Top 10 Scanners

Once again, new choices have entered the color flatbed scanner market, and two of them have scored high enough to land on the SOHO chart. One is the first IEEE 1394 (also known as FireWire) scanner we've reviewed for the SOHO chart. The other new SOHO scanner arrives from Acer, geared for the budget-minded home consumer. On the corporate side, the Canon CanoScan 1200S leaves our list of three since the company is no longer producing that model. (Canon has replaced the 1200S and other veteran CanoScan models with a new generation of scanners, which we will review in upcoming months.) Consequently this month's corporate chart witnesses a reshuffling as the Hewlett-Packard ScanJet 6350C, a past chart resident and the only Top 10 scanner that comes bundled with an automatic document feeder, moves back onto the list.

SOHO Scanners Go FireWire

Umax's new $249 Astra 6400 and $299 Astra 6450 are the first consumer-priced scanners to hit the market with built-in support for the speedy IEEE 1394 port technology. Previously, the only IEEE 1394 scanners available were expensive high-end models, such as the $999 Umax PowerLook 1100 and $1399 Epson Expression 1600 Pro FireWire, which we reported on earlier this year (see "Two Ports in a Storm").

Like Universal Serial Bus scanners, FireWire scanners are Plug and Play, and can be chained together through connectors on the IEEE 1394 card. Because FireWire has miles to go before it becomes as ubiquitous as USB, Umax wisely bundles an IEEE 1394 card and cable (for use on PCs) with both of its new Astra scanners.

The Astra 6400 and 6450 both feature an optical resolution of 600 by 1200 dpi, and each is equipped with a robust 14-bit analog-to-digital converter for processing 42-bit color images. Both scanners can handle letter-size (8.5-by-11-inch) reflective documents, but the Astra 6450--the model we reviewed this month--also includes a transparency adapter and easily scans 35mm slides, as well as positives and negatives of up to 4 by 5 inches.

The other new SOHO scanners we tested this month include the $149 Acer 1240UT, a USB model featuring 42-bit color processing and 1200-by-1200-dpi resolution, and the $129 Hewlett-Packard ScanJet 3400Cse, a dual USB and parallel port unit featuring 36-bit color processing and 600-by-1200-dpi resolution. Of the two, only the 1240UT scored high enough to make the SOHO chart. Like the Umax Astra 6450, Acer's 1240UT comes with a built-in transparency adapter and can handle 35mm slides and other positive or negative film up to 5 by 7 inches. The 1240UT allows scans of 35mm slides or negatives at 1200 dpi, enough resolution to yield an acceptable 8-by-10-inch print.

For those interested in scanning transparencies as well as reflective documents, three other scanners on the SOHO chart also feature double-format scanning: the $299 HP ScanJet 5370Cse, the $149 Microtek ScanMaker V6 USL, and the $179 Agfa SnapScan e50.

To find out more about the Acer 1240UT, the Hewlett-Packard ScanJet 3400Cse, and the Umax Astra 6450--as well as other scanners on the Top 10 chart--see the capsule reviews.