Visioneer Onetouch 8920 USB Color Flatbed Scanner 1200X480DPI 48-bit USB

WHAT'S HOT: Reasonably priced at $99, the OneTouch 8920USB is one of the more affordable small-office units we've tested recently. Its 1200 by 4800 resolution, 48-bit (internal and external) color depth, and transparency adapter are bonuses at this price. In addition, the 8920USB sports seven handy buttons (Scan, Copy, Fax, OCR, E-mail, Custom, and Cancel). Although the buttons are preconfigured for common tasks, you can easily customize them. Output from a 300-dpi page of line art tied for the top score in our August 2002 testing; it showed remarkably clean lines and evenly shaded blacks.

WHAT'S NOT: Our color photo samples all looked much too ruddy. Our test photo has a lot of red in it, but the 8920USB flooded the entire image with unattractive red tones that were not in the original--you won't want to use this unit to create flattering portraits of loved ones. In addition, the 100-dpi photo print looked noticeably pixelated.

The OneTouch 8920USB is capable of scanning 48-bit color images, and Visioneer's ScanManager Pro can save them as 48-bit files. But Adobe's Photoshop Elements, which is bundled with this unit, cannot edit or save files higher than 24 bits. To edit 48-bit files you would have to buy another image editing program, such as the full version of Adobe Photoshop.

When scanning transparencies, the OneTouch 8920USB doesn't match the productivity of its predecessor, the OneTouch 8820. The 1-by-1.5-inch scanning area of the 8920USB's transparency adapter can handle only one 35mm slide (positive or negative) at a time; the 8820 could scan up to six 35mm slides at once via its adapter's larger 5-by-7-inch scanning area. This model doesn't offer an automatic document feeder option, and live technical support isn't available on weekends.

WHAT ELSE: The OneTouch 8920USB's overall performance was a mixed bag. In testing for our August 2002 roundup, it posted respectable speeds when scanning at 100 dpi or 300 dpi; for example, it took only 12.4 seconds to scan a 4-by-5-inch color photo at 100 dpi. It was also the fastest small-office model at scanning a black-and-white photo at 600 dpi, with a time of 26.4 seconds. But at its 1200-dpi maximum resolution, the 8920USB's 158-kilobyte-per-second throughput was one of the slowest we've seen; the scan took 1 minute, 47 seconds to complete.

The software bundle includes an easy-to-use scanning driver (Visioneer ScanManager Pro), Adobe Photoshop Elements for image editing, ScanSoft TextBridge Pro 9 for optical character recognition, and ScanSoft PaperPort Deluxe 7, one of the best document management programs on the market.

UPSHOT: The Visioneer OneTouch 8920USB is a reasonable choice for those who want a bargain and don't do much color scanning.

SUMMARY

Visioneer OneTouch 8920USB USB 1.1, 1200 by 4800 dpi, 16.7 by 11.7 by 4.5 inches (width by depth by height), 7.2 pounds, 8.5-by-11.7-inch scanning area; includes transparency adapter; no optional ADF. One-year warranty; free technical support for 9 hours on weekdays (calls are not toll-free); 24-hour, toll-free automated support. $99 888/229-4172 www.visioneer.com