Agfa SnapScan Touch LDTU6000 Flatbed USB Scanner (PC/Mac)

by Agfa

Product Details

Product Manual [443kb PDF]

• Shipping Weight: 14 pounds
• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B00001OPJ8
• Item model number: LDTU6000
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Discontinued by manufacturer: Yes
• Date first available at Amazon.com: September 4, 1999

Product Description

Amazon.com Product Description

Agfa's revolutionary SnapScan Touch USB scanner is operated by four super-intelligent buttons. Just one touch automatically scans images and text directly into your favorite programs.

You'll get speed, simplicity, and perfect results every time, with nothing to learn and no confusing menu settings. Press individual buttons to attach your scan to an e-mail, send it directly to your printer, or convert it to editable text. You can even reconfigure each button to do exactly what you want by selecting from an extensive list of actions. Pressing the fourth, big button opens the intuitive ScanWise interface, giving you an accurate preview of your images and full access to all settings for interactive scanning.

The SnapScan Touch USB scanner sets unchallenged standards in one-touch scanning. Its 68-billion-color sensitivity and 600 x 1200 dpi sharpness leave no doubts about top quality. Designed in landscape format to leave you more room on your desktop, and supplied with seven interchangeable handles in tasty colors, the SnapScan Touch is truly in a class of its own.

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Agfa's SnapScan Touch may as well have been called the scanner for dummies - you don't need any scanning experience to create good-looking scans within minutes of yanking the flatbed out of the box. The touch-button hardware design, coupled with intuitive software, makes scanning simple. The four-button paw on the top corner of the scanner comes preconfigured for four separate functions. You can scan an image into the scanning software for editing, scan and send an image directly to your printer, scan a text document directly into a word processor, or scan an image and attach it to a new email that it creates. If none of these options really matches your scanning needs, you can reconfigure the three smaller buttons to perform other tasks - like scanning an image directly into a Web browser - on the fly.

Once you've scanned your image into the scanner's ScanWise software, you can opt for the guided tour or go ahead and figure out the process on your own. The software is organized into four logically ordered tabs that ask you to select the type of image you're scanning (glossy photo, magazine, and so on), select a destination for the image (Photoshop, AppleWorks, and so forth), tweak image settings, and then set the dimensions at which you want the image to appear. Finally, you press the big red Scan button, and you're good to go. The entire process is extremely straightforward.

In the Image Control panel, you're allowed to adjust image settings manually with slider controls or click a box to activate ScanWise's PhotoGenie, which is supposed to optimize the detail and color balance of your image. Although PhotoGenie helps some images (slightly), it actually makes others look worse. If you have the time and are willing to experiment, your best bet is to play with the settings until you get results that look good to you. If you have Photoshop, you can get even better results with the program's more advanced tools.

The nondescript beige scanner gets a dash of color from removable handles that attach to the ice-colored lid. The scanner ships with handles in any of the five iMac fruit flavors - though there's no graphite choice yet. It also comes bundled with MicroFrontier's Color It Image editing software and Caere's OmniPage LE 5.1 OCR software, which lets you scan text easily into editable documents. The SnapScan Touch has a scanning area of 8.5 by 11.7 inches, an adequate maximum resolution of 600 by 1,200 ppi (which it can interpolate up to 9,600 ppi), and 36-bit color depth.

The pictures we scanned looked great. Although the color reproductions weren't dead-on compared to the originals, they were very close - good enough for most home projects. The Agfa SnapScan Touch's low price, simple software, convenient scanning buttons, and quality output make it a solid buy anyone could appreciate. -- Nikki Echler

Good News: Inexpensive. Easy-to-use scanning software. Great-looking scans.

Bad News: You can reconfigure three of the buttons, but you can't change their icons - a nitpicky complaint.

©1999 MacAddict

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

49 of 49 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars No longer a skeptic!, April 17, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Agfa SnapScan Touch LDTU6000 Flatbed USB Scanner (PC/Mac) (Office Product)

I was quite skeptical when I heard the Agfa was "easy touse". The one-touch buttons which are programmable are handy, butyou're not committed to them. It's suited for such a wide range of computer literacy. If you're a low-tech person, this scanner is for you. If you're a high-tech person looking for great value, user-friendly software, sleek and compact design, and good-quality scans (good enough for my freelance publishing and design), this scanner is for you. I was only upset to find that this scanner which cost me a fraction of the price I paid a couple years ago for an HP, scans better and faster! As with any computer peripheral, do your homework, and it make sure it's compatible with what you're looking to get from a scanner! END

30 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars What a great value for the money!, July 11, 2000

By 

raingardener (Madison, WI United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Agfa SnapScan Touch LDTU6000 Flatbed USB Scanner (PC/Mac) (Office Product)

I never scanned anything before I bought this scanner, but my first scan turned out great! I'm using my scanner with a B&W Macintosh G3, but it also works with Windows 98 if your computer has USB ports. It took me less than 30 minutes to set up the scanner and begin scanning. The Scanwise software that you use to make scans is laid out in such a straight forward manner that it takes very little practice to learn how to use it effectively. It features a guided mode that can guide you through the scanning process every time you scan or just until you feel comfortable doing it. The more I've "played around" with scanner, the better my scans have become. The latest versions of the Scanwise software are available on Agfa's web site, and they are easy to download and install.

I've had a couple of questions for Agfa about my scanner that I submitted to them via their web site. Their customer service reps have responded to my questions within 24-36 hours.

I've been using my scanner to make copies of old family photos for which there are no negatives and, with a little effort, I've been able to turn out some beautiful reproductions that have looked as good, if not better, than the originals. That process starts with a good scan of the original.

I'd buy this scanner again!

35 of 36 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars easy,easy,easy!, December 29, 1999

By 

[e-mail] (Ohio) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Agfa SnapScan Touch LDTU6000 Flatbed USB Scanner (PC/Mac) (Office Product)

I am a new computer user, and therefore pretty dim when it comes to installing new hardware and software, I had a terrible time installing my printer and was quite hesitant to try and install a scanner, but wanted it bad enough to try. It was so easy! I just finished and I am very happy with the setup. There are easy to follow step by step instructions for the novice that made the whole process a breeze. I got it to scan successfully the first time out also, the only thing I can see is that I will have to play with the color adjustments as the pictures came out a little pinker than I like. Believe me when I say it is a great scanner for the beginner. Have fun!