Now, I'm going to try desperately not to be biased now, but my Astra 2000P was broken before I even got it out of the box. A dark omen, you might have thought? Yeah, well...
We originally got the scanner simply because we happened to be in the store (which shall remain nameless, needless ... Read review
Advantages: Good resolution, easy enough to use Disadvantages: Breaks down, not compliant with ANYTHING, not login sensitive, bloated software
Now, I'm going to try desperately not to be biased now, but my Astra 2000P was broken before I even got it out of the box. A dark omen, you might have thought? Yeah, well...
We originally got the scanner simply because we happened to be in the store (which shall remain nameless, needless to say I'm not pleased with them) buying a printer.
The Astra 2000P comes at a very reasonable price. We took it home, found the installation ... ...an inordinate amount of software) and set it up.
The initial specifications of the Astra seem tempting: 1200dpi resolution, enhanced to 9600dpi with software, parallel connection, fast, etc. But don't let them fool you.
The Astra does seem to appear as a bit of a behemoth. It is quite a bulky, ugly scanner in itself, and the software is no different. 200MB of mostly crap descended on our hard drive like the forces of ... more
Now, I'm going to try desperately not to be biased now, but my Astra 2000P was broken before I even got it out of the box. A dark omen, you might have thought? Yeah, well...
We originally got the scanner simply because we happened to be in the store (which shall remain nameless, needless to say I'm not pleased with them) buying a printer.
The Astra 2000P comes at a very reasonable price. We took it home, found the installation to be quite easy (although it does seem to require an inordinate amount of software) and set it up.
The initial specifications of the Astra seem tempting: 1200dpi resolution, enhanced to 9600dpi with software, parallel connection, fast, etc. But don't let them fool you.
The Astra does seem to appear as a bit of a behemoth. It is quite a bulky, ugly scanner in itself, and the software is no different. 200MB of mostly crap descended on our hard drive like the forces of darkness.
If you use computer login functions on your PC, be weary when considering this scanner. The scanner's software will only operate within ONE login. Therefore, whenever you want to scan something, you have to exit your own personalised desktop, with your fluffy bunny wallpaper, and journey into the system-green realm known only as normality. AARRGGHH, I can't take it!
Strangely enough, the actual scanner software was very easy to use. Click, drag, click, wait. Simple. Aaaah, but wait until the rest of the bundle churns into action.
Yes, this bunch of mindless RAM-hogging drivel will annoy you for countless days. The 'Inbox' is quite simple to use, allowing several views of images, and even simple editing functions.
But the software does seem to be bloated. Extra functions leap out at you from all directions, most of which you will never even contemplate using. I mean, are you really going to want to e-mail every single 10MB image you scan to everyone in your address book? No I thought not. But we are patient people, so we gave it a chance...
We then watched in terror as my latest computer game (incidentally called 'Dark Omen' completely ripped the thing apart, taking the printer with it. It seems the scanner's software doesn't work well with...er...anything really. One airborne computer game and one reinstallation later, and the scanner was working again. But the saga had only just begun...
Within 2 weeks, the scanner stopped working. We reinstalled. It then began to work, but scanned all colour as green and yellow stripes. Oh, goodie. The scanner's broken.
So, it was a trip back to the store where we bought it. They kept telling us that it was a software problem, and so they couldn't do anything. God these people do talk some crap.
We got an independant view (hardware problem, suprisingly), told the store people where to stick it, and got a new scanner. Woohoo! So we took it home and set it up.
Green and yellow stripes.
This is all beginning to get a bit tedious, don't you think? The second scanner was actually worse than the first one; not only did it scan in green and yellow, but it decided that it might be fun to delete every file we scanned, and have a good rummage aound our drive for anything else it could delete.
Sadly (?), this scanner went the way of the first. We refused to accept another Astra, and we now have a HP ScanJet 3400C, which works a treat, is a doddle to use, and is a great shade of funky blue.
My advice is to never buy an Astra as long as you live. If you do, I can personally guarantee that it won't last a month. The software isn't that bad, even if it is a bit bloated. I just don't appreciate having my scanner break down on me every two weeks. :-)
The UMAX Astra 2000U, comes in a USB format for the easiest of setups.
