need new scanner

[ntexasdude]

I moved my Microtek scanner from one room to another and now it doesn't work. Can't get it to power up. Must've bumped something loose. Someday I'll take it apart and see if I can fix it. :p

Sooo.....now I'm in the market for a decent scanner in the $100 range. Don't need anything professional. Does anyone have any suggestions? Has anyone used one of the new Canon ultra slim models. Circuit City has a CanoScan Lide 60 for $79.

[BuckeyeChris]

I think you can't go wrong with the Canon model you mentioned. I have been using my Canon LiDE 30 slim line flat-bed scanner for a couple of years now without problems. It's power source is USB only, and I can multi-scan three 4x6 photo prints at a time with the Canon software. The resolution is impressive, and it also handles black and white documents very well.

[ntexasdude]

Thanks Chris, done deal. I'll get one tonight. If I don't like it I can always take it back and throw it through the front window. :grin:

[BuckeyeChris]

Thanks Chris, done deal. I'll get one tonight. If I don't like it I can always take it back and throw it through the front window. :grin:

I didn't know Circuit City had such a liberal return policy, great to know. ;)

But I think you could do more damage to your window if you used some of the first generation flat-bed scanners. My first scanner, also a Microtek, weighed as much as the CPU did, but was bulkier with a very thick piece of glass underneath. Still got it. Yeah, that sucker could maybe take out some drywall too. :D

[ntexasdude]

I still have an old 1200 DPI Mustek parallel port that's much like your old Microtek. That scanner was painfully slow. To scan something at 1200 DPI you pretty much could go outside and mow the lawn while it did it's thing.

My Microtek was really really fast although I really didn't care for the software bundle that came with it.

I'm hijacking my own thread. :p What in the world do we do with all of our old computer stuff? I have closet full of old cases, 17" CRT's, keyboards old printers and whatnots. I hate to throw it away but most of it isn't too useful. I know there recycling centers but does anyone really take the and expense to ship it there?

[CoriBright]

I have the LiDE 80. Brilliant.

[ntexasdude]

How much did you pay for it? I really like the looks of the Canon scanners. Very slim and unobtrusive.

Do you like the software bundle that came with it?

[CoriBright]

Purchased the LiDE 80 through Amazon.com on January 21st 2004 for $129. Previous model (still working perfectly on hubby's PC) was the N1220U, and the LiDE 80 is so fast compared with the N1220U.

If it broke tomorrow, I'd just have to get another. It also has the ability to scan slides... (both negatives and positives) though it's not easy to do so, but the results are excellent.

[BuckeyeChris]

I'm hijacking my own thread. :p What in the world do we do with all of our old computer stuff? I have closet full of old cases, 17" CRT's, keyboards old printers and whatnots. I hate to throw it away but most of it isn't too useful. I know there recycling centers but does anyone really take the and expense to ship it there?

I have the solution! You know all those postage-paid, return envelopes you get from credit card and refinance companies? You slap one of those on the outside of a box that contains your old PC or peripheral device and mail it. As long as it doesn't weigh more than 72 pounds and is permitted to be mailed under U.S. Postal regulations for parcels, it is legal.

I heard this on a local radio talk show. The radio host read a story from a man who did this because he was tired of the constant junk mail he received. There was a quote from somebody at the postal service saying it was legal. :D

The host said the man had mailed back rocks, a brick, and other assorted junk lying in his garage that he no longer wanted. I can't remember if his suggestion was effective in reducing junk mail, but think about all the fun you'll have. ;)

I'll haven't found the article on the 'Net so far, but if I find it, I'll post the link.

[Richard King]

You slap one of those on the outside of a box that contains your old PC or peripheral device and mail it.You devil, I love it. I keep mailing the garbage I receive from the AARP back to them in their envelopes. Maybe next time I send them another package. :D

There was a fellow on the same floor of the dorm I lived in at the University of Minnesota who owned a "pet rock" before anyone owned a real "pet rock". This guy's pet needed a diet and weighed in somewhere around 20 pounds. He used to drive his neighbors crazy by rolling it around on the floor. No one knew where the noise was coming from but everyone on the floor could hear it. It just resonated through the concrete slab foundation the dorm was built on. Eventually he was found out and revenge was had. He made the mistake of closing, but not locking the trunk that he was taking on the plane back to Maine with him. While it was unlocked his roommate decided the pet rock would be lonely over the break so he packed it in the trunk. The guy was charged a fortune for the "extra baggage weight" and when he got home he had to buy a new bottle of the booze that he had in the trunk, not to mention lots of other things the booze got on. It seems the pet rock got thirsty on the long trip and snuggled up close with that bottle of booze. Eventually, the fellow's pet had his way with the bottle. I suspect he had a bit too much and couldn't hold his booze because when this fellow got home the remains of the booze were everywhere in the trunk. :D This little true life fable has been brought to you by Richard King.

