[bksvol-discuss] Re: o.t. purchasing scanners
- From: "Monica Svopa" <svopa@xxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Sat, 20 Oct 2007 11:42:47 -0500
Donna, thanks for your note. Actually, I payed about $280 for the HP. I
should have written that in my previous message.
----- Original Message -----
From: Donna Smith
To: bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Sent: Saturday, October 20, 2007 11:46 AM
Subject: [bksvol-discuss] Re: o.t. purchasing scanners
Hi Monica.
It's been a long time since I used an HP scanner, so I can't speak to the
issue of whether it allows you to set brightness options. However, I know that
changing the brightness option is not an adjustment I usually make. I can
usually fix the problem by fooling around with the resolution setting.
I can speak to the quality of Epson scanners. I've been using an Epson 1660
(no longer available for purchase as a new product) here at home for about four
years, and it has been a real workhorse. I've also been using an Epson 3271 at
work for about three years and it's even better than the 1660. I don't think
you can go wrong with an Epson scanner.
Having said all that, I've purchased an Opticbook 3600, and although I had to
send it back because the light was damaged in shipping, I'm anxiously awaiting
its replacement as I've heard so many good things about it on this list. One
of the appealing factors for the Opticbook (aside from the cool feature of
providing the edge of scanner option for placing the book for easy and complete
scanning of a page), is that its strength is focused in scanning text as
opposed to images. I think most commercial scanners focus on how well they can
scan pictures/graphics and/or convert to PDF format. While these things are
useful in their own right, for the work we do, getting the best scan of text is
the ultimate goal. According to everything I've read on this list and on the
web the Opticbook 3600 is the power scanner of choice for scanning books.
Finally, cost plays an important part in making such a decision. If you got
a good price on your HP scanner, (anything under $150), then you might want to
take it out of the box, download the driver and see what kind of results you
get. If you're not satisfied, then you can box it up, return it and buy
something else. The Opticbook is $230 from Tiger Direct (a partner of
Amazon.com), and I'm guessing that a good Epson scanner would be around $200 at
best.
I know this doesn't answer your question outright, but perhaps I've given you
more to think about.
Good luck.
Donna
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: bksvol-discuss-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:bksvol-discuss-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Monica Svopa
Sent: Saturday, October 20, 2007 11:28 AM
To: bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [bksvol-discuss] o.t. purchasing scanners
Hello list. I had a question about scanner preferences. I had recently
bought, but have not taken out of the box yet, an HP 5590. I will be using
Kurzweil 11. In my recent discussions with some tech folks, they had told me
that the HP doesn't allow you to change the brightness setting. They suggested
that buying an Epson or Optic book would be better. My computer instructor is
not a Kurzweil expert. So, I pose the question to you. I can return my HP and
buy either an Epson or OpticBook. I do want to get the best results possible.
Or I can keep my HP but have to download the commercial drivers? Any thoughts.
Thanks again for all of your help.
Monica Svopa
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