Amazon.com Review
This low-priced, entry-level, quality flatbed scanner includes Hewlett-Packard's Intelligent Scanning Technology and PrecisionScan software. The ScanJet 3200C has true 600 dpi optical scanning and 30-bit color depth for detailed scans with millions of vibrant colors.
Setting up the ScanJet 3200C was easy--we just followed the instructions on the setup poster. We plugged in the AC power supply, connected the parallel cable (included), turned on our PC, inserted the CD-ROM, and followed the HP setup wizard. After restarting our PC, we also installed Adobe PhotoDeluxe 2.0 and Caere OmniPage Pro (trial edition), which are included on the same CD-ROM.
To test the scanner, we started an image-editing application, selected the ScanJet 3200C as our source, and clicked the scan button. The HP PrecisionScan LT application started automatically, running in its own window, and displayed four easy steps for completing the scan. We followed each step as we scanned a magazine photo and exported it back to our image-editing application. The scan took 52 seconds and included unwanted moiré patterns (typical when scanning magazine photos). We were unable to find an option for filtering these unwanted patterns in the PrecisionScan software, but the scan was otherwise clear, bright, and true to the original. A similar scan of another color photo did not include the moiré patterns.
To test the OCR software, we placed a document on the scanner that contained both text and graphics. The text was white on a black background--a difficult test for many scanners. We started Microsoft Word and selected its Acquire Text command. The scan took 2.5 minutes, including OCR translation, and the result contained many typographical errors. The software also mistook much of the text for graphic elements. We repeated the scan with black text on a white background; the results were much better, but there were still several typographical errors.
Overall, the performance was fair and, considering the low price, we think the scanner did well.
Pros:
- Great value at a low price
- Easy to set up and use
Cons:
- No software filters to reduce moiré patterns
- Relatively large and bulky
- OCR software is trial edition
Product Description
It's so simple, you'll be scanning in minutes with HP's ScanJet 3200C color scanner with HP's Intelligent Scanning Technology. HP's software guides you through scanning and in a few easy steps you get great results automatically.The HP ScanJet 3200C color scanner is perfect for family projects. The scanning software, HP PrecisionScan LT, guides you through four easy steps. The easy to use enhanced parallel interface just plugs in like a printer. The HP ScanJet 3200C color scanner includes HP PrecisionScan LT scanning software with fully automated Optical Character Recognition (OCR) capability from Caere and Adobe PhotoDeluxe image editor. HP's Intelligent Scanning Technology combines quality optics and image processing hardware with HP PrecisionScan LT software to easily and quickly give you great images. 30-bit color (internal hardware) is an advanced feature of HP Intelligent Scanning Technology that refines image data and improves depth and clarity. Each image pixel is processed to remove streaks and jagged edges while sharpness and color accuracy are simultaneously boosted. The entire process is executed in the scanner's hardware, so your PC is not burdened with heavy processing.
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