Cheap Umax Astra 2100U Flatbed USB Scanner (PC/Mac) (Electronics) (Macintosh, Windows 98, Mac OS X, Windows 2000 Server, Windows XP, Windows Me) Price
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Hardware setup was easy and straightforward following the included quick-start guide; software setup was lengthy but automated and essentially problem-free. 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.
To test the Astra 2100, we started an imaging application and used its Acquire Image 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 scan.
After performing the final scan, VistaScan automatically exported the image to our graphics application, where it appeared with an unsightly moiré pattern. We returned to VistaScan and, after finding a No Descreen option, changed the option to Magazine and repeated the scan. The new scan took 121 seconds and, although it had no moiré patterns, the image was a bit softer than we expected.
To test the Astra 2100's optical-character recognition (OCR) ability, we scanned a single page that contained two columns of text plus some line art. The scan took about 55 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 format was unexpected, but the interpreted text was correct, and the OCR software did a decent (though not perfect) job of recognizing fonts and font styles.
Finally, we explored the well-chosen bundled applications, which are especially fun and helpful for managing digital photo albums. Overall, the Astra 2100U is a nice scanner with a good software suite for a reasonable price.
Pros:
- PC and Mac compatible
- Easy to use
Cons:
- Lengthy software setup
- Slim printed documentation
| PLATFORM: | Macintosh, Windows 98, Mac OS X, Windows 2000 Server, Windows XP, Windows Me |
| CATEGORY: | Electronics |
| MANUFACTURER: | Umax |
| FEATURES: | 600 x 1,200 dpi, 36-bit color scanning, USB interface, Black-and-white and color copying, Creates calendars, cards, flyers, PC and Mac compatible |
| TYPE: | Scanners - Color, Scanners - (Flat Bed), Universal Serial Bus (USB) interface, connection, port, Mac, Macintosh compatible, 2100U, 2100, U |
| MEDIA: | Electronics |
| MPN: | SPKG-13432 |
| ACCESSORIES: | |
| UPC: | 785461134333 |
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Customer Reviews of Umax Astra 2100U Flatbed USB Scanner (PC/Mac)
Faulty, faulty, faulty Seven years ago my mother bought me an iMac because my old computer too out of date for the computer applications I needed to use for school. Being a huge fan of iMacs, I was estatic with joy, and to make things better I received a free digital camera and a scanner with the computer. I thought this would make my work as an artist so much easier. However, this year I realized that out of the four machines just mentioned, the only one that still works is my old computer. As it turned out, my mother bought me an iMac during the 2 year period that Apple's iMac design had a serious fault in it. I don't know specifically what it was, but I do know that many many people had failed hard drive after failed hard drive, which was the same case as mine. (My computer died right after the 16 month warrenty died.) Next the digital camera, which actually was very good and lasted until just last year) died. This was also due to a fault in the design, which many users experienced; however, I considered myself lucky since mine lasted 5 years longer than the usual life span and managed to take well over 2000 pictures with it. Lastly, my scanner (which is no doubt what you are reading this for ^_^) has broken several times within the past 6 months, the most recent time being today, which why I felt the need to give it a review for the sake of future possible buyers. <
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>First off, the software for this scanner is horrible. It does not work on XP, and while it did work on OSX, it would randomly decide to stop working here and there. Now I finally have software that allows it to work on XP (dled off the net), but now the scanner has stopped working, which brings us to my next point. <
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>This scanner is not made for dependibility. It will randomly stop working and start working again. <
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>I do not recommend this scanner at all. <
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>Oh, and by the way the buttons have never worked.
Better then expected !
I purchased the Astra 2100U ,mostly because the price point for a 32 bit scanner was hard to beat. A little nervous on how it would perform ,however I was pleasantly surprised. I ended up removing all of the software bundled with this product except the VistScan software and the Adobe PhotoShop Home Edition 3.0. I like the ease of use on the copy utility, and use it often. FYI ,I have a P3 750 256M.B.SDRAM O/S WinMe , Iam using ver3.53U of the vistascan software, those having probs and are running WinMe or WinXP can download ver3.55 , I have'nt had any probe so Iam sticking with the originial ver off the installation CD ! If like me you dont use a scanner often,and cant justify spending alot on one ,this is the way to go ! When I frist recieved the scanner I noticed some smugges on the under side of the glass, UMAX support replied quickly to my concerns about this and supplied directions for opening up the case and cleaning the glass top and bottom. I also was concerned because I accidently had the scanner light on all night ,they said if the bulb was to burn out they would replace it!
Umax 2100u and Windows XP
I bought one of these about 3 years ago and it has given good service, running on Windows 98.
I now have windows XP and as other reviews have said, the software provided with the product does not work at all with XP. However, the critisism in some of the reviews above is not up to date. I have loaded updated software from the Umax site, which was free and works fine with XP. In fact it appears identical in use with the software initially provided.
I still think this is a good scanner, although it is a bit dated and bulky by today's standards.
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