Customer Reviews

Canon CanoScan LiDE 80 Color Scanner

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(8)

 

 

The Canoscan LiDE 80 is easy to use for a variety of applications and the USB Hi-Speed (no longer USB2) interface is super fast and convenient since it not only is the data link, but supplies power to the scanner. If your power hub is as congested as mine, you'll appreciate this bonus. The LiDE 80 comes standard with a film adapter unit so you can scan 35 mm film or unmounted slide film. although the literature claims the film scanner runs at 2400 x 4800 DPI, I don't buy it. My Nikon fim scanner is 2900 DPI and gives MUCH better scans of 35 mm film. No contest. Then again, it was quite a bit more (4X)expensive than the LiDE 80 and only scans film...

The LiDE 80 includes software for automatic retouching of scratches and dust - and it also now has grain and fading correction. I tried these features on color photos taken over 50 years ago and was pleasantly surprised with the results. Overall, this is a nice package that goes well beyond the typical bargain scanner.

I got this scanner to replace a 1220U for the Film scanning and decent OS X drivers. Unfortunately the drivers on the CD are really bad, but the ones on-line (Tool Box 4.1.3 and LiDE 7.2.1.0 as of this writing) are better, so download them first. PhotoShop Elements is a great bonus but the OmniScan SE is a "classic" only app. Not Canon's fault but still disappointing. Also the film tray is for negatives, not slides so be aware of that. Otherwise it is a nice scanner, light weight, compact and combines USB and power in the same cable (down with AC adaptors!). Mac OS X people get the drivers from the website first.

I just purchased this scanner to replace a slow, unwieldy HP 5300C. After 1 week, here's what I think.
===============================================================
PROs:

1. Slim form factor.
2. Good quality photograph scans. Maybe not for a professional, but for us amateurs, it rocks!
3. Very quick scanning
4. Negative scannning possible with included adapter.
5. Canoscan software definitely a cut above the norm
6. Windows XP installation is fast and simple.
-->a. Install Canoscan Drivers and software, reboot THEN
-->b. plug scanner into nearest HighSpeed USB (USB 2.0) port
-->c. You're good to go!
7. Full Photoshop Elements 2.0 included
================================================================
CONs:

1. A bit noisy
2. Some software supplied as "SE" or limited versions
3. Scanning Kodak APS film pictures can be tricky due to the
nonstandard print sizes.
================================================================
A final piece of advice - make sure you acquire the latest Canon software from the Canon, USA website.

Well, It looks like I'm going to be the disagreeable odd-ball person on this review page. I like this scanner. Mainly I like its size and weight. Thin-line is perfect for my desk and the scanner is quick and efficient. I use the advanced features for scanning, cropping the image rather than using the default of scanning the whole bed.

I find the colors to be true when compared to the original photograph. If you scan at a high resolution with any scanner, you should be happier than anything of a low resolution. So, read the features and the implementation of them and you'll be happy, too. The Canoscan was the right price for what I needed. I wasn't into capturing slides, so that wasn't important to me. There were cheaper models, but I passed them up. There were more expensive models with features I didn't need.

The bundled software comes with an OCR program which I've used repeatedly for scanning textbook pages. Another plus for the price.

Because this scanner is so portable I can move it around and simply plug it in to the front USB connection on my PC whenever I have the need to use it.

No problems with drivers, etc. I'm using Windows XP.

Gail Gupton, Author: The 31-Day Diet of Spiritual Enlightenment and Seekers of Truth.

Good:
This unit is an industrial design gem
Speed increase is very noticable over my older CanoScan N1220U
Software for Windows XP is decent (lots of options)
Includes both TWAIN and WIA drivers
No transformer block/AC cord to deal with
Bundled with USEFUL, quality software such as Adobe Photoshop Elements 2.0 and ScanSoft OmniPage SE

Bad:
Scanning film negatives is a PAIN IN THE ASS (scanning one at a time and FORCING you to do a preview first - very tedious and time consuming)
A bit louder than my older CanoScan N1220U during SOME processes

Overall, scan quality is good and I think Canon put together a fantastic package.

The image quality is very, very good for a scanner of this price. The size is convenient, the use of USB 2 for power is convenient, the scanner looks good. It's fast at 300 dpi, slower at 600 dpi, and remarkably slow at 1200 dpi.

Two issues, however. First: the box says max resolution of 2400 x 4800; the software shows a max resolution of only 1200 dpi. Yes, 99 times out of 100, 1200 dpi is plenty; but why market as 2400 dpi then? Second: with the exception of the included copy of Photoshop Elements 2.0 (a great deal), the software for OS X is horrible. The installer requires classic to run; and the installer is not necessarily successful in running. I downloaded an update to the drivers, and that was set to run in classic, even though it will only run in native OS X (not classic). I ended up having to install the CD, download the update, and copy the install script from the CD to the correct location in the update to get that installed, and then make an alias in one of the library folders. Compare this to the process for installing a digital camera: just plug it in. So while I'd recommend this as a nice home scanner for the price (don't expect the quality of a professional scanner), I'd also recommend that Canon do something about their installation software.

Scope of use and review: I use a scanner primarily for OCR and for capturing black and white photos.

After several years of good service, my HP 6200C has turned into a nightmare: for some reason it began to require a 15-30 minute battle, after which it sometimes did scan -- and sometimes did not. So I bought an HP 3970, only to find another nightmare with the software: I took the HP 3970 back. In fact the HP 3970 was such a disappointment that I struggled to keep working with my HP 6200C for a few months, despite taking 15 minutes or more to get it to scan.

I am extremely pleased with the Canon LiDE 80. It is fast and very easy to use. The OmniPage SE OCR software that comes with it does a very respectable job. And the scanner easily fits into my laptop bag for travel -- plus there are no power cords to haul along. The fact that it uses LED rather than a bulb also is a plus -- one less maintenance problem to worry about, one less thing to worry about in travel. I have already done more in a month with the LiDE than I was able to do with the HP 6200C in the last six months.

I just bought this scanner for use with my G5 tower, and despite reading reviews to the contrary, it works brilliantly with OS X 10.3.4 - no problems whatsoever. I downloaded the latest CanoScan scanner driver (v7250) and CanoScan Toolbox (v4130) and within a few minutes of installing the software I was scanning with no problem at all. Scanner performs well considering its size, weight and one-cord convenience. This scanner should be ideal for all but the most demanding applications - highly recommended!

For the money the Canon LiDE 80 is ideal for most users. The scanner will scan at 2400 dpi, but only in the mode the really matters, film (negative) and slide (positive) mode. The Canon LiDE 80 does this to prevent you from generating a large, and most of the time unnecessary file. For most users 300 to 600 dpi is all you need correctly digitize your image. If you want full control, you need to invest to the next level of scanners which will probably triple in price.

I made the decision to get the LiDE 80 based on a comparison of reviews for different brands. I had considered getting another HP but the reviews for the one I was looking at were not at all good.

The LiDE 80 is easy to install and use, but getting crisp detailed scans of photos? Forget it. After every scan I have to adjust the contrast, the saturation, the sharpness, or a couple other settings. Every scan has a foggy, milkly, diluted, faded, out of focus (insert description of choice) quality to it. I'm losing so much detail it's not even worth the time it takes to scan my photos. I've played with the scanner settings hoping to get some kind of improvement but it's just not happening.

I was previously using an HP 3300c and I never had to adjust to my scans in a graphics suite to get good results. I'm going to pack this piece of junk up and get the HP 3970 like I should have done in the first place.

I'm giving the LiDE 80 2 stars simply for how easy it is to install and use.