Saturday, November 15, 2008

Take a look at a Cannon scanner for your SOHO

By Susan Magretta

Computer are a core part of any SOHO office computer equipment because it is increasingly critical that we have the ability to digitize work products, not to mention photographs and other treasures. There are other practical uses as well, a scanner allows you an efficient way to archive news and magazine articles. Today, your don't need a physical fax machine to send a fax any longer, and a scanner allows you to convert documents into a digital format that allows you to send a fax. Scanners are cheap, you can pick up a basic one as low as $50.

Chooseing a scanner shouldn't be hard, make your decision based on the features that you need. What are you going to be doing with it? Don't buy a scanner with features you won't need. Today, any scanner is going to be just fine for photographs and documents.

Scanners, whether they are flatbed, multi-purpose, or photo scanners, are all easy to install. Most auto-install simply by inserting an installation disk and following the onscreen prompts. Typically it will install some software and then prompt you to plug in the scanner. It just can't get much more simple than that.

Compatibility used to be an issue, however, increasingly, you can find scanners that work with both the Mac and the PC. The three top manufactureres of scanners today are HP, Epson, and Cannon. There are lots of different types to choose from, so choose a scanner that meets your needs and functionality. The All-In-One scanner is becomoing more popular now, combining a printer, a scanner, and a fax. HP makes a popular line of all-in-one multi-function devices such as the Photosmart at around $120. It is an excellent scanner to send off to college with your college student.

Once you have determined the features you want, you can compare features at any online retailer to compare the differences between different scanners. Cannon makes a great CanoScan line of flatbed scanners which includes both hardware and software technology that automatically enhances and corrects common problems such as dust and scratches as well as retouching photo graininess and bad lighting. For a unit under $50, it is pretty affordable.

For more sophisticated photo needs, you should consider the Espon line of Perfection Photo Flatbed scanners, they are a little more pricey, typically coming in around $179, but they offer the Digital ICE technology which makes it easy to scan slides and negatives converting them into high quality images. No matter what the features are that you want, there is a perfect scanner out there for you. - 15478

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