Canon CanoScan LiDE 50

The CanoScan LiDE 50 flatbed scanner is a slim, moderately priced color scanner that is easy to operate. Intended for light home use, this scanner adequately performs a variety of basic scanning tasks and always looks nice on a desk. But anyone demanding the best color photographic reproduction should spend a bit more on a mid- or high-level scanner, such as Epson's Perfection 1670.

With a brushed-silver, metallic lid and a dark gray base, the CanoScan LiDE 50 is an elegant-looking piece of hardware. Weighing a mere four pounds and standing less than an inch-and-a-half tall, this scanner doesn't even have a power cord or an adapter to clutter your desk. Instead, a clear-plastic-and-bright-metallic USB 2.0 cable running from the rear of the LiDE 50 provides power from a host PC or Mac. Under the lip of the front cover, four raised buttons--labeled Copy, Scan, File, and E-mail--direct scanning operations. Overall, the LiDE 50 is a streamlined and good-looking desktop addition.

Setting up the LiDE 50 could hardly be easier. Loading the software is also simple but slow--largely because of the abundance of software extras on the included CD-ROM. The scanner comes with Adobe Photoshop Elements 2.0, a scaled-down version of Photoshop that's well worth installing.

The CanoScan LiDE 50's scans proved mediocre in our tests. Scanned color photographs (viewed on a 19-inch Samsung SyncMaster 957 MB CRT) appeared fuzzy around the edges and had an overly grainy appearance. The color graphics test document we scanned came out looking somewhat overexposed, but scanned text showed up clear and legible, if a bit light.

Editor's note: We have updated the ratings of this product to reflect changes in this category.