Cheap Umax Astra 2000U Flatbed USB Scanner (PC/Mac) (Electronics) (Windows NT, Macintosh, Windows 98, Windows 2000, Windows NT 3.5, Windows NT 4) Price
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To set up the Astra 2000U, we followed the included quick-start guide. We connected the USB cable from our PC to the scanner and the AC adapter cable from the scanner to the outlet, dropped in the CD-ROM, and followed the Umax setup wizard. The software setup process, although automated, was lengthy, taking about 15 minutes.
To test the Astra 2000, we started an imaging application on our PC and used its Scan command to scan a magazine photo. The Umax VistaScan driver software started automatically and, after a short delay while the lamp warmed up, showed us a preview scan. (VistaScan consistently waited for the scanner's lamp to warm up even after the lamp was already warm.) VistaScan has Beginner and Advanced buttons at the top of its window; the Beginner screen includes icons for color photos, printed material, text, line art, and Web images. We selected the working area on our preview scan and clicked the Color Photo icon for a final 300-dpi scan, which took 45 seconds. VistaScan automatically exported the image to our graphics application. The image had an unsightly moiré pattern, so we repeated the scan using a magazine descreening option. The new scan took 110 seconds and showed a significant improvement. A third scan at 600 dpi took 125 seconds but looked only marginally better than the first scan.
To test optical character recognition (OCR) abilities, we scanned a single page that contained two columns of text plus some line art. The scan took about 50 seconds, including OCR translation. Caere's OCR software ignored the line art and created a two-page document with a single column of text, which it then exported to Microsoft Word. The two-page formatting was unexpected, but the interpreted text was correct and the OCR software did a decent (though not perfect) job of recognizing fonts. You'll want to explore the well-chosen bundled applications, which are designed more for home use than for business.
Pros:
- PC and Mac compatible
- Easy hardware setup
- Detailed printed owner's manual
Cons:
- Lengthy software setup
| PLATFORM: | Windows NT, Macintosh, Windows 98, Windows 2000, Windows NT 3.5, Windows NT 4 |
| CATEGORY: | Electronics |
| MANUFACTURER: | Umax |
| FEATURES: | True 600 x 1,200 dpi optical resolution, Superior CCD scanning technology, USB interface, Windows and Mac compatible, Single-pass scan |
| TYPE: | Scanners - Color, Flat Bed, Universal Serial Bus (USB) interface, connection, port, Mac, Macintosh compatible, Charge-coupled device (CCD), 2000 U |
| MEDIA: | Electronics |
| MPN: | 2000U |
| ACCESSORIES: | |
| UPC: | 785461134326 |
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Customer Reviews of Umax Astra 2000U Flatbed USB Scanner (PC/Mac)
Not compatible with Windows XP I got this scanner as a gift a few years ago, and it served my purposes then when my computer's operating system was Windows 98. It did a decent job scanning my pictures and I was satisfied with it. Since then I have gotten a new computer with Windows XP, but the Umax Astra 2000U isn't compatible with it. Windows XP isn't able to locate the TWAIN driver, it keeps saying there are missing dll's, trouble with the OCR...plus a lot of other things. I'm not a technical person, so I really couldn't tell you exactly what else was missing or whatever. You can get updated software for these problems, but only if you're willing to shell out money for a CD-ROM or download it from a link on their site. Either way it'll cost you. So even though I won't be throwing it out, I will certainly be shopping around for a better quality scanner that is compatible with XP. This one, I'll give it away to someone who is still using 98 SE, 98 or anything below it, but I doubt if I'll be able to find anyone who still does.
Planned obsolecence
The UMAX 2000U scanner itself is adequate, like so many scanners out there, and you'd expect this major name would offer better support. Made in 1999, it lacks the speed or image handling capabilities of its current competition. Features in, say, the current Epson models (which include smart-scanning an image, so you don't have to crop) are absent here.
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>Unfortunately, a scanner is often no better than its software, and UMAX has left Mac OS X users out in the dark. This scanner only works with Windows and OS 9; UMAX refuses to release a software update for Mac OS X. Moreover, apps like the esteemed Silverfast -- meant to fill in the software gap -- only make drivers for OS 9.
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>In effect, by purchasing a UMAX scanner, you risk signing up for a product that will require you to buy new hardware or software down the line. Even its OS 9 software suffered from performance glitches, like impaired scanning with the free software updates. I've been forced to upgrade (but not to a UMAX product; I've learned my lesson). That's the reason so many of these are available on internet auctions and the like.
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>Given its archaic performance even under Mac OS 9, you have to decide for yourself whether it's a good investment to get a product with impaired short and long-term usabiliy.
Works for a day
The dumbest scanner I have ever seen you shoud check out the software old and slow.
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