WHAT'S HOT: A winning package for professional print publishing and serious scanning purposes, the dual-interface (USB 1.1 and FireWire) Microtek ScanMaker 8700 Pro Design is an industrial-strength scanner with powerful imaging software capable of delivering accurate color from input to output. Like its predecessor, the ScanMaker 8700, the enhanced Pro Design version is a legal-document-capable unit that produces attractive reflective and transparency scans in 42-bit color.

Both on-screen and print tests yielded realistic color images with fine details, although many images looked slightly dark. In a performance test using a very data-dense image at 1200 dpi and 48-bit color depth, the 8700 was far and away the fastest scanner in our test set, with a throughput rate of 547KB per second. The next closest competitor, with a throughput rate of 468 KBps, was our current corporate Best Buy, Microtek's ScanMaker 6700. Although the 8700 Pro Design had the fastest time cumulatively, it didn't win every race: It took 16 seconds to scan a 4-by-5-inch color photo at 100 dpi, while HP's Scanjet 7450c took only 9 seconds to scan the same image--an interesting result, considering that we tested the Scanjet 7450c using its USB 1.1 interface and tested the 8700 Pro Design using FireWire.

WHAT'S NOT: The formidable ScanMaker 8700 Pro Design is big and costly. Weighing 25.5 pounds and priced at $900, it is the heaviest and most expensive scanner we've looked at lately. The unit's maximum 1200-by-2400-dpi resolution, though fine for many tasks, is not as high as other (and slower-performing) corporate models, including the 2400-by-4800-dpi Epson Perfection 2450. Free technical support is limited to weekdays during the first year; after that live support is available on a cost-per-call basis.

WHAT ELSE: In addition to providing the same software bundled with the ScanMaker 8700 (Adobe Photoshop 5 LE, Abbyy FineReader Sprint 4, and Trellix Web), the Pro Design version boasts professional color-calibration tools (targets and profiles) and adds more software, including LaserSoft's SilverFast Ai 5, which offers advanced color-space, color-correction, and color-management controls; LizardTech's Genuine Fractals Print Pro 2, which allows large-format printing (using fractal geometry); and Microtek's ScanWizard Pro 6 scanning driver.

The scanner unit has an internal sliding drawer for scanning film transparencies measuring up to 8 by 10 inches, and it also supports glassless scanning, which eliminates distortions such as Newton Rings (an unwanted series of concentric circles) that sometimes occur when scanning transparencies through an intervening pane of glass. Also included are sturdy film holders for batch scanning up to 16 color slides or 24 color negatives, as well as medium-format 120mm film. An optional 25-page automatic document feeder costs an additional $149.

UPSHOT: The Microtek ScanMaker 8700 Pro Design provides robust software, scorching speed, and high-quality images for graphics professionals and corporate customers who want a model for both reflective and transparency scanning.

SUMMARY

Microtek ScanMaker 8700 Pro Design USB 1.1 and FireWire, 1200 by 2400 dpi, 22.3 by 15.3 by 6.3 inches (width by depth by height), 25.5 pounds, 8.5-by-14-inch scanning area; includes built-in transparency capability; optional automatic document feeder. One-year parts and labor warranty; free, toll-call technical support (10 hours on weekdays) for one year (calls are not toll-free); thereafter, fee-based, toll-call support (10 hours on weekdays) is available for $30 per call. $900 310/297-5155 www.microtekusa.com