But despite the OneTouch 8920's impressive optical specs, its scan quality was generally disappointing. Overall, our test image looked crisp and preserved shapes and details well, especially in the photographic elements of our document. Color scans, however, barely passed muster with our jury because they were plagued with serious color-tracking errors. For example, bright colors looked somewhat muddy, faint areas disappeared, and some areas of solid color were corrupted with bands of other colors. Grayscale scans fared worse; images looked a bit out of focus and lost some detail. Negatives looked particularly bad; the image was fuzzy and grainy with poor color matching.
The decision
The OneTouch 8920 comes with a one-year warranty. Phone support is available Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. PT, but it's a toll call. The company's Web site provides extensive FAQs, downloadable driver updates, manuals, and e-mail access to technicians.
Between the software bundle and the transparency backlight, Visioneer has cooked up a good package for $149. But its scan quality falls short of the mark in every respect. Such mediocrity may be tolerable for scanning documents with few graphics, but anyone with more complex scanning needs should look elsewhere.
Scanner speeds
Average time, in seconds, to complete one scan (shorter bars equal better performance)
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Visioneer OneTouch 8920
| Canon CanoScan N670U
| HP ScanJet 4400c
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Scan quality
| | Poor | | | Fair | | | Good | | | Excellent | |
| Scanner | Color | Grayscale | | Visioneer OneTouch 8920 | | | | Canon CanoScan N670U | | | | HP ScanJet 4400c | | |
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The Visioneer OneTouch 8920 delivers blazing speeds, but its scan quality falls short in key areas.
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