[BuckeyeChris]

You devil, I love it. I keep mailing the garbage I receive from the AARP back to them in their envelopes. Maybe next time I send them another package. :D

There was a fellow on the same floor of the dorm I lived in at the University of Minnesota who owned a "pet rock" before anyone owned a real "pet rock". This guy's pet needed a diet and weighed in somewhere around 20 pounds. He used to drive his neighbors crazy by rolling it around on the floor. No one knew where the noise was coming from but everyone on the floor could hear it. It just resonated through the concrete slab foundation the dorm was built on. Eventually he was found out and revenge was had. He made the mistake of closing, but not locking the trunk that he was taking on the plane back to Maine with him. While it was unlocked his roommate decided the pet rock would be lonely over the break so he packed it in the trunk. The guy was charged a fortune for the "extra baggage weight" and when he got home he had to buy a new bottle of the booze that he had in the trunk, not to mention lots of other things the booze got on. It seems the pet rock got thirsty on the long trip and snuggled up close with that bottle of booze. Eventually, the fellow's pet had his way with the bottle. I suspect he had a bit too much and couldn't hold his booze because when this fellow got home the remains of the booze were everywhere in the trunk. :D This little true life fable has been brought to you by Richard King.

I found the link to that story I mentioned:

http://www.vertical-visions.com/_temp/postagepaid/index2.html

I can not attest to its authenticity, and I have no idea what "vertical-visions.com" does, nor am I certain that I want to know.

Try this at your own risk Richard. But be sure to let us know when you do. If we don't hear from you again, we'll assume that the feds busted you, okay?

[BuckeyeChris]

Cardboard shipping box: $2, if not found free.
Roll of packing tape: $2.50
Shipping junk (in 50 lb increments) to junkmailers: PRICELESS

(I wish I could take credit for writing the above. I found it here (http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=961738) .)

[Richard King]

Vertical Visions appears to be his skydiving business in West Virginia. I like it. I have LOTS of empty boxes around here and lots of hurricane trash. :D

[Richard King]

From the same site:
I now have a new rainy day hobby!
F'ing RAD! :lol:

[Bogy]

I still have an old 1200 DPI Mustek parallel port that's much like your old Microtek. That scanner was painfully slow. To scan something at 1200 DPI you pretty much could go outside and mow the lawn while it did it's thing.

My Microtek was really really fast although I really didn't care for the software bundle that came with it.

I'm hijacking my own thread. :p What in the world do we do with all of our old computer stuff? I have closet full of old cases, 17" CRT's, keyboards old printers and whatnots. I hate to throw it away but most of it isn't too useful. I know there recycling centers but does anyone really take the and expense to ship it there?
If you don't want to use the method described above, the alternative is to find someone who actually has a use for the stuff and will take it off our hands. Before my recent move I took inventory and realized I had 5 computers, a 486 and some early P1s, 5 monitors, two laser printers, a dot matrix and inkjet printers, scanners, and other assorted cards etc. that I had no reason to move. My first attempt was bringing it to a place that had at one time bought used computer parts, to sell in their own business. Unfortunately, I found when I got there that they no longer did this, and only recycled old computers. As in the customer pays them to recycle them. I think it was a flat $10 for each monitor, and 25 cents a lb. for everything else. I returned home with my load. Many places will take relatively recent equipment, but I had already done my own recycling of the newer stuff, mostly to relatives. I donated 3 19" crts to the organization my wife worked for. I finally found a place in Lincoln, Neb., which takes anything. They use the equipment in the school system in a number of different ways. The only things I held back were a couple of laser printers that one of the guys at Computer Renaissance had told me they would be happy to buy from me. Unfortunately, when I went by with the printers he wasn't there. Another guy who I had pissed off one day, after he did the same to me, was. He told me they had bought all the equipment they were going to buy that month. This was on the tenth of the month. Right. Anyway, that worked out all right, because when I got here I had an inkjet in my office, but no laser. Now I do. :)

It is getting difficult to find places to take the really old stuff. No one wants to be the last one caught with it. Try to find a place like I did that will take it, and somehow use or properly dispose of it, or take the above advice and send it back to the spammers. Computer/electronic equipment would be much better than rocks. Rocks or traditional trash they can just throw away, but computer equipment will not only cost them the price of postage, but the cost of disposing of it properly. If they are caught just throwing it away, then they are going to be hit with some really nice fines. :lol:

[Nick]

AMEX just screwed me out of $100 on a cash rebate award last month......so I mailed them a 17 lb concrete block last week, along with the full name of the customer service manager who wouldn't help me. More packages are on the way. My hero! :dance01: