WHAT'S HOT: The CanoScan D1250U2F is Canon's first scanner to support the USB 2.0 interface, and like all USB 2.0 peripherals it is backward compatible with USB 1.1. It has a transparency adapter built into its lid and can scan both reflective materials and 35mm slides and negatives.

Canon's scanning software includes two features designed to produce better images. The first (QARE, for Quick Automatic Retouching and Enhancement) reduces dust and scratches from photos, and the other (STAD, for Stabilized Tone-curve Auto Drawing) corrects exposure or contrast problems. However, since neither feature is activated by default, you must learn how and when to apply them to best advantage.

WHAT'S NOT: The D1250U2F's major weakness is its underwhelming image quality--at least when you use its default settings. In our print and on-screen tests, for instance, the images suffered from oversaturated colors: The reproduction of skin tones, in particular, had an unwelcome reddish tint, while other colors sometimes appeared to bleed slightly instead of maintaining sharp edges. Although the D1250U2F supports 48-bit color internally, its scanning software downsamples to 24 bits whether you like it or not, throwing away potentially usable color data.

WHAT ELSE: The D1250U2F, tested using its USB 2.0 interface, did reasonably well on our speed tests, but we saw a noticeable speed advantage over USB 1.1 scanners only on 1200-dpi scans; on lower-resolution scans, such as our 100-dpi and 300-dpi tests, this scanner worked rather slowly. For example, it took 33 seconds to scan a 4-by-5-inch color photo at 100 dpi, whereas the average speed for all the USB 1.1 scanners we tested was 19 seconds. HP's Scanjet 7450c, a USB 1.1 model, was the fastest at this task, scanning the photo in just 8.8 seconds. In contrast, on our 1200-dpi photo test, the D1250U2F took just 50 seconds to complete the scan, handily beating the average speed (78 seconds) of the USB 1.1 models tested in our August 2002 roundup. The fastest USB 1.1 scanner at this task, Microtek's ScanMaker 4900, took 39 seconds.

The D1250U2F provides four quick-start buttons: scan, copy, e-mail, and photo (reflective or film). The software bundle includes an image editor (Adobe Photoshop Elements), an image organizer (ArcSoft PhotoBase 2.1) that can also archive photo images to a CD-R drive, and a printing utility (Canon PhotoRecord) that has templates for automatically laying out and printing your images. The bundle also contains a full-featured optical character recognition tool (ScanSoft OmniPage Pro 9) for turning scanned documents into editable text.

The scanning software (Canon ScanGear CS-U) offers different interfaces for novice and veteran users. The Simple Mode provides standard default settings for the most common scanning tasks (such as 75-dpi color for viewing images on screen), and also includes a handy Multi-Photo Mode that automatically scans, crops, and processes up to ten images at a time. The Advanced Mode gives you access to more-sophisticated features, including color adjustment and the QARE and STAD automated image enhancement tools. Though all these advanced tools are easy to locate, learning how to use them effectively takes time. As with most scanner drivers, you can adjust the full range of color at once or adjust a single color (red, blue, or green). Applying the QARE and STAD features is generally straightforward, but novices will need to experiment with the settings a bit.

UPSHOT: The Canon CanoScan D1250U2F is a decent scanner for those willing to work a little extra to obtain the best photo and film images possible.

SUMMARY

Canon CanoScan D1250U2F USB 2.0, USB 1.1, 1200 by 2400 dpi, 10.1 by 18.1 by 2.8 inches (width by depth by height), 5.5 pounds, 8.5-by-11.7-inch scanning area; includes transparency adapter, no optional automatic document feeder. One-year parts-and-labor warranty, free toll-call technical support (16 hours on weekdays, 8 hours on Saturdays). $199 800/652-2666 www.usa.canon.com/consumer