UMAX Astra 2100U

Advantages: USB, good quality, reasonable price
Disadvantages: speed

The Umax Astra 2100U flat bed scanner is a reliable colour scanner that gives professional quality output at an affordable price with the added bonus of being USB and not parallel for increased speed. I purchased the scanner about 8 months ago now and have used it quite intensively, particularly during the creation of leaflets etc.. as it allows me to incorporate some flashy pictures and I have to say that I am very satisfied with its performance. ...
...you step by step through the process, and includes a software bundle comprising of Vistascan, Vistashuttle, Copy utility and Adobe Photo Deluxe which I think is pretty impressive. The scanner itself connects via USB, and has three butttons to enable one touch functionality - a scan button, a copy button, and a customisable button all increasing the ease and luxury of scanning work. The scanning process itself is relatively slow, but no slower than ... Read review

Advantages: Good size
Disadvantages: Short cable

This scanner is quick and produces good quality pictures. The scanner does install some quite hefty programs that you don't actually need, but these are easy to remove. The main problem with the scanner is that the USB cable is a bit short, so I had to move everything on my desk to get it to work. If the cable falls out you have to restart if you want it to work and this can take sometime. The main program has some novel preferences that save energy, ...
...can produce up to 1600x12600 but these take up a massive amount of hard drive space. The scanner is lightweight and can take quite a bit of damage, such as falling off of a 4 foot high shelf. Thank you for reading my review, could you know (so I know if this was worth while) rate my review. Thanx! ... Read review

Advantages: Inexpensive, adequate software bundle, easy to install and use
Disadvantages: None, given the purchase price

The Umax Astra 2100U flat bed scanner is a reliable colour scanner that gives professional quality output at an affordable price. I purchased the scanner about 6 months ago now and have used it quite intensively and I am very satisfied with its performance. Installation was very straight-forward. The install CD takes you step by step through the process, and includes a software bundle comprising: Vistascan Vistashuttle Copy utility Adobe Photo ... Read review

Advantages: speed, ease of use
Disadvantages: size quit bulky

I purchased this scanner as a upgrade from a older cheaper model. The quality and speed of this scanner offers the features of a professional model at a modest price. The scanner is packed with a collection of software packages which come on 3 CDs , I received the following, a driver disc and Adobe Photo deluxe for windows and apple Mac. The best feature on this scanner is the fact that it can be shared on a network and it is very easy to use as ... Read review

Advantages: Inexpensive, easy to install
Disadvantages: Quite bulky

I purchased this scanner to enable me to produce worksheets and leaflets for work and I have been very satisfied with its performance. This flat bed scanner is quite bulky but affordable. It has been very reliable and gives excellent quality output. The scanning process itself is quite slow, but reasonable for the price bracket it is in. The scanner is easy to install with a step by step CD to follow. There is quite a bit of software included with ... Read review