How to Buy a Scanner

Use a scanner to transfer printed materials - photos, drawings, even text - into your computer. The most important things to consider when choosing a scanner are quality and speed. Also keep in mind that your computer will need at least 32 MB of RAM, ideally 64 MB, to scan.


Steps:
1. Buy a low-resolution scanner only if you will use it just to scan text.

2. If you don't plan to scan from books or magazines, consider a sheet-fed unit, which takes up far less desk space than a flatbed scanner.

3. Purchase a low-resolution or medium-resolution scanner if you plan to scan photographs to use on the Internet, as the resolution of Web graphics is low anyway.

4. Buy a high-resolution scanner if you plan to scan photographs to print and you have a high-resolution printer (greater than 600-by-600 dots per inch, or dpi).

5. Buy a model with 36-bit color depth if you plan to scan photographs or color graphics.

6. Purchase a parallel-port scanner if you don't expect to use the scanner often or work with large files.

7. Remember that even scanners that cost less than $100 or less in UK pounds will provide a good picture'600-by-1,200-dpi resolution. Scanners priced between $150 or less in UK poundsand $250 or less in UK poundsusually provide 1,200-by-1,200-dpi resolution.

8. Know that speed is the biggest factor in pricing. Parallel-port scanners, which use your existing printer port, are the cheapest and slowest. USB scanners, which require that your computer have a USB port, are faster and cost more. SCSI-card scanners are the fastest and most expensive. You need to install a SCSI card in your computer if it does not have one.


Tips:
Your computer will need at least 32 (ideally 64) MB of RAM to scan.

Don't buy a scanner that has greater resolution than your printer or display device. The extra money will be wasted. Make sure the scanner includes scanning software, an image-editing program and an OCR program (to translate scanned text into text you can actually edit).


Warnings:
Some manufacturers mislead consumers with resolution claims.

Optical resolution is the primary determining factor of quality.

Be wary of small flatbed scanners that use a CIS (contact image sensor) instead of a CCD (charge-coupled device). They are more reliable but produce inferior image quality and color.

Tips Users:
Beware parallel interface scanners by Mike Blair
If you are planning on buying a cheap scanner with a pass-through parallel interface,
you might want to reconsider and spend a bit more for a USB or SCSI scanner. I've heard of too many conflict problems using parallel scanners with printers.


Bad Scanning Resolution Advice

The warning not to buy a scanner that has greater resolution than your printer or display device (because the extra money will be wasted) assumes that printers will never get better. This is a very short-sighted approach. I don't want to scan my old photos again when the printer technology improves just because I scanned them at a lower resolution the first time. Also, those old photos will keep fading. They may not be around to scan a second time. Buy the best, highest resolution scanner you can afford.
 

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