Microtek ScanMaker s400 Flatbed Scanner (4800x9600, USB, PC/Mac)

Microtek ScanMaker S400

ScanMaker s400 Flatbed Scanner (4800x9600, USB, PC/Mac) Review, by Richard Jantz October 5, 2005

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• Reviewed by: Bronzscan

  Strengths: Great image quality,great web support, user friendly with advanced adjustment menus.

  Weaknesses: A bit slow, but for me this is not a problem as I use it for artsy projects, not boiler room deadlines.

  Overall: I have a new passion called lomography. Basically this is the art of using low tech cameras, like my (Diana f+) to capture everyday life or objects in a surreal or dreamlike image. The camera uses 120 size film, and sometimes light leaks or strange color accidents add to the mystique of the image. Anyway, I use this Lightlid 35 plus to scan my negatives and it works great. It is not made for 120 size film, so I simply position the strip between two normal 35mm slides and it works just fine. Love this scanner!

• Reviewed by: Stronglight_USA

  Strengths: Great Price, good features, ample software, easy set up and a very classy looking product.

  Weaknesses: None...yet.

  Overall: I purchased this on the basis of both reviews and price. Honestly I'm a technological idiot, but the set up was simple right out of the box. Be sure to load software FIRST - that seems to be important. Then just plug it in and go. My unit is quiet, seems fast, and allows a dummy like myself to quickly preview and/or view results and modify if required. I wanted this scanner to transfer photos and documents to my PC to pass on the PDF or JPG files to others. It made flawless copies of some ancient sepia tone family photos, and copies of rare color catalog pages appear as clear as the originals. There is more potential for advanced adjustments of transmitted scans on the machine itself than I will probably ever need to use, but you do not have to mess with that unless you enjoy playing with that sort of stuff, or are more clever than I am, but still a nice feature. The spectrum of the software included is all you will probably ever need to play with completed scans on your PC. Again, the price was very attractive and ordering from merchant "Newegg" (my first buy from them) was very fast, instantly documented, then quickly followed with emailed tracking info for the purchase - which was received in only 3 days! I will definitely re-post later if any problems should turn up with this product, but initially this seems very solidly built and surprisingly quiet, with only seconds of warm up time needed any time it is switched on.

• Reviewed by:

  Strengths: Great Pictures

  Overall: I have no idea how to take the scanned items and than change them from tif to something I can use in my emails or on the internet! No one has ever answered my emails.

• Reviewed by: AllenBruce

  Strengths: Easy to use, excellent color balance, has a gray scale scan mode, software is quite flexible and allows custom modifications to the scan process.

  Weaknesses: User manual must be downloaded online, but otherwise no complaints

  Overall: I bought this scanner based on recommendations in PriceGrabber, and haven't been a bit displeased with any operation. I use it to scan artwork and photos, both for use as is and also for modification in Adobe programs such as Photoshop and Illustrator. I can't say how pleased I am with the color balance, gray scale adjustments, and ease of use. For $100 you can't beat it!

• Reviewed by: johnhapp

  Strengths: Good construction. Quick and high-quality scanning.

  Weaknesses: ScanWizard 5 software has crashed multiple times on my new Mac computer.

  Overall: The scanner operates mechanically very well. The control buttons on the scanner are difficult for me to see. The only downside to the scanner is the compatibilty of the software provided by Microtek with my new iMac.