[bksvol-discuss] Re: o.t. purchasing scanners
- From: "Julia Kulak" <julia.kulak@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Sun, 21 Oct 2007 01:38:12 -0700
I have an hp 7500, which I don't think you can buy anymore either, but I'm very
happy with it. One of the great things about it, besides the automatic document
feeder, which I really didn't need, and hardly ever use, is its scanning area
eight by thirteen. This allows me to scan most hardback books that I get from
the library as a lot of them take up most of that space. I tried to look for
your specific scanner on the kurzweil website but you have to enter all these
parameters before you get your results and since I've never used your scanner,
I don't know what to enter. I do wonder if there are any legal sized scanners
that still adjust for brightness setting, ones you can still buy that is?
Julia
----- Original Message -----
From: Monica Svopa
To: bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Sent: Saturday, October 20, 2007 9:42 AM
Subject: [bksvol-discuss] Re: o.t. purchasing scanners
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
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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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