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Microtek MicroTek ScanMaker 8700 Pro Design

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Microtek ScanMaker 8700 Pro Design Review

- 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.

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User Reviews for Microtek MicroTek ScanMaker 8700 Pro Design

Reviewed by: tjhester

Duration of ownership:

Strengths: Very fast. Very good software bundle including full version of Genuine Fractals and Silverfast Ai. Heavy and well-built (not cheap). Long, legal size scanning bed. Wide variety of film holders.

Weaknesses: The medium format film holders only hold the film on the sides - the ends are not supported. So curled film is not held flat. Not good on negs. 1200 dpi not high enough for 35 mm.

Overall Evaluation: This is a great scanner for medium format positives and for any reflective material. Comparible scanner beds are only 11 inches long, while the 8700 Pro is 14 inches. Also, most other scanners like the Epson 1600/1680, for example, are only SCSI and DO NOT include a scsi card. The 8700 Pro is fireware and includes a firewire card. Just the included software alone makes this scanner worth the money. It is blazingly fast and yields very accurate color. It can also handle batch scanning. With Silverfast you will get terrific scans with just the click of a button - but it has many advanced scanning features also. Set-up was easy right out of the box. The 8700 Pro will make any scanning amateur look like a seasoned professional. The 8700 1200 dpi is a true resolution, unlike the Espon which has been reported on the Web to fudge its 1600 dpi numbers (no added resolution above 1200 dpi). For the money, you just can't find a better overall imaging machine.
Reviewed by: mojapan

Duration of ownership:

Strengths: Awesome!, Easy to use, colors accurate and it's fast! The glassless scanning is fantastic as well and the addition of Genuine Fractals is worth the money.

Weaknesses: A bit big

Overall Evaluation: What I love about this scanner is that everything you need is there for you. The Firewire card, cables, excellent software, the templates and best of all the price is right. I run a medium sized design company and was looking at Epson's 1680 professional firewire as a replacement to my old UMAX. Although the resolution was higher, its colors were a bit off and too saturated for my taste. Epson's transparency apparatus was also ackward and cumbersome. Microtek seems to be doing it right, for a change. I was a bit skeptical in the beginning. But from the packaging to the first scan, its set-up was real easy, the colors were right on and they bundled some darn useful programs that work with their scanners. I'm now totally color calibrated with the included Kodak targets. My colors are consistant and clean, and the addition of SilverFast and Genuine Fractals to the bundle has already paid for the scanner. I highly recommend it.

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