Advantages: Good quality and a transparency adapter
Disadvantages: Poor handling of negatives

...The Umax Astra 3450 is a mid-range consumer flatbed scanner. Launched this year (2001) it is one of a range of products that includes both consumer and professional standard equipment. I have owned and used flatbed scanners for about 6 years. I only decided to replace my previous model because it had a SCSI interface and I don’t have a SCSI card in my new PC. Having used a scanner for some time I had a pretty clear idea of what features I wanted, in this case I decided to go for a USB interface (might as well use those empty ports on the PC) and 600 dpi optical resolution. I wasn’t too concerned about higher resolutions as experience had shown that past 150dpi there was little difference when it came to the final printed result. One additional feature I was interested in was a transparency adapter. This allows for the scanning... Read review

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Advantages: Good looks, nice price
Disadvantages: A bit slow

...The UMAX AstraSlim 1200 SE is quite a fashionable scanner, which can be brought on a budget for around £35. I decided to buy one when I found out or suddenly became aware of how useful owning a scanner is. But, as usual, I was on a budget, and gave myself the task of buying a scanner which, is not only inexpensive but also is of good quality . After looking through the catalogues, I stumbled across this scanner. The package looked good and it was relatively cheap for a scanner so I brought it. It was money well spent. The scanner has plenty of functions and it does exactly what I wanted it to do! Features: -No power supply needed, connects through USB cable -Photo-copy option -Direct Scan option -Direct e-mail option -OCR function -Photo express CD A little information on the UMAX then: Speed: 6 out of 10---The scanner’s... Read review

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Advantages: good price
Disadvantages: persistent failure

...Hi 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 suddenly and without warning say the scanner was undetectable and 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.... Read review

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Advantages: Very Good photo reproduction
Disadvantages: Transparencies very poor

...I wanted a scanner that should be cheap, and versatile so I chose the UMAX Astra 3450. Retails for around £80 - £90 but I brought it from EBAY auction site, new, and for £46. I will keep my review brief as the previous report (pauljm) says it all and I don’t want to be repetitive. The scanner is a 600 X 1200dpi scanner with a built in transparency cover, 42 bit colour depth with USB interface. A4 is really the maximum size that can be scanned. Setting up was very easy, comes with drivers etc, and also with picture scanning software by Adobe, which is good. Also with OCR software that worked very well. OCR is software that recognises typed documents that are scanned in and attempts to recognise each individual letter and place it into your word processor package so you can edit, add and the like. I didn’t have any... Read review

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Advantages: Great quality, nice price, cool software
Disadvantages: Slow

...). After switching in the advanced mode the tool kit extends. Besides here there are icons of call of in-depth tunings (above) and batch scanning (below). On the right board from lists it is possible to select a type of a original, color mode (true color, 256 colors, Web-graphic pallet, black-and-white etc.), resolution, mode of suppression moire, filter and scale in percentage. If necessary it is possible to actuate an option of automatic choice of parameters of scanning. There are buttons of preliminary and final scanning, and also withdrawal from the program and return of tunings by default below. Common notes Because of absence of rubber overlays on feet of the scanner it very easily moves on a smooth surface of desktop. A moderate noise and minor vibration accompany the process of scanning. Umax Astra 2000 has a quite good quality... Read review

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Advantages: Cheap
Disadvantages: Looks

...I have a UMAX 1220S, I know that these are not the best scanners that you can get, but for the price it was worth it. All that I do with my scanner is scan small images to put onto my website, and for this the UMAX 1220S is perfect. OK it looks like a slab, it is not the smallest scanner you can get. The software that comes with the scanner is quite old too, so if you have a fast processor in your computer you need to download a patch from the UMAX website, www.umax.com. But having said that the software is very easy to install, the only problem is that you have to put a SCSI Card into the computer, this can be tricket if you are not confident in doing this. The speed of this scanner is also quite good, I have used a few scanners of the same cost as this one and it rates at the top, it may be a bit noisy but then I think most... Read review

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Advantages: Cheap, good image quality, excellent bundled software
Disadvantages: Short USB cable

...The only previous experience I’ve had with scanners was with my sisters aging Black Widow parallel port scanner which recently went to the great image processor in the sky. As such, she was looking for a new scanner, and at the same time, my dad mentioned his interest in one as well, for some charity work he was doing. As I was the one with the Internet connection, I told them that I would sort them out. After recent dealings with Scan.co.uk, I decided to give them a go – looking on their web site showed lots of scanners, but one caught my eye – the Umax 3400 USB. It had recently been awarded a PC Format Gold Award, and was in the right price range for both my father, and my sister (around the £55 mark). After clearing the price with them, I ordered two. After a shockingly short amount of time waiting (i.e. less... Read review

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Advantages: It scan's
Disadvantages: big and bulky,

...A while ago as part of my pc bundle I bought. I purchased a Umax Astra 5400 scanner. The first thing that struck me when it was delivered was the sheer size of it. I know most flat bed scanners are quite a good size but this one seemed quite a bit bigger measuring 16 ½ inches by 12 ¼ inches. This as you can imagine takes up a goodly proportion of my desk. It was light and dark grey in colour with four buttons on the front. One is to turn off the lamp for saving the power; one is for scanning straight to email, one for scanning to documents and the other is just to scan to file. When I started to assemble it and connect it to my pc. I found that the connector that connects the electricity supply was a little loose and when I choose to move my scanner a little it often falls out. It may not be that bigger deal to simply plug it back... Read review

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Advantages: Cheap, decent build quality, good picture quality
Disadvantages: Slow, and old.

...I owned an Umax Astra 600p scanner for well over four or five years now. I've attached it to several computers, all of various speeds. Currently, it's connected to my P2 450Mhz computer, and is doing fine. It's been around for a while now, but at the end of the day, technology in this area hasn't improved significantly. This model, as the 'p' in the name indicates, is connected to the parrallel port. Everybodys first fear is then "Where does the printer plug in to?!?". Simple! It plugs into the back of the scanner. The printer performance doesn't seems to affected by this, just make sure that you have enough printer leads to join them all up. Alternatively, by a Parrallel to USB adaptor if you have any USB ports. It woun't speed up the connection much as it is still a 'parrallel' cable and device. So, the scanner itself... Read review

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Advantages: Good value, great all rounder
Disadvantages: Old technology now, slow parallel connection

...of the scanner to launch a scan, or do it within an imaging program such as Paint Shop Pro. I don't think this scanner is available to buy new anymore, but I'm sure that the superb build quality has been carried over to current Umax scanners (most of which use USB connections and have higher resolutions). The scanner is incredibly solid, with a lock that holds all moving parts stationary if you wish to move the scanner (in the car for example). My scanner survived being hit by my keyboard (when it fell off its shelf) with just a scratch. Thoroughly recommended.... Read review

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