holders cause a small bulge and are more trouble than they are worth.You get a clean glass only by using special cleaners and lint less pads. See: http://www.photosol.com/ and http://www.aztek.com/Products/Aztek%20Imaging%20-%20Scanning%20Supplies(main).htm

Install on windows XP was simple. I have a USB connection straight off my Intel motherboard and had no problems.You might need the Service Pac 2 XP update.

To beat this scanner you have to spend more money like for a medium line Epson Photo scanner and then you would not have the convenient copier business software according to reports that I've read. It is not a full substitute for a copy machine but is fine for most home users. Professional OCR scanners costing thousands of dollars scan faster and use about 200 to 250 dpi as a standard scan so in the scanner world the 150 to 300 dpi for a normal scan at 15 to 30 seconds for a $80 scanner is a good value.

Compared to the HP All-In-One that it replaces for me the Cannon is fun to use. I grew disgusted with the HP so I bought a separate Brother $200 fax and this Cannon scan/copier. The HP's menu system was a mess always jumping back to the beginning, the machine kept telling me the unit was busy when I pressed the copy key a second time rather than using memory to do successive scans, it had cheaply made plastic hinges which broke on the document feeder, it had software problems on Mac, and HP's support is waning because they require serial number and invoice information just for simple support questions...good by HP...hello Cannon. Thank you Cannon and Brother for a great substitutes.

Rating:
Summary: Great, Sleek Scanner
Review: I am completely satisifed with the Canon scanner and love the trim design and LED indirect exposure technology.

Excellent. Contrary to another reviewer's experience, I have had no problems running the scanner with XP.

Rating:
Summary: This one is no good
Review: I brought this scanner to replace my HP Sanjet 5470C which I had for 3 years. The design of Cannon scanner is small and cute. The quality of the picture(8*10) scanned at 400dpi was not sharp, and color is too red. I had to return it to the store because it is no comparison to the pictures I scanned 3 years ago.

Rating:
Summary: total garbage
Review: I have an expensive scanner waiting for parts. In the interim I got this scanner because it looked like a good portable back-up for text scanning and not so important simple images and to save time. I have wasted three days on this thing. Photoshop can't work with it. Import shows the scanner and the manager loads but the image it scans freezes up photoshop. So they suggest you scan it with thier inferior software to a file type that photoshop can understand. One problem - the aquire mode of arcsoft freezes the program. The button on the front of the machine does nothing. OCR can't scan anything, cant open any image files, and if you manage to get a not stretched out partial version of 8 1/2 by 11 page - by switching the lock on and off and disconnecting and reconnecting the USB cable then you are promoted upon importing a pdf to spend another 150 dollars for an "upgrade" to the pro version of omni page to make the conversion. Actually I would rather see results with the 68 dollars I have already spent? What color scans I managed to initiate one way or another have given me these really cool looking red stripe patterns but not the image I was anticipating? I ignored the one guy who said buy ANYTHING else. Boy am I sorry.

Rating:
Summary: Not compatible with XP !!!
Review: I put 3 stars because customer service was very nice and he gave a very great service for 2 hours, although they still couldn't solve the problem.
What they told me is this CanoScan LIDE 35 is not compatible with Windows XP... And I cannot do anything with this scanner..
What I worry about is the shipping fee when I need to send back to Amazon.

Rating:
Summary: Slow, but easy to use
Review: This is not as fast as other scanners I have used, but overall it is easy to use. The scanning process is slow, but this is maybe only an issue if you need to scan several documents as quickly as possible. Otherwise the scanning speed isn't a hinderance to any casual user.

The included software is powerful (includes Optical Character Recognition software so you can scan printed documents and convert them to a text file). Buttons on the scanner allow for easy access to commonly used functions, such as emailing photos, storing images to a file, or editing photos in your favorite image editing program.

The power over USB is also nice for people with fully occupied power strips. There's only one cord to fuss with.
Additionally, the thin profile of this scanner makes it easy to store on a shelf when it's not in use.

Rating:
Summary: The Little Scanner That Could
Review: This scanner is tiny, it is light-weight, and it is USB powered so you don't need to worry about plugging it to an AC outlet. This scanner gives great looking scans with true, sharp colors. With the USB 2.0 connection, this scans fast for most home or small office users.

The set up is very easy, and using it is also very easy. It comes with the CanoScan Toolbox software which is easy to learn. On the scanner are four buttons. You press the SCAN button on the scanner: the scanner scans the picture and opens it with the software of your choice. There is also a COPY button on the scanner: it will scan then print to your default printer. The E-MAIL button: it will scan then open your mail software and put the picture as an attachment. The PDF button creates Adobe PDF files from the scanner. The LiDE 35 has all the features of the LiDE 50 while costing less and weighing less.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent scanner, with a small footprint
Review: Unpacked this great scanner out of the box and had it working in minutes. It is incredibly slim (about 1.5 inches) and light, but one of the great benefits is that it takes power from the USB port and does not require an external power source. Instead of having a large lamp on board the scanner uses LEDs as the light source. Not only does this reduce the power consumption, but my guess is that they will last longer than normal bulbs. (Disclaimer here...the reason we bought the Canon was that the HP bulb burned out and the cost of replacement was prohibitive).

The software that comes with the scanner is easy to use in basic mode, but gives a number of options at advanced mode that are extremely useful under certain conditions.

The programmable buttons work well, with one minor annoyance, that being that to press the button sometimes the scanner slides backwards on the desk. This seems to be due to the strength needed to depress the buttons overcoming the friction of the light scanner on the desk.

Scans are excellent. The scanner is fast and accurate. We have used it for generating content for the web, for copying documents and for general document acquisition. I am very pleased with the way the scanner automatically will detect the outline of the documents and make multiple documents scanned at once accurately available as single digital images.

All in all I am very impressed with this unit, with the build quality, and with the output.