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Canon CanoScan LiDE 80 Color Scanner

Canon CanoScan LiDE 80 Color Scanner

List Price: $149.99
Your Price: $113.99
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 4 stars
Summary: 2400 dpi mode
Review: For the money the Canon LiDE 80 is ideal for most users. The scanner will scan at 2400 dpi, but only in the mode the really matters, film (negative) and slide (positive) mode. The Canon LiDE 80 does this to prevent you from generating a large, and most of the time unnecessary file. For most users 300 to 600 dpi is all you need correctly digitize your image. If you want full control, you need to invest to the next level of scanners which will probably triple in price.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Awesome Design. Fast, Good Scans. Poor Film Scanning
Review: Good:
This unit is an industrial design gem
Speed increase is very noticable over my older CanoScan N1220U
Software for Windows XP is decent (lots of options)
Includes both TWAIN and WIA drivers
No transformer block/AC cord to deal with
Bundled with USEFUL, quality software such as Adobe Photoshop Elements 2.0 and ScanSoft OmniPage SE

Bad:
Scanning film negatives is a PAIN IN THE ASS (scanning one at a time and FORCING you to do a preview first - very tedious and time consuming)
A bit louder than my older CanoScan N1220U during SOME processes

Overall, scan quality is good and I think Canon put together a fantastic package.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Good scanner for the money
Review: I bought this scanner on sale for about $90 so I could scan negatives and film. Pros: It installed easily on my HP WinXP machine, it is satisfactory in speed, it scans negatives well, its small, and it does not require a separate power block. Cons: Its a bit noisy. I would not recommend it for the photo professional, buts its certainly a good amateur scanner and is also quite portable.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Good Scanner, Poor OS X Drivers
Review: I got this scanner to replace a 1220U for the Film scanning and decent OS X drivers. Unfortunately the drivers on the CD are really bad, but the ones on-line (Tool Box 4.1.3 and LiDE 7.2.1.0 as of this writing) are better, so download them first. PhotoShop Elements is a great bonus but the OmniScan SE is a "classic" only app. Not Canon's fault but still disappointing. Also the film tray is for negatives, not slides so be aware of that. Otherwise it is a nice scanner, light weight, compact and combines USB and power in the same cable (down with AC adaptors!). Mac OS X people get the drivers from the website first.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Good Device, Lousy Software Installation, NOT 2400dpi!!
Review: I had much the same experience as Outis Nihil (below). The software package is apparently designed for OS 9. There is a separate OS X folder with installation drivers for each separate package, rather than the all-in-one installation driver for OS 9. In order to get the scanner to function under OS X, OS 9 installation is required, then you need to download the OS X driver upgrades from the Canon USA website. This allows direct scanning via Photoshop; I haven't tried anything else at the time of this writing. This is not revealed in their instructions, which are pretty much useless.

Also, as mentioned, 1200 dpi is apparently the maximum scanning resolution, which makes their claim of 2400dpi not merely deceptive, but very simply a LIE. This claim needs to be retracted immediately from all their literature.

The imaging results are very good and I'm happy with that. For that reason and the great price I've decided to keep the unit. Time will tell if the hardware is long lasting. The metal lid is a bit thin (admittedly contributing to the device's lightness and portability) but will easily be nicked, scratched, or dented over time with even moderate use.

Hardware: B+, Software: D

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Lide80 with a Mac
Review: I have an iMac with OS 10.3.3 operating system. The scanner works well with the machine once you get through some start up difficulties. If you have programs that run in the classic mode, OS 9.2, then you must turn off the 9.2 system or the scanner will not work. Canon spells this out in the installation directions, but it is a bit of a chore as you have to open System Preferences click on OS 9 and stop OS 9. Then you can scan. As they point out, just hitting quit on the active program isn't enough. If you don't use any old programs, then there is no problem, but most of us do have them. As soon as you use one, OS 9 starts up automatically, and then you have to go through the stop procedure again if you wish to scan. Also, When I first try to print what I have scanned, I am told the printer is off line and I have to stop it, and then restart it to get the print. As you can see, Canon has a few program bugs they need to address. I emailed Canon to see if they have any fixes, but in two weeks they haven't bothered to answer.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Works well in Mac OS X 10.3.4 Panther
Review: I just bought this scanner for use with my G5 tower, and despite reading reviews to the contrary, it works brilliantly with OS X 10.3.4 - no problems whatsoever. I downloaded the latest CanoScan scanner driver (v7250) and CanoScan Toolbox (v4130) and within a few minutes of installing the software I was scanning with no problem at all. Scanner performs well considering its size, weight and one-cord convenience. This scanner should be ideal for all but the most demanding applications - highly recommended!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Great Scanner For The Amateur Photographer
Review: I just purchased this scanner to replace a slow, unwieldy HP 5300C. After 1 week, here's what I think.
===============================================================
PROs:

1. Slim form factor.
2. Good quality photograph scans. Maybe not for a professional, but for us amateurs, it rocks!
3. Very quick scanning
4. Negative scannning possible with included adapter.
5. Canoscan software definitely a cut above the norm
6. Windows XP installation is fast and simple.
-->a. Install Canoscan Drivers and software, reboot THEN
-->b. plug scanner into nearest HighSpeed USB (USB 2.0) port
-->c. You're good to go!
7. Full Photoshop Elements 2.0 included
================================================================
CONs:

1. A bit noisy
2. Some software supplied as "SE" or limited versions
3. Scanning Kodak APS film pictures can be tricky due to the
nonstandard print sizes.
================================================================
A final piece of advice - make sure you acquire the latest Canon software from the Canon, USA website.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Re:- Using 4-hub USB adaptor
Review: I plugged my LiDE 80 into a cheap 4-hub USB adaptor and it is producing excellent quality scans.
My only reservation is that scanning via the single-touch button produces a reddish tinge, whereas scans to the computer seldom needs adjustment, but if they do, the desired result is easily obtained via Adobe 2.0 (supplied with the scanner).
Hope this helps!

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Excellent scanner, abysmal operating system...
Review: I purchased the LiDE 80 from another vendor about a year ago. Worked fine for 11 months and then I started to get some relatively minor errors from the software. May have to do with upgrade to Windows XP SP2, I don't know.

I called up the Canon Tech Support people (they are nice and very knowledgeable), and they told me to uninstall and then reinstall the scanner. Okay, fine. I do this for hardware all the time.

However, ever since, I have been unable to reinstall the device, either with drivers from the OEM CD or from the Canon website. My operating system simply does not accept these drivers--when I install them, it is like nothing happened. The hardware installation wizard DOES NOT work for this scanner, presumably because the drivers are not "digitally signed" (translation--Canon didn't pay Microsoft a lot of money; that's okay with me as this would propagate into the price of the scanner, however it still needs to function properly to have any value).

So basically I am stuck with a piece of equipment that is useless to me. My computer is a Dell that is only 6 months old--this should be able to work.

In conclusion, the scanner is very nice when it works but the operating system is lousy...


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