Customer Reviews

Hewlett Packard ScanJet 5470cse Scanner

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

I returned mine after spending about 14 hours installing, removing, reinstalling, cleaning the registry, searching HP's web support site, etc. with no success. HP's support has been no help, and my visit to the HP scanner support forum was no help either--much of the talk was about class action suites and BBS complaints.

The hardware and feature set is great, but HP apparently is having a problem managing their software development. I know I can't afford to spend this much time trying to get a technically mature, commodity product to perform its advertised function.

I had a French made SCSI flatbed scanner that worked fine for me until I upgraded my operating system to Windows ME, which does not support SCSI, so I bought an HP Scanjet 4300c last December (2000), and at first it worked fine. I didn't have a USB port so I connected it to my parallel port and connected my printer to the scanner.

The scanner worked fine for a couple of months but then began locking up whenever it announced that it was "warming up the light." The printer continued to work through the scanner, however. I eventually bought a new Gateway 1800 computer (1.8 GHz) and connected the HP 4300c up to a USB port (and re-ran the software, of course.) The scanner still locked up. I spent several hours trying everything I knew to make it work without success.

I ran all the tests on the computer--the USB ports were fine, everything worked fine. The scanner locked up, though, when I tried to test it. I called Gateway and HP and was given some procedures to try to revive it, and the final result was that the scanner turned out to be faulty. The scanner by then was out of warranty (a 90 day warranty), and the local (Salem, Oregon) HP repair shop told me that he didn't repair that model, and that he could send mine back to HP and get a reconditioned one for... about the price of a new one. I declined.

So, I bought the HP 5470c. I have installed it without problem. It does the job as advertised and seems to work perfectly. I have used many HP products, including the Deskjet 890C printer and a fine laser printer which lasted for years before it [broke down] and I had to replace it. All have been excellent. The only one of their products that has left a bad taste in my mouth so far has been the Scanjet 4300c, which is admittedly a low-end product, but a 90 day warranty seems a bit chintzy. Too bad that every company does not have the same "No B.S." (their description)warranty as Dillon Precision, in Arizona. They replace parts free for years after purchase, and really stand by their products. It makes friends for life and results in loyal customers.

Hewlett-Packard makes fine products, usually, and generally I feel safe in buying them. I hope this machine lasts as well as some of their others have.

Joseph H. Pierre

author of The Road to Damascus and other books

Incredibly crisp, acturate colors. Easy to use and setup. Awesome deal, I think I want to buy the next level up!

On the plus side, this scanner installs easily (WindowsMe and WindowsXP) and it has a nice set of front panel controls. Also, its color accuracy is dead-on (this is a big plus).

Three negative issues:

1) The scanning beam is exceptionally bright. While there may be some benefits (color accuracy perhaps), it also means that ordinarily invisible dust becomes prominent in the scan. More than any other scanner I've worked with, the 5470cse makes it exceptionally difficult to get a clean scan. This makes it useless for creating photo quality scans without substantial post-processing. Contrast this performance with other scanners which produce clean scans without draconian cleaning measures (for both the glass and the image surface). Suprisingly, the extra bright light does not help reduce image noise.

2) The 5470cse support for 48-bit scans is a sham. You'll see this claim in the product description and on the box. However, once inside the box or on-line documentation, it is never mentioned again (perhaps the marketers are making up facts while the engineers tell it like it is).

The software and driver prevent generating a 16-bit per channel TIFF or importing a high bit depth image into Photoshop's RGB16 image mode. Follow-up with HP says that the scanner uses 48 bits internally and then selects the "best" 24 bits. HP's customer care averts responsibility in this area by falsely pointing the finger elsewhere: "The Windows operating system does not support bit depths beyond the 24 bit range. For this reason, scanning to 48 bit color is not supported." This is patently false as other scanners seem to have no problem generating 16-bit TIFFs in Windows environments. HP provides the following links:

- http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/document?dlc=en&lc=en&product=391311&lang=en&cc=us&docname=bps05305

- http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/genericDocument?lc=en&cc=us&docname=bps05307

3) HP's customer care is an Eliza style AI program that represents itself as a real person researching your issue and crafting thoughtful replies. Each note is a form letter (thanks for writing ... if I can be of more help, etc.) with an Eliza style problem restatement (I gather your problem is ...) followed by bayesian match to one of their FAQs and a link to related support bulletin). Each is signed by an Anglo name (Rose, Bobby, John, and Nancy).

In other words, if you haven't found the answer by reading the docs, you're not going to get it from customer care.

If you are a Mac owner keep away from this and other HP scanners. Certain performance claims made by HP in pre-sales literature as well as the Users Manual cannot be met, except for Windows. HP admits this, but does not appear to be bothered by these misleading statements.

In addition HP does no provide a hard copy user's manual, this is found on the CD, which makes for difficult learning unless you want to print out the 150 page color manual.

Customer support is not customer focused.

bad product,COMPAQ IJ600, LASTED 13 MONTHS LONG ENOUGH FOR THE WARRNTY TO RUN OUT.
BLUE BACK GROUND EAT'S UP COLOR INK LIKE FREE---junk"""
agatha m coltrainc

All of my scanners have been hp scanjet scanners (3) and they all provide about the same bang for the buck. If you are looking to use the slide and neg. unit that comes with this scanner, "for get about it". A kid with a box of crayons would be money better spent and better resolution. I have an old HP 5p 300dpi scanner running on an old 133 mmx scsi computer lost in my basement some where that is faster and the scanned pics looked better. For my money, I'm looking for the box it came in so i can send it back. I don't know if it's the software or the hardware but the resolution is not 2400dpi or 1200, what ever the true dpi is?

If you are a Mac owner keep away from this and other HP scanners. Certain performance claims made by HP in pre-sales literature as well as the Users Manual cannot be met, except for Windows. HP admits this, but does not appear to be bothered by these misleading statements.

In addition HP does no provide a hard copy user's manual, this is found on the CD, which makes for difficult learning unless you want to print out the 150 page color manual.

Customer support is not customer focused.