The 1212p (the 'p' stands for parallel port version) is getting quite and old piece of kit now and can therefore be picked up relatively cheaply ( try www.morgancomputers.co.uk for instance). But a bargain is only a bargain if it performs the tasks you require.
I purchased this scanner almost a year ago and have been using it to scan photos and articles to send via email and place on the web - this does not require a very high resolution and accurate colour reproduction isn't a high priority. Having said that it was a bonus that the 1212p has a resonably good resolution and produces accurate colour reproduction (at least on my monitor!). I have scanned photos in at digital-photo printing quality (300dpi) and it performs well at this resolution.
The quality of the scans are high, but the speed to produce them isn't amazing - my father has a canon scanner of a similar resolution and makes mine seem like a snail! The speed isn't too annoying if you only have a few scans to do, but if you intend to do a lot of scanning of large pictures at a high resolution you may well be advised to look elsewhere. I have also found that sometimes the scanner has trouble with documents placed near the edges of the scanning surface - the documentation does advise you to, where possible, place documents near the centre - but this isn't always practicle if you want to scan several photos at once. The scanner is reasonably quite in operation so isn't intrusive as it works away!
The software provided seems to work well on Win98, although I did have a problem when I installed my WebCam software first and then the scanner software (only do b/w scans). This was only resolved by installing the scanner first and then the webcam s/w - I do not know what software caused the problem so it may not have been to do with the scanner at all!
One BIG problem I have now is running the scanner software under Win2000. The software DOES NOT run under win2000 and their website states that they do not have any intention of producing a version to run under windows 2000 - I guess they want you to purchase a new scanner at some point in time and figure that this approach is one way to twist your arm! Luckily I have a dual boot system so I do not have to upgrade at present, but at some point in time the build quality of the scanner will have out lasted the software support provided by the company!
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Great op full of relevent info - I am on the look out for a scanner but this sounds a bit slow. Are you going to reinstall 98 so you can still use your scanner or are you gonna upgrade? Nicola:)
Advantages: Easy to use, easy to install and very good quality scanned pictures Disadvantages: Needs to be switched on before you boot up your computer or it may not function as it should
mumagain 09.05.2001 ·
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Review of Agfa SnapScan 1212p
Advantages: Affordable, fast scans, good quality, crisp colours, easy installation, choice of drivers Disadvantages: Advanced driver can be overwhelming, parallel port connection
cjkace 27.03.2001 (07.10.2001)
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Review of Agfa SnapScan 1212p
Advantages: Cheap, parallel port, fast and friendly service, good software included. Disadvantages: Erm, haven't found any yet, except the OCR (text editing) software was hard to setup properly.
PeterFarrell 01.09.2001 (02.09.2001)
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Review of Agfa SnapScan 1212p
Jul 25th, 2001
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