HP Scanjet G4050

Pros: It's Black and Shiny

Cons: HP totally misleads you that all its functions are supported in Vista

Summary: I purchased this scanner three months ago to archive my father’s 20 year old slides. It got good reviews and according to HP “is Certified for Windows Vista”. That “certified” line is a crock. While it can be used to import pictures into Vista’s new Photo Gallery, it takes about 5 minutes per photo and you can’t do anything advanced with it. No text conversion, no slide of negative scanning, no E-mail or Print button function, no preview, no selectable area, no photo editing or other bundled software support – basically you get nothing they claim this scanner can do. This may be a good scanner and it may work great for XP but HP’s inability to place a disclaimer that none of the advertised features works under Vista (they still advertise it as fully supporting Vista) is dishonest. You will only discover this when your directed to download the Vista driver online only to see it provides minimal WIA functionality with a promise that full software release is imminent. Vista’s 6 months old and still no driver. This scanner is a $200 waste for Vista owners.