Advantages: Plug n play, reliable, efficient
Disadvantages: A bit pricy

...Finally, just when I was begining to give up on ever attaching my SCSI drive to my system, along came the answer to my prayers. A neat fitted in seconds, no need to open the case solution; the Adaptec USB to SCSI connector. This piece of electronic genius allows you to connect virtually any SCSI device directly to your PC through its USB port. It works and is brilliant. It just plugs in and away it goes. Everything is supplied and with easy to follow directions. It is not cheap though, expect to pay about $50 ($90) for it but compared with a SCSI card & cables it probably works out the same and is definately 100% less hastle than trying to configure an already stuffed full to the brim machine. It's got my vote.... Read review

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Advantages: Nice design, easy to use, good quality, convenient interface
Disadvantages: Little noisy, price

...This is my first scanner from Acer. I usually worked with UMAX or Microtek, but never with Acer. Let's see. Complete set consist of the scanner with a slide-adapter, two power supply units, SCSI-adapter on a PCI bus, SCSI-cable, framework for scanning slides and films, manual on fast installation, user's guide, three CD with drivers, software (MiraScan TWAIN-driver 3.20, system of text recognition TextBridge Classic 2.0, utility for copying on the printer Copier 1.2, graphic editor Ulead PhotoExpress 2.0 Special Edition) and electronic manual. The body of the scanner is executed from a light plastic and is supplied with a small flat cover. On the right on a forward board is present large indicator. From the right party of body there is a switch of a power. The cover is lifted up, is fixed in a vertical position and easily can... Read review

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Advantages: Store your Slide collection, Ease of Use. SCSI Interface, Price
Disadvantages: Only works on Win 3.x, Win 95/98, NT and Mac. Noise Volume, SCSI Interface

...If you have a large collection of slides that you want to save on to computer, then the Epson Filmscan 200 could be just the job for you. Being fairly small in size (6"x5"x12"), it is easy to fit on to the average desk surface, though you have to be aware that the slide carrier moves through the body of the unit, so you have to allow extra space at the back of the unit (otherwise you could damage the internals when it tries to push it backwards and forwards). There are two versions that I am aware of, the older version, which has only a Parallel port interface on the back, and the more modern(ish) SCSI version, which is by far the better buy. As the Filmscan 200 was discontinued back in 1999, you mainly pick them up second-hand, with the average price from places such as ebay doing them fairly regularly for around the £70-80 price... Read review

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Advantages: A bargain. Easy to install and used. Good entry level SCSI controller.
Disadvantages: No support for higher data rates.

...If you plug an SCSI card into your pc, don’t hold your breath because nothing exciting is going to happen. (Unless of course you have made a very bad job of installing the card. Then you might see smoke and flames coming from your cherished/reviled PC or even, in extreme cases, find yourself moving down a tunnel towards a bright light.) However, once you have installed you SCSI card you will be able to attach any number of exciting devices to your pc. Although this is an opinion of Adaptecs AVA-2900 series of SCSI card, it is also a general review of SCSI. I have done this because as far as I can tell this is the first review at Ciao of a SCSI controller card. This seems to be a bit of an over sight to me as any number of SCSI devices have been reviewed, (such as the excellent Plextor external SCSI cd writer which was the subject... Read review

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Advantages: Handles 35mm negatives, slides and APS
Disadvantages: SCSI interface may be a problem for some

...of USB and Firewire who needs the hassle of SCSI? A valid point but nevertheless SCSI was the interface of choice for high bandwidth applications (all things being equal SCSI is about twice as fast as USB 1) so there we are. As originally supplied the scanner came with an ISA SCSI card, as most of us will now be buying second hand we will probably not get the card or will need to supply our own PCI version. Either way SCSI cards are still easily available in nice friendly Plug’n’Play formats – don’t panic! The scanner has both 25 pin ‘D’ and 50 pin Centronics (actually Amphenol) connectors available. I won’t go into setting up SCSI – no need to upset anyone unnecessarily. The 2700F uses a Xenon lamp for increased spectral purity. The scanner came equipped with an APS adapter and a negative strip holder. As I’ve never used APS I can’t comment... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful

Advantages: scans APS, negatives, slides
Disadvantages: pity it doesn't do batch scanning, nevermind