Software also came with the package with a nice bundle of Adobe applications for great picture editing.
The scanner is of a good quality, desgined well. I wouldn't say it was fast at scanning, but since this is my first scanner, what do I have to compare???
It scans from simple text, to detailed photos. Also offers a preview text so you can see what your scanned image would ...
robertliu84 03.08.2000
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of UMAX Astra 2000P
Advantages: Good build quality, speed, price for features Disadvantages: Cheaper scanners out there
...cannot, produce. The UMAX has, for the price, provided a suitably good output for the sake of document management (200 dpi B&W) at a very good speed. Often one finds that with parallel ports scanners they can be dogged with poor warm-up speeds and there is little attention paid to the speed of the scanner internal scanning hardware because of the expected delays with the parallel port interface. UMAX seem to have taken a different approach is generating ...
AndreBoyle 14.08.2000
· Read full review
Review of UMAX Astra 2000P
Advantages: good price, great selection of software Disadvantages: No
...resolution, software, etc. With the UMAX Astra 2000P, you get a surprisingly good scanner with few compromises, at a great price.
Now, I didn't say the UMAX Astra 2000P comes without any compromises, and it's best to get that out right up front. The scanner does have one issue; its speed. Because the Astra 2000P is a parallel port scanner (hence the "P" in the model name), it's slow compared to scanners that connect to computers by other means, ... ...delivery is possible. Third, the UMAX Astra 2000P has good specs', including 600 x 1,200 dpi optical resolution, and 36-bit color. Fourth, it comes with a great selection of software, including an OCR package, a graphics program, and even a business card scanning utility. Fifth, the scanner even comes with a parallel port cable. Last, setup and installation is very easy; you can do it in 5 minutes out of the box.
How is the scanner in use? It's ...
Advantages: good price Disadvantages: persistent failure
...I used to have a Umax Astra 2000P parallel-port flatbed scanner, but after the third one went wrong, I asked Umax's UK support provider to give me something else, because the darn thing would always go wrong when I most needed to copy a document or scan something.
I don't know if this is the experience of other users, but the parallel port model was nothing but trouble from the start.
The problem was always scanner connection. VSaccess used to ... ...that was it. The last problem occurred during a scan - my machine hung whilst it was scanning happily, but following reboot the scanner was permanently undetectable.
I now have a 2200 instead, which has worked fine (so far), but did need me to go and buy a scsi card. ...
markedwards 05.01.2001
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of UMAX Astra 2000P
Advantages: Great quality, nice price, cool software Disadvantages: Slow
...the process of scanning.
Umax Astra 2000 has a quite good quality. Conclusive dignity of this model is best color reproduction and balance on gray. It is necessary to mark good parameters of an actual resolution and high stability of a light source, and also functional software equipped with two interfaces.
Umax Astra 2000 it is possible to consider as quite good purchase for those who attends mainly to scanning of color images (including photos) ...
iharsh 29.11.2001
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of UMAX Astra 2000P
epson p-2000
B31B174012CU,B31B174012,B31B174012C2- Digital AVplayer -AAC, ...
Product Information for "UMAX Astra 2000P" »
Scanner
Input Type
Colour
Grayscale Depth
12-bit grey
Colour Depth
36-bit colour
Optical Resolution
600 dpi x 1200 dpi
Interpolated Resolution
9600 dpi x 9600 dpi
Scan Mode
Single-pass
Scan Element Type
CCD
Bulb / Light Source Type
Xe-gas cold cathode fluorescent lamp
Scan Speed
39 sec / page (colour)
Compliant Standards
TWAIN
Manufacturer's product description
The UMAX Astra 2000P is the ideal scanner for home and office. It features intelligent scanning software that simplifies the scanning process. With the Parallel Port interface, setup is simple. Just plug in the scanner, install the software and you're up and running in minutes. Use scanned images to add excitement to your documents, reports and Web pages, or share images by e-mail with clients, family and friends. With the included software you can archive photos and important documents, copy, fax and more! This combination of exclusive hardware and powerful software will be one of the most fun and useful computer tools you'll ever use. Explore your creativity and make your documents come alive.
