Customer Reviews

Canon CanoScan LiDE 20 Scanner

5 star:		(40)
4 star:		(22)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

This scanner is extremely easy to install and set up. You'll be scanning photos within about 10 minutes of getting it out of the box. Its also great that it draws its power through the USB chord as its just one less thing you need to worry about plugging in somewhere. The price for the scanner is hard to beat and with Amazon's free shipping, this is about the most affordable scanner out there. Its slim design and light weight is also a plus. So far I have run into only one draw back and that is its very limited depth of field. You cannot put anything with any dimension on the scanner and expect decent results. If the object is not touching the glass, the scanner cannot focus on the object and capture detail. If you're simply looking for a scanner that can be used to archieve photos or artwork, this is a great choice. The included software has enough options to fine tune control but I've been quite happy with the results using the software's default settings. I also scan directly into Photoshop where I can further enhance the results if need be. Its important to note that this scanner is plenty powerful for the average home user. 300+ DPI resolution is more than enough to scan a photo and capture just TONS of detail. If you're not a professional working in print theres just no need for a scanner that will capture 2400 dpi. So don't go looking at other higher priced scanners with super high resolution thinking higher is better. Chances are you will NEVER find a need to scan something in such high detail.

SUMMARY:

- Unbeatable price

- Easy set-up

- USB serves as power chord

- light weight and small so its easy to move

- decent surface area / bed size

- Good resolution for the average home user

- Great results with photos or artwork

- Easy to use scanning software with decent user options

- Limited depth of field, not good for 3D objects.

After setting this up in about a minute I was scanning. The software/driver package is average. Warm up takes only a couple of seconds becuase it is not a CCD/lamp scanner, it is a CMOS scanner which requires less power and less components. Hopefully it will bring more reliability. USB powered. Easy for people to "borrow" or bring to a friends house. Just remember to lock/unlock it when traveling and scanning. Images are average but the speed is awesome. Beats my UMAX 1220U (1998) scanner by far. I'll probably try out epson scanners next, the quality and speed on that is supposed to be really good. If you are looking for fast, simplistic, reliable scanner, the LiDE 20 fits the bill without paying a big bill.

The only scanner I've had for the past several years was a Mustek 600 scanner that was originally purchased for our 486 back in the day, but we lost the AC adapter way back. We did alright without a scanner for a while, but we finally deduced a new one would be nice to have. I bought this scanner and immidiately began hooking it up to my HP P2 450. I installed the software first, which took a little longer than I expected, but let you choose what you wanted to install, which was nice. I then restarted and plugged in the USB. There is no power cord because power is received throught the USB cable.

Next, I found a picture, stck it in the scanner, opened the included PhotoStudio 5, setup the program for the scanner, the scanber calibrated itself within a minute, then I was able to preview, crop, and scan the picture. I started at the standard 300 dpi and it came out perfect, almost as good as the original that was professionally done. I then tried it at 600 dpi, and it was even better. And you guessed it, 1200 dpi looked picture perfect. (no pun intended) With this economicly minded scanner, 1200 dpi is the max, but unless you want to blow it up about 50 times, it's original size, there is no need to have anything hihger.

PhotoStudio 5 can save in several different formats including the standard Bitmap and Jpeg. To give you an idea, The 4X6 photo that was scanned at 300 dpi and saved at 100% quality as a JPEG was only about 800KB.

When scanning, there is no warm up time, and it runs fairly quickly, but the higher the dpi, the longer it takes.

Of corse I wanted to check text decoding, so I found a magazine with several formats of text on one page, scanned it, and used the included software to decode it, and it did not make one error. When I used a friends scanner, there were many errors, but there was not one on this. My only dissapointment is it does not pick up accents when scanning spanish, it just ends up as a random letter.

All-in-all, the included software is fairly good; the scanner itself is compact, speedy, power efficent, well designed, and takes good scans; and it all comes in a nice package. So if you need a scanner for identifing and fileing english text, scanning and saving photos in compressed files at no more than 1200 dpi, or just making coppies, and you don't want to spend a lot this scanner is for you.

I just received my Canon Canoscan LiDE20 scanner and I must say that I'm quite impressed so far.

Software took about 20 minutes to install & it includes a good general image editing program, but I'm used to using Picture It that came on my system so I normally use the bundled software for the initial scan only, plus I don't like wasting time learning new software when I can use something I'm already familiar with. Also included was an OCR program (I've never used OCR that much and I probably won't use this one much either)

The scanner is very small and lightweight.

There's NO power cord, the scanner is powered through the USB cable (I have mine plugged into a POWERED USB hub and it works just fine)

The scanner is quiet while previewing or scanning.

Image quality is very good considering the price of the scanner.
I also considered the LiDE 30 that was a few bucks more, but I'm glad I saved the cash and got this model.

I've been scanning at 300 dpi and 400 dpi today, and after printing the images on photo paper I can't see much difference from the original.

The speed of the preview is good at less than a minute per page.

Depending on the resolution I'm using, the actual scan is quite fast also. Example: a 7" by 11" image scanned at 400 dpi takes a little over a minute to completely scan.

My old umax scanner (that won't work with Win XP) takes 2-3 minutes per preview and depending on resolution, takes 5-20 minutes per scan.

