scanner

Uniden BC72XLT Handheld Scanner (Black)
$149.99
I found local frequencies on the internet and it was really easy to enter them. Just remember to LOCK them in. After a month I hit SOMETHING, lost my enteries and had to reenter.

Epson Perfection V30 Color Scanner
$79.99
I have a rather ordinary Vario computer that has never complained about any installation of software or hardware until I tried the V30 (also goes for the V300--same thing). The drivers would say that they had installed, but when I clicked the v30 icon, it said they had not installed. After an hour on the phone (my dime!) with support, the nice guy at the other end put me on hold while he went to "find other resources." Of course the phone line dropped! Even though they gave me a return call an hour or so later, I really did not want to spend any more time on something that should have worked immediately.
Back in the box and away went the scanner.

Epson Perfection V300 Photo Color Scanner (Black)
$139.00
I did some research before buying the V300, because I use Windows, OS X (Macs) and Linux at home. My previous scanner was a LIDE 80, which is pretty much Windows-only. For what I use it for, which is mostly scanning bank statements and the like, I feel uneasy storing the images under Windows, because of security. I tried setting up the LIDE 80 under Linux and my Mac, no luck in either.

So, I was looking for a multi-platform scanner and the V300 fits the bill. It does nice images as well and scans multiple pages into PDFs - (in image mode as far as I can, meaning that I can't grab text from the scanned PDFs).

However the flip side is that the Mac drivers (I use the term very loosely here), which don't seem to be updated too often, are klutzy to use with regards to file names, especially compared to my LIDE 80. I can't seem to save settings from session to session and I can't ask it to prompt for file names. By default, scans go under "Pictures", which isn't so useful for documents. I have to rename them, because it insists on working with a prefix, rather than the final file name. And the prefix is limited to about 20 characters in length.

Each scan has to be initiated by pressing on the scanner button twice, which then loads the driver (after a short delay) and then you need to press the Scan on the driver, and Finish at the end to save the file. As noted, you need to rename the file and, eventually move it from Pictures to the directory you want to keep it in. Once the file is saved, the driver unloads. Repeat, for each file - lots of work, which could be simpler.

In conclusion, the hardware is nice and the portability across computer types is much appreciated. I wish they spent a bit of time polishing up their Mac drivers though. 4.5/5, but not quite 5.

Canon LiDE100 Color Image Scanner (2923B002)
$79.00
It is exactly what I wanted and expected. Compact and easy to use. I use it mainly to scan and email business documents.