Customer Reviews

Umax Astra 3450 Scanner

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

If you are looking for great quality transparency scans using this sleek flatbed, you will be hugely disappointed. All the scans that I did for my slides were lacking in contrast, and lost significant amount of colour depth. More over, because of the lack of high optical resolution (I scanned at 1200 - the max optical resolution offerred by this scanner) the images even look slightly unfocussed !

The preview and scan times are also too long. An average preview takes 3 minutes per slide (forget the 7 secs preview promised on the brochure - I never realised seven second even while scanning a colour photo at 300 res), and an average scan between 6-9 minutes.

Scanned colour photo images came out slightly better - but the cost - equivalent images can also be had out of scanners about half the cost of this one !

The scanner is well packaged with all the software I needed, the hardware did not give me any trouble while installing, the scanning software (vistascan) works well without crashing my PC.

My reco - look for a better product. And if you really want good transparency scans - I guess it is better to go in for a dedicated transparency scanner

I've had this scanner for about 8 months now, with good results. The only minor issue I had came as a result of upgrading from Mac OS9.0.4 to 9.1, but I simply needed the updated driver that was on the Umax website to fix that. I use this daily with Photoshop 6 and I'm able to produce consistent results without incident, which is a big plus. The transparency adapter is not suitable for scanning tons of slides, but it does very nicely for the occasional negative, slide or positive film (4"x5" max size). I have found that it is extremely versatile and produces excellent results considering its flexibility. It allows me to say "yes" when the client says "can you do this" since I can throw just about eveything at it.

If you need a versatile scanner to produce good quality without spending a fortune, this is a good choice.

This scanner's flaws... hmm... where to begin. First, the driver GPF'd if I didn't have the scanner powered on during boot up. So, I always had it powered on when the computer was on. Then there developed a problem with the scans. I'd get bands of red hue in parts of the scan. Even when I rescanned, the bands appeared in the same spots.

As was stated by other reviewers, forget the transparency option. The quality of transparency should be higher since, first it is not a reflective scan and secondly, it is from a first generation source (a negative) rather than a second generation source (a print). But the transparency feature on this scanner is very, very, very bad.

All of this was rendered moot when the scanner failed completely. The power light was not even coming on. After investigation, I discovered a resistor on the main circuit board had begun to turn brownish black and melt. Don't know if this was a flaw in a component or a flaw in the design, but I didn't want to try to fix it and then have it burn my house down if it was a design flaw. So it's in the dumpster now.

I'll go back to Microtek or to HP for the replacement.

I had somehow developed a high opinion of Umax but this is the first of their products I've purchased. Difficulty was experienced loading the software. After being on hold for about 1 hour on a non-toll-free call, a technician solved the problem in minutes. They obviously were familar with the bugs I encountered. Then, in scanning a 35mm transparency at their stated highest optical resolution of 1200dpi only mediocre quality was obtained. When enlarged on the screen in photoshop to 100% these scans had unacceptably poor quality. Soon thereafter additional scans developed multicolor streaking which rebooting the computer and scanner failed to fix. This problem is not mentioned in the manual or on Umax's web page. I'm returning this scanner to the store where I purchased it and looking to another scanner mfgr in the future.

We returned the UMAX 3450 because it (the company) boasts more than this scanner can perform. First, as we found and as website reviews confirm, the UMAX 3450 CANNOT SCAN negatives. Every attempt produced horrible results! Second, reaching their technical support is a joke. Our guess is that the company must be on the brink of bankruptcy. After waiting OVER 1/2 hour on a NON-toll free call accompanied by continual promises that "the wait will be no longer than 3 minutes", that "only a moment longer", that "someone will be right with you" we finally hung-up. Frankly we felt duped. We don't ever wish to hear the word "UMAX" again and are sorry that ...(the website) sells their products.

The ASTRAs are alright scanners, as is this one. But don't be fooled into thinking it will work with a Mac by the description. UMAX has announced they will never support OSX for these scanners. So You have to run a clunky scanner utility in os9 to get it to work and switch back and forth between OS's This is my third UMAX scanner, and my last one.

When it works it's good. After a few months the Umax 3450 decided to scan the underside of it's lid and send it to the printer whenever it felt like it, which seemed to be once or twice a day. It also intermittently scanned only mono in a shade of red. After six months it only scanned in a red tone period. This was very inconvenient but I was not worried as it was under warranty. I soon became worried when I had to deal with the Umax service agent for Australia. It took 10 weeks to get a replacement scanner. They have no idea about the concept of a 'customer'. They don't exhibit any empathy, sympathy or even personality. They promise to get back to you and they never do. They just don't seem to care. So I swore I would never get another Umax product and never have to deal with the service agent again. Unfortunately the replacement lasted two weeks before packing it in. It is now in the hands of the service agent, who is so far taking a week to decide if they will treat it as a warranty claim, since the warranty on the original unit has run out. If they had replaced my original in a week or two I would still have warranty. They used it up for me.

So, if you live in Oz my suggestion is don't touch Umax, because if it goes wrong you will have to have therapy after dealing with their "service" agent.

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I bought this headache a year ago and I have NEVER gotten it to work properly with either of two different computers and two different operating systems (Windows 2000 and XP). Recommend to avoid it because of poor product design and support.

Spent a couple of months e-mailing, calling and never got customer service. The phone just rings and rings. E-mails nevered answered and that was almost 10 months ago. I fixed it by unplugging unit over night and repluging it in after it just quit working.
Software is user complicated and unfriendly.

I am a student in the CGI/3D and graphics fields. As a beginner I want to learn as much as I can and not have to forfeit my savings to do that. This scanner was the perfect answer. I have sent pics to websites, I can scan photos, magazine articles, negatives, etc. An added feature is being able to make copies. It's just like having a xerox machine-no more trips to Staples/Kinko's, when I need a quick copy of an item. My one complaint is that I've had it about 5 months and I still haven't recv'd the rebate.