Canon CanoScan N670U Flatbed Scanner

Spent the past 3 days with the N670U scanner and my opinion went from loving it (first scan looked great) to disliking it (discovered its significant weaknesses) and then back to just liking it (figured for the $82 +S&H, it couldn't be perfect). In the interest of brevity, I'll just summarize with pro's & con's. But first some basic information: This scanner replaced my UMAX 1220U b/c WINXP made the old software obsolete and therefore limited its usefulness. My system is a heavily used COMPAQ PIII 500 MHz with 256 ram, running Windows XP Home.

CONs:

(-) A bit confusing on install as to which CD to use; my unit came with two CDs, one with the ScanGear CS-U driver and software package and one marked "For winxp only". But when I read the documentation, it said you should NOT install that (for winxp only) driver if you wanted all the features of the included regular TWAIN driver and software. The fine print on the winxp cd explains that it's a WIA driver and contains limited features for basic scanning. Right on the scanner box it says designed for winxp, with the logo and everything, so my question is why would anyone want to have only basic, limited features?

(-) LOTS of mainly white, dust-like-looking, specks on the scans, if scanned with default settings and viewed at full size. I guess it might be called "noise". The glass on the platen is perfectly clean, but the scans look as if it was dusty as hell. Later I found a fix that cleans it up pretty well: check the check box on the first driver screen that says something like "use driver to make additional adjustments" and then go to advanced settings where you'll find a "remove dust and scratches" feature that gives you several options: I choose "hard".

(-) I get a "Windows 16 bit subsystem error" each time I start the driver to scan. I get this with some other software too, so maybe it's my computer. In any event, I can click "Ignore" and it proceeds after about a 20-25 second delay.

PROs:

(+) small, lightweight, vertical footprint

(+) whisper quiet

(+) usb for power

(+) fairly fast scanning (after the delay mentioned above); not including the delay-which is probably my computer issue-I can scan a 5x7 photo at 600 dpi with the dust/scratch removal feature on in about a minute and a half, much quicker at lower dpi of course.

(+) no real warm up time needed; scanning with my UMAX was like starting up my old Chevy Nova on a cold winter morning in Wisconsin.

(+) decent color, although sometimes overly saturation of some photos (even using the same original photo, sometimes I have difficulty getting a scan as good as the first time I scanned it which had very natural and even coloration). This can be easily adjusted with any photo app though.

(+) multiphoto scanning is an amazing feature; downside of this is that you can't get the advanced scratch/dust removing option using the multphoto option (at least I haven't figured out how). So, the scans are not the best quality - ok but not great.

(+) nice ScanGear Toolbox interface; pleasing to the eye and basically user-friendly.

(+) buttons on front of unit are assignable and quite convenient.

(+) overall scanning of text (and photos if you don't mind some white specks or using advanced setting) is pretty good.

(+) just tried the OCR and it worked very well; Canon gives you the OmniPage Pro versus a cut-down SE version which would be expected for the price.

(+) it just plain looks good!

So there you have it: the good & the bad. Looks like the thumbs up and thumbs down folks are both partly correct. And CNET's rating of 6 isn't too far off either. I'll be generous, but not as generous as most customer reviewers, and give it a 7. The "noise" (mainly white, dust-like specks) is a fairly big negative and prevents a higher score.

One of the overlooked benefits of this and some other Canon scanners is their ability to run on the power of the USB port alone--no wall socket connection needed. Scanners, even small ones, have a relatively large footprint, and one less cord makes it easier to detach, store and re-attach. I store my U67OU sideways on the bookshelf.

One of the overlooked benefits of this and some other Canon scanners is their ability to run on the power of the USB port alone--no wall socket connection needed. Scanners, even small ones, have a relatively large footprint, and one less cord makes it easier to detach, store and re-attach. I store my U67OU sideways on the bookshelf.

I run a webcomic and needed a way to scan in pictures quickly and correctly eliminating all of my eraser marks. After some research and a look at where to store it I settled on my CanoScan. I ordered and received it, simple set up, literal plug and play with the USB port. I was up and running in three minutes flat. The scans for my black and whites are perfect and are done in record time. The scans of images are with little white dots on them, but a shrinking of the picture to a realistic size quickly eliminates that. I've worked with a number of scanners and am thoroughly impressed by this one for its scan time (usually less than 30 seconds), and its incredibly small size. If you're looking for a scanner for a limited workspace, or scanning images for relatives, this is your product.

I just purchased this scanner yesterday, but so far I am extremely impressed. I'm using it for scanning old photographs with Photoshop 5.5 and the results are astonishing for such an inexpensively priced unit. It's very lightweight, compact, and easy to install. The power comes directly from the USB cable (a 5' cable is included) so that no AC adapter is needed. I highly recommend it for home use.