I have an Epson V200 scanner. It is a flatbed scanner that can also slide film and slides. I paid around $80 for it. I bought this over a year ago. I am not sure of the availabilty of this certain model, as it has been discontinued, - other than eBay or Amazon. I can scan up to 4 slides at once. You load the slide tray and press scan. It puts each slide into a seperate file. You can specify where you want them saved. It is quite simple to use and I have been extremely happy with the results. It will scan at up to 4800 dpi. I generally scan my slides at a resolution of 600 dpi - and can get fantasic 4x6 prints. If you were looking to make poster size prints, you would want to up your dpi. The higher the dpi - the larger the file and the longer it takes to scan. If you do not have a lot of "horsepower" in your computer, scanning at really high dpi will take a long time. Scanning dpi and printing dpi are two entirely different things. You can google and research this further if you want. This is a slide from the early 1950's, scanned at 600 dpi. You can correct dust, backlighting, etc. I think HP has a flatbed scanner that can scan 16 slides at a time..this would be sweet if you are looking at a large number of slides. I love my Epson scanner - but have also been happy with HP scanners. I have attached a link to HP. It is very informative regarding slide scanning. Here is a link that might be useful: Slide scanning - from HP

Well absolutely no one should be online without adequate protection these days, too many scoundrels out there by far. The 2 most popular seem to be Superantispyware and Malwarebytes. Be careful installing and stay with the free version, Malwarebytes is free but does not appear to say so as you install. I run one or the other perhaps weekly, more if I feel I have visited doubtful places. That is a very smart move taking your scanner when visiting rellies, at least that way they feel safe in that the photos remain in there possession. Also you get the chance to discuss each and perhaps make notes because no one thought to write on the backs of the photos. On the printing issue have you considered having them done for you? This can be done online at a large number of places including your local supermarket and/or pharmacy. You then collect them the next day or whatever the rules are at any given location. This to me is cheaper than using your own ink and I think their ink quality is somewhat better than we get for our printers. I found scanning slides very trying but that was a few years ago and the equipment was not as good as we have now. You say the scanner is expensive and no doubt it is. But when I started the local computer joint charged $10 for the first scan and $8 for any others done at the same time. It made sense to buy a scanner and save a bundle, you have to decide how many scans you need to do then decide on which route. Photo editing for tears, bends and scratches is very interesting but time consuming and a steep learning curve at the outset. I enjoy that stuff, in fact I just removed a no longer son in law from the middle of a family group for a lady.

My ex works in RFID. The question is at what point is it cost-effective to tag every product (including every green pepper - not to mention what about items sold by weight not per item)? Prices are always changing, volume discounts, etc. so I can see it being cost effective for someone like SC Johnson or Kelloggs to tag each product (maybe they're getting tags for 5-10 cents each now) but produce (other than asparagus LOL) and sticks of gum, smaller manufacturers, etc. may not be worth it so won't be tracked. The scanner scans the barcode, which is printed on the package, not the same thing as a unique passive RFID tag with antenna. So Best Buy is probably tagging absolutely everything but Stop and Shop probably not. Oh, and I hate the "please bag your item" voice too - as I'm trying to fit one or two of my bags in the tiny bagging area in self-checkout at Price Chopper, and it doesn't like my insulated bag (too heavy) or yells at me when I remove a bag once it's full. Wish they all had the "Skip bagging" option that HD and Walmart have. But then again I do most of my shopping (other than bulk paper goods) at small local store where they bag for me (using my bags if I want), no self-checkout. BTW, did anyone read in the WSJ where in DC they're taxing paper and plastic bags in food stores? Is that a pain? Here most stores offer 5 cents off if you bring your own bag (but half the time I forget them, and 1/4 of the time I want paper bags so I can recycle my newspapers in them).

I know how to get it into one of those programs like PSP and crop it, but I like to scan things right into my Word Program and I end up getting the whole screen. I can crop it there also, but I would like to crop it on my scanner first. I haven't tried that "preview" option as yet...I'll see how that works..