Mr. Urlman... I recently ran across this new product review on CNET and it sounded almost too good to be true. However, a friend of mine in Florida just bought one from Computer City near Tampa and so far he is very pleased with the ImageWave scanner. It is uses a PPE interface, but can be set up with a Universal Serial Bus (USB) connection for an additional $29. Living in Panama, I don't have easy access to new products like this, so I went out to one of the local computer stores and bought an Artec ViewStation 30 bit scanner (Model AS6E), which comes with Photo Deluxe and Text Bridge Classic (OCR) software, and have been pleased with its overall functioning... but have only had it working for a few days now. It cost $199.00 here, but could have picked it up for about $125 at Comp USA in Florida so my friend tells me. I think the ViewStation scanning software is a bit more sophisticated than the ImageWave stuff, but from the review below, it sound good enough to me for most scanning and OCR work in a home office environment. Another friend of mine has the HP ScanJet 5p, and is very happy with it, but you are looking at a lot more cost, but at the same time greater capabilities and it is faster being connected via SCSI card (that comes with the scanner). Anyway, hope this helps. Let me know what you finally decide on. Long and Strong on our favorite stock... IOMEGA ------ :^) Mel
Storm Technology EasyPhoto ImageWave
cheap and easy color scanning
By Rob Sambrano
(11/26/97)
We were more than a little skeptical when we heard about Storm Technology's $99 flatbed color scanner, the EasyPhoto ImageWave. However, this 30-bit color, 600-by-300-dpi wonder quickly won us over with its simplicity and great scans. Setup couldn't be easier or faster. There are only three items in the box: the scanner (with a built-in parallel port cable), an AC adapter, and a software CD-ROM. Attach the scanner's cable to your PC's parallel port, load the software, and you're good to go.
Using the EasyPhoto is equally straightforward. Open the software and click the big EZ button, and you're instructed to place your picture on the scanner, which can scan wallet-sized photos or images as large as 8.5-by-11 inches. Next, pick your scan resolution (presets are 100, 200, and 300 dpi) and scan mode (color, grayscale, or black-and-white), and adjust the brightness and contrast sliders. You don't get nearly as much control over the image as you would with a higher-end scanner. Those usually provide options to adjust scale, color tinting and saturation, and so on. But that's the price you pay for EasyPhoto's simplicity.
You can then select Preview to see your image in the window. If it looks good, hit Scan. We found that at 300 dpi, it took a couple of minutes to scan an image. Expect more time and larger file sizes when using higher resolutions, less time and smaller sizes with lower resolutions. Your end result is automatically saved as a JPEG file.
Just because the EasyPhoto is inexpensive and easy to use, that doesn't mean it's a toy. We were impressed with the quality of our scans. An "enhanced resolution" (software interpolation) can even boost resolution up to 5,000 dpi. The EasyPhoto might not pass muster if you were scanning images for a national fashion magazine, but it'll do just fine for most home scanning chores. Plus, the package includes some basic but useful software. Adobe's PhotoDeluxe provides an easy way to eliminate red-eye, as well as to crop, resize, correct color, and more. Xerox's TextBridge OCR software lets you scan text and organize your scanned images using DocuMagix PaperMaster.
If you're looking for a basic color-scanning solution, the EasyPhoto is a small investment that's worth every penny.
Bargain scanner.
ÿÿRelated storiesÿÿÿ
13 personal scanners
ÿ
Xerox Document HomeCentre
Visioneer PaperPort Strobe
Just In
Storm Technology EasyPhoto ImageWave
List price: $99 (after $50 rebate)
Storm Technology Inc., 605/969-9555
486, 8MB RAM (16MB recommended), VGA display (SVGA recommended), CD-ROM drive, 30MB disk space, Windows 3.1 or Windows 95 (Adobe PhotoDeluxe is compatible with Windows 95 only)
Back to top
Copyright c 1995-97 CNET, Inc. All rights reserved. |