You have options for magazine, photo & other standard methods of scanning. I use the custom settings to raise the resolution to 400 dpi color. (I haven't scanned anything over 400 dpi yet, but I'll get around to that sooner or later) You can also change the image before scanning, including briteness & contrast, etc. I normally leave the other settings alone and tweak the images later.

I have noticed that unlike many other flatbed scanners I've used, the scan bulb is not lit at all times, only when scanning.

The scanner also features "ON FRONT" scan buttons, but I've never been a fan of one touch scanners, so I don't use them.

My only complaint is that after I scan images, onscreen they look pixelated and grainy, even if I use them in MS Publisher they look distorted. When the image is printed, it comes out just fine though.

Overall this is a great little scanner for the price.

Like the previous reviewer (June 18), I debated on whether or not to get this scanner. But I figured the price was low and overall the reviews were very favorable. I'm glad I did. It is very easy to set up - just take it out of the box, install the software, plug in the usb cable and it is ready to use. Note: I only installed the drivers, not the image editing software because I use other programs instead, like Macromedia's Fireworks. It installed on Windows XP with no problems, and also interfaces with my image editing programs perfectly.

This scanner looks very good, and I like the slim design. I use lower resolutions because most of the scans are for the web or for viewing on a monitor - even at lower resolutions they look great. The biggest delay is when you make the first scan - it takes about a minute to calibrate. After that, the speed of the scans is relatively quick. It's nice not needing a power cord. Be advised that you will probably have to use a powered usb hub, not the one on the motherboard. I already had one so this was no problem.

Negative: when I scan multiple pictures, the software doesn't always recognize each picture - it sometimes combines more than one. Or, it chops off parts of the pictures. However, I might not be following the instructions so I'll give the scanner and software the benefit of the doubt here.

Overall for the price, this is an excellent value - good quality and good looks. I am happy with this purchase.

This little unit is spectacular for what it does at the price! I ordered mine, it arrived quickly (for free, no less!), and I had it set up in a matter of minutes. Not only does it do a great job of scanning text for easy transmission to other parties as a PDF file, it also captures pictures quickly and easily, using a 1-button feature on the unit.

But here is the very best feature, if you intend to use it as a working piece of equipment rather than a simple, recreational toy-- the OCR that comes with the unit.

I scanned several technical articles needed for my work, and the unit had them formatted to editable WORD files in a matter of minutes. I scanned a 15 page legal document (articles of incorporation) that was laid out well, re-formatted and edited it to my specific needs, and re-transmitted the final, revised document to my partner in another city -- all in a matter of about 30 minutes. He was dumbstruck at how quickly this unit did a fairly complicated task--and so was I. This is a really, really neat unit, I just wish I had one a long time ago-- no more re-types of legal documents, articles, or other text documents that were previously re-typed by a paid assistant.

As you can tell, I like this unit a LOT -- and my partner purchased one within minutes of receiving the aforesaid legal documents -- he had to have his right away. Great unit, spectacular price, and simple to operate-- WOW!

I needed a scanner to put pictures on a web store. This is perfect for that. The scanning is easy (one touch). Even better, I don't need to plug it in; it uses the power from the USB cable. I recommend this scanner for those needing an inexpensive, lower resolution scanner like I do. If you need higher resolution try the LIDE 30 or one of the higher end scanners. I've used HP and Microtek; both worked great. It takes 15 seconds to do a scan which is acceptable to me. Also, the software that comes with the scanner was enough for me to manipulate the image as needed.

I recently bought this scanner to archive my wedding photos. I loved it, and here's why:

1. It is very affordable.
2. It doesn't have an AC line, and less wire under the desk is a good thing.
3. It scans good pictures. 48bit color, and can go up to 1200dpi. Although for everyday use I find 300 to be plenty.
4. Reasonable speed. Since I scan mostly at 300dpi, each scan of a 4x6 photo is no more than 20 seconds. The trick is to preview only once to get the scan area, then just scan away the rest without preview. 9 rolls of film (7x36, 2x24) took us two nights.
5. software is easy to use. I mostly use the TWAIN with photoshop.
6. light and compact. After I am done with my batch of films, I just unplug the USB and stashed in one of the empty shelves under my TV, so it doesn't take up desk space.

I am a photographer with many images that only have prints available. I was in a jam a needed to scan a B&W print cause I couldn't fine the negative. I dusted off my trusty $1200 Nikon ax 1200 only to discover this 40 lb monstrosity I have been storing for 5 years does not work properly anymore. I was in jelly by then. I rushed out picked up this little gem, i figured 1200 x 600 is enough for an 8x10 print scan. I examined some other scanners but they were too expensive, up to $200 and didn't really offer any more usefull features (you will not get decent 35mm film scans with any scanner less than $400, trust me). I went home installed, I used the twain plugin and my scan was out the door in no time. Great size, good image quality, less cable mess, no external power brick. The only way to improve is to make it wireless.

I just got this scanner and had it working in about 10 minutes from taking it out of the box. It scans BW images at great resolution, magazines look pretty good too. Photographs come out about 90% of perfect.

One neat thing - this scanner comes with a stand to position it vertically, thus saving you precious desk space. It is powered via USB, no AC adapter needed. You can scan single-sheet documents and books as the lid lifts up as to not break the spines of your books.

The software this scanner comes with is pretty complete and works on the first try (at least on WinXP), however, as always, I'd recommend a more robust photo imaging program, e.g. Adobe PhotoShop.

The price is right and the quality is great. What a great product!