...I bought the Canoscan FS2710 for £430 inc. Vat. Yes it is expensive compared to normal flatbed scanners. But if you are serious and want to do a lot of quality negative scans, the quality you will achieve with a film scanner is far superior than a flatbed. Why I bought this Canon? - Its competitive price compared to all the rest. - It can scan negatives and APS films, no other adapter required. I don't think anyother at this price can do both without having to purchase an extra adapter. - Other scanners i.e. The Hp and Epson, many have complained about scratching of negatives when being fed in. - It is not USB. I want speed USB will be slower than SCSI, plus they give you a free SCSI card! True I have to restart my machine before I can turn it on .. but I rather do that than have a slow unstable device. - Quality wise it was rated... Read review

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Advantages: Great Distro
Disadvantages: Slightly temperamental

...Firstly, I must admit, I'm really scared of Linux, the thought of the command line Linux almost gives me a heart attack, because I'm totally unfamiliar with Linux, having used DOS + Windows in its various guises for 9 years (when your start off at the age of 8). The Machine that I currently use is this: AMD K6-2 333Mhz 96MB RAM 3.5" Floppy Disk Drive 30.7Gb Hard Disk 24 Speed CD-ROM 4 Speed DVD/24 Speed CD-ROM/6 Speed CD-R Write/4 Speed CD-RW Rewrite Combo Drive Iomega Zip 100 SCSI with Adaptec AVA-1520 ISA SCSI card SiS 5597 Graphics Chip CMI 8330 Audio Adapter Canon BJ-10e Bubblejet Printer So most of my hardware is roughly two/three years old, and so it should work with Linux quite well, and I've managed to install RedHat Linux 5.2, but I couldn't get to the Graphical stuff, and so I was scared of it, so I got rid of it. Corel... Read review

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Advantages: Stable, Quick, Good Support
Disadvantages: More expensive than IDE drives

...Previous to my Yamah drive I had aowned an IDE 2speed Mitsumi drive, for over a year. This drive did the job and I never found a CD that I couldnt copy (even though it was only a TAO recorder) and its range of features was adequate (it supported 80min media) The reason I upgraded to the 4x4x16 SCSI Yamaha device was the reccomendations of many people on the net who all said pretty much the same thing. "If you can buy a Plaxtor, if not a Yamaha and make sure its SCSI" I wondered why it mattered if it was SCSI or not as the data rate needed (600kb a sec) would be no problem for my IDE Bus. When I got the drive and started using it i soon saw the benefits of SCSI. My system used to become really sluggish during a burn and trying to do anything whilst burning almost certainly ended up with a nice shiny coffee mat. With the Yamaha SCSI drive... Read review

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Advantages: Super fast, Burn proof, attractive design.
Disadvantages: Requires Scsi card.

...The IDE version of this drive has been commented on extensively. I thought I might add a review as I have been using the external SCSI version, which is a little different. One thing that sets this writer apart from other in its class is its appearance. I personally think it looks quite smart, but since that is a matter of personal taste, you can judge for yourself if you follow the link I have included below. For those of you not in the know SCSI stands for "Small Computer System Interface" and is pronounced "scuzzy". Essentially, it is a system for connecting things to your pc, things like hard drives, scanners and obviously cd writers that need to be able to shift hefty amounts of data about. A while back SCSI walked all over IDE in terms of performance but cost a packet. Not only were SCSI devices vastly more expensive but you... Read review

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Advantages: Simply the Best Scsi Cdrw on the market
Disadvantages: None

...I have owned cd writers since the very first one that was released on the market, many years ago. I bought a Phillips 2X write, 2X read...Since then I have bought numerous cdr's and cdrw's, ranging from the cheap and nasty to the most expensive. I have the privilage to be a systems builder and I've fitted dozens of EIDE Cdrw's, but I have recommended Scsi drives as I always have used them myself. Scsi has always been a better option if you wanted reliability and speed, but I must say that EIDE drives are closing the gap slowly, but I still favour Scsi over EIDE. I think people have been put off buying Scsi systems because of all the tales of woe heard by people years ago trying to install a Scsi drive, ID adresses, Termination, Host Addresses etc,,, but the modern Scsi device, drives and cards are a lot easier to install now than... Read review

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