| I recently purchased this scanner despite being aware of the bad reviews at Amazon because so many other independent comparative reviews gave it top recommendations. I found both the hardware and software very easy to install on my Dell laptop using Windows 98, and overall the scanner is well built with a tough aluminium case. I could not fault the scanning quality, which produced a very clear, sharp image. However, I was a little disappointed in the fax software which, as far as I can tell, can only fax one scan in one call and seems to have to take two passes of each page. Also the word recognition omnipage bundle made too many mistakes (although it has to be said that if you are going to do a lot of OCR then you are probably advised to buy a specialist package such as Omnipage Pro V.9 rather than rely on bundled software that comes with any scanner). Apart from these software limitations, the actual scanner is second to none. I think that Microtek have recently updated the installation software so that many of the problems encountered by other reviewers are now ironed out. One annoying thing that I did notice was a faint ticking sound coming from the transformer when the scanner is switched off but still plugged in at the mains. Although this is, according to Microtek, perfectly normal, it can be annoying if you have sensitive hearing and work in a very quiet environment. Most people would never notice it. In summary: the scanner output quality and build deserves 5 stars, whereas the bundled software, although easy to use, deserves 4 stars. Overall I will give it 4 stars because of the ticking sound which forces me to switch it on and off at the wall socket. |
