I have had an HP Photosmart scanner and printer for over a year now. Sadly,
the printer is already "discontinued". For negatives, even the original
Photosmart is a tough deal to beat. The new S20 model is an improvement for
sure, especially with slides. It is a versatile device, scanning film (35mm
only) at 2400 dpi and flat art (prints) up to 5x7 inches at 300 dpi. The
supplied SCSI card is not the greatest, but it works.
The standard HP provided software is the weak link in the system. I use
"Vuesmart" for bulk scans, see http://www.hamrick.com for details. It gives
me *much* more control over the scan and will do whole strips of five in one
scan, then save them as individual files. "For the money", the Photosmart
is hard to beat. The next increment is a long step dollar-wise for, in my
estimation, a small increment in resolution. But, before someone points it
out for me, resolution isn't everything. A key capability of the higher end
scanners is the image gamma. For the Photosmart, it is only 2.2; more
expensive units go beyond 3.0, a very good thing.
For the vast sums of money we spend on lenses, the effort on technique and
the endless fascination with specs, a good justification can be made for the
more expensive, new generation, of scanners. A year ago I did not have
those options. A year later I am still satisfied with my choice.
John P
______________________________________
there is no "never" - just long periods of "not yet".
there is no "always" - just long periods of "so far".
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