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CNET editors' review
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CNET editors' rating:
stars
Very good
Detailed editors' rating
- Reviewed on: 05/23/2001
Talk about more bang for the buck. While it has OCR (optical character recognition) problems and a few other annoyances, the $79 Hewlett-Packard ScanJet 2200c is still a good deal for the money.Talk about more bang for the buck. While it has OCR (optical character recognition) problems and a few other annoyances, the $79 Hewlett-Packard ScanJet 2200c is still a good deal for the money.
Ready, set, go!
The ScanJet 2200c ships with a USB cable, a large power adapter, and a quick-start guide in three languages. As an extra bonus, it ships with the sensitive CCD scanning head locked to help prevent damage in transit. Setting up the scanner is easy, thanks to an excellent wizard with step-by-step instructions. It starts off by installing PrecisionScan LTX, which handles scanning and OCR, and Adobe ActiveShare, a photo-management and sharing application. Next, the wizard takes you through the simple connection process. The only bad part of the installation process is trying to find space for the bulky and cumbersome power adapter.
The 2200c keeps it simple with its two scanning buttons: Scan and Copy. The Copy button launches the Copy utility, which both allows you to send your scan straight to your printer and lets you alter everything from print quality to image lightness and darkness. The Scan button launches PrecisionScan LTX and scans your document, offering adjustable options ranging from resolution quality to output size. The PrecisionScan software features a simple, clean interface, and text and visual aids help make every option easy to use. The software also performs OCR and exports scanned text and graphics to software installed on your computer (such as Word or Dreamweaver) or straight to file in formats such as BMP, JPEG, or GIF.
However, while the software provides clear pictures and descriptions for many options, some key choices--such as Descreen Printed Originals, Use Maximum Bit Depth, and Sharpen Detail In Photos--are not described anywhere, so novice users will be left to trial and error.
Pretty is as pretty does
For a low-cost scanner, the HP 2200c did a pretty good job of producing high-quality images. CNET Labs' scanner jury found that the grayscale scan quality was excellent and color representation was good, showing an overall true scan in both cases. However, when scanning at 600 dots per inch (dpi) in grayscale, the Hercules Scan@home 48USB delivered significantly better results than the ScanJet 2200c, which displayed some fading and a grainy image--odd, considering that the Scan@home does a generally poor job elsewhere. But although HP's high-resolution image quality suffers a bit, it is still acceptable.
In CNET Labs' performance tests, the 2200c far outclassed the Hercules Scan@home. The 150dpi, full-page color scan took 23.3 seconds, almost 70 seconds less than the Hercules. The 150dpi grayscale scan took only 24.6 seconds for a full page, compared to the Scan@home's 44 seconds. Continue reading
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