Dear Lazyweb,
I'm looking for a scanner, with the following requirements:
- Must work perfectly with Linux. I don't even care about Windows or MacOS.
- Will be used for documents, not pictures. As such, resolution does not matter, but ADF would be nice.
- I have a pretty good printer, and we have a system running mgetty for faxes, so I'm not looking for a multifunctional thing. I just need to be able to scan from time to time.
- Not too expensive.
The problem is that I know splat about scanners in Linux, except that
there is this thing called SANE
which sometimes seems to help
there. I even used it once or twice, but that's about it.
Any suggestions?
I only scan things occasionally, and I picked up a super cheap Canon LiDE 25.
The good: - Powered over USB (only one cable) - Supported by SANE - Small
The bad: - Noisy - Slowish (USB 1.1) - Things you're scanning must be very flat against the glass, or else they get a little blurry.
For the price, however, it's great.
Also, check http://www.sane-project.org/sane-mfgs.html for support before you buy.
I have an Epson that has worked great for years and continues to perform. I got it for $70 refurb from their site. That being said, I'd recommend hitting newegg to find a starting point and maybe doing some research about Linux support and overall quality. http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=Property&Subcategory=44&Description=&Type=&N=2000270044&srchInDesc=&MinPrice=&MaxPrice=100
Good luck!
Hi Wouter,
I recently was looking for the same sort of scanner: cheap, works perfectly with Debian, ADF preferable, no need for a multifunction with printer+fax.
The ironic thing is that, as far as I can tell, the multifunction devices that include ADF are actually cheaper (can be had for ~$150 US or less) than any scanner-only devices with ADF (~$250 US or more).
My advice, if price is more important than avoiding a multifunction, is to just get a multi-function HP with ADF and ignore the printer and fax functionality.
I have LiDE 60 and I can say it works perfectly with sane (and, yes, it supports USB 2).
As for the size, well, I have a notebook backpack that fits up to 15" notebook, and this scanner fits in it.
It's about the size of ... oh, 17" notebook?
I highly recommend HP devices, including scanners. I use HP's multifunction devices, and they work perfectly. I also use an HP JetDirect USB-to-Ethernet print server, which works perfectly as well. In fact, it works better under GNU/Linux than it does for other systems in the house that run Windows: under GNU/Linux, you can scan over the network, while none of the Windows software lets you do that.
Previously, I've used HP's standalone printers and scanners, and they worked perfectly as well.