Susan, I'm not the brightest bulb on the tree when it comes to new technology. I used the one on my printer for the first time last week. It wasn't difficult. I software walked me through what I needed to do after I pushed the scan button.

Susan, I just now saw this -- on page 4 of the forum, and it's nearly 1:30 a.m. so it's now Wednesday...

I've never taken this scanner out of the box! So, I had to push all of the stuff off of the top of it (horizontal surfaces do NOT stay clean for more than about 10 minutes if I'm anywhere in proximity). The box has been on the floor under my desk for at least two years, but now that you mention it, it very well could be three (or four! - gads, I hope it hasn't been more than that, but I honestly wouldn't be surprised).

Anyway, from what it says on the outside of the box (at least what I can see from this angle), it's a "Visioneer One Touch 9320 USB"

Aha! The packing slip was still on the outside of the package (I ordered it online and it was delivered...) The ship date was 02/13/2004. My how time flies when you're having fun!

Let's see... it has

400 x 3200 dpi optical resolution
48-bit Color (recognizes over 281 trillion colors);
5 Convenient OneTouch Buttons;
Scans slides or a negative strip;
Blazing fast Hi-Speed USB 2.0 Interface and cable (Compatible with USB 1.1 too!)

Says it's Designed for Windows XP...

The reason I chose this one is because it comes with the slide and negative adapter, and has other features that I wanted (at least at that time). My father was quite the photographer (always had a darkroom in the house); and I've got boxes and boxes of negatives and slides that I want to scan. When I bought this desk, I selected it specifically so I'd have a place to put the scanner. But, there isn't a clear horizontal space quite large enough for it right now. :-(

Somewhere "out there" in the mess in the garage I have another scanner that I used to use (and it was very easy - you'll get the hang of it in no time at all), but that was with a different 'puter with Windows 98. When I went to Windows XP, I needed a new scanner, which is when I got the Visioneer...

Guess this means I need to hold off on getting Vista, eh? ;-)

Well, that's encouraging, Marian, thanks!

Lindsey, my dad always had a darkroom, too. And as I mentioned, I bought my scanner for the same reason. As for keeping it the box too long, I emailed a friend the other day and said, "Remember when I bought that scanner? It's finally sitting on my desk." She replied this morning, "Yes, I remember when you got it. I believe I was still breastfeeding at the time." (Her children are 13 and 15.) LOL

Probably what I need to do is read the manual (and understand it as best I can) and then just jump in and DO it. It's unlikely that I'll ruin anything in the learning process. (I'll let you know.)

I have an Epson 4180 scanner that I use to scan slides and negatives. It, too, is 3 or 4 years old. But, unlike you, susan, I've been using mine. ;-) I'm sure the new ones are much faster. This one scans 4 slides at a time and each slide takes about a minute. It's a long term project when I sit and look through boxes containg 2000+ slides. Each winter I keep plugging awayy at it.

Ron

Guess what I just found online... Visioneer is having an "End of Life" sale on my scanner! $79.99 while supplies last...

Oops... make that had a sale. It appears to be out of stock. Oh well... at least, if you're interested, you can see what I have. :-)

Here is a link that might be useful: Visioneer End of Life Sale

Well, it looks nice, anyway, Lindsey! Are you inspired to try it out now that we've been talking about scanning?

Ron, I admire your perseverance! According to the literature, my scanner will do 32 slides at a time. So far I haven't seen anything about how long that will take. Days?

I see this as something I'll probably undertake in the fall, or maybe after Christmas. Right now, all this gardening is keeping me safely outside and away from productivity . . .

I have an HP scanner and use it a lot, I scan anything from soup to nuts, well maybe not everything but i scan old pictures, newspaper articles etc.

Scanners are really pretty simple. Just plug it in and install the disk that came with it.

If it is only a couple years old it should work fine with XP. If you are using it with VISTA you may need to hunt up some new drivers for it.

I have an Epson V200 scanner that does slides and negs also. I love it - so simple to use. It scans 4 slides at a time like Ron's. It puts each one in a seperate file. I create a folder to send them to so I can keep track of what I have scanned.

I scan at 300 dpi. That makes a great clear scan, but not such a HUGE file. If you are thinking about making a huge sized print - you might want to bump it up a little.

This is a scan of 50+ year old slide - I scanned it at 300 dpi.
{{gwi:1452662}}

Beautiful picture, Iowagirl! It's encouraging to me because I have some 50-year-old slides that I was unable to have printed because the place I sent them to (a pro printing outfit) sent them back as unprintable. They looked fine to me, so I really didn't understand the problem. Hopefully, the problem doesn't exist.

Thanks!

Alisande - that slide was in fairly rough condition. I removed a few scratches in my photo editing program, but all in all - it scanned great.

My scanner will automatically "fix" exposure issues, etc., if you want it to. I didn't do that on this one - it didn't have any color or exposure issues - just scratches. I have had some really dark under exposed slides come out pretty good!

I am starting to think the pictures I print myself are much better than what I get most places. I haven't had any done "professionly" - but what I have had printed at Wal-Mart, Walgreens, etc... haven't always been super. Sometimes they are great, then the next time, no so great.

I make them redo them all if I am not happy with them. I will show them one I printed at home and say "this is what I should be getting from you" - they love me, LOL!!!

I have an HP PhotoSmart printer - nothing fancy.