Hewlett Packard C7193A ScanJet 5200Cxi Color Scanner

Description

Most scanner manufacturers only want you to consider resolution (dpi) and bit-depth when comparing scanners, but what do those numbers really mean to you? You want a scanner that is easy to use, provides business-quality images, and helps you be productive - without having to be a scanning expert. The HP ScanJet 5200C Business Series scanner with HP Intelligent Scanning Technology provides these benefits and more!The ScanJet 5200Cxi is a 36-bit color flatbed scanner for the PC that supports both a parallel and Universal Serial Bus port connection. It supports a 600 dpi resolution with 1200 dpi hardware super sampling that removes rough edges and increases sharpness and color accuracy. This process is performed within the scanner's software so PC performance is not taxed. The Intelligent Scanning Technology automatically enhances each scan for the best results from the first scan.This scanner features dual image scanning. This technology lets the HP PrecisionScan software scan images and text together in the same one-pass scan, then captures and optimizes the images. It knows the difference between text, color line art and graphics and automatically refines each segment for clear, accurate scans of complex documents. It also allows the user to send different elements of a scan to different destinations such as word documents or graphics projects. This scanner accepts documents up to 8.5x11.7 inches in size, including photos, pages with text and graphics, bound reports and even objects. It supports an optional transparent media adapter and automatic document feeder.

Take the guesswork out of scanning: The Intelligent Scanning Technology in Hewlett Packard's 5200Cxi automatically identifies text, line art, and color images; chooses the appropriate resolution for each element on your page; and then lets you edit each element independently.

To set up the ScanJet, we connected the USB cable to our PC, plugged in the AC power, and turned on the PC. We bypassed the Windows '98 new hardware wizard, dropped in the HP ScanJet Software CD-ROM, and followed the ScanJet setup wizard. The entire process was straightforward and intuitive.

After restarting Windows '98, we installed and ran Adobe PhotoDeluxe Business Edition (included among the ScanJet software), and followed its built-in wizards to scan a color photograph. The result was a beautifully sharp image that was very true to the original.

We also installed a trial edition of OmniPage Pro 8.0, the renowned optical character recognition (OCR) software from Caere, along with PageKeeper Standard. (You must install PageKeeper in order for OmniPage to work with the scanner, a detail that was not at all intuitively apparent but that we found by trial and error.) We scanned a heavily marked, wrinkled text document containing several fonts and viewed the results in OmniPage. (Because OmniPage also works with Microsoft Word, we repeated the process from within Word by selecting Acquire Text from Word's File menu.) Although the process of scanning, interpreting, checking, and exporting text was slow, both the scanner and the OmniPage software performed well. Our pencil marks did confuse the OCR software, but the unblemished text was correctly interpreted and the quality of the scan was excellent. Wrinkled and slightly torn pages did not interfere with the scanning, only actual marks through letters prevented a correct interpretation.

With Hewlett Packard's reputation for quality and its long-standing investment in scanning products for both home and business use, we're not at all surprised by the good results we got from the ScanJet 5200Cxi.

Pros:

• Nice software bundle
• USB and parallel connectivity

Cons

• Relatively large and heavy

HP's fast, accurate, Internet-ready color scanner for great results every time - no experience required. The HP ScanJet 5200C Business Series color scanner delivers quality results up to three times faster than other scanners. One button starts any project! The HP ScanJet 5200C offers hassle-free connectivity to Microsoft(R) Windows(R) 95, Windows 98, or Windows NT(R) 4.0 through the parallel port, or to Windows 95 or Windows 98 through the Universal Serial Bus (USB). More e-mail and Web software links let you use your HP ScanJet 5200C to scan directly to Web authoring and e-mail applications, with an online e-mail and Web task guide to ensure your success. Superior office software - including Adobe(R) PhotoDeluxe(TM) and Caere PageKeeper Standard - lets you click on a photo, text, or drawing area and edit it directly, or transfer files right into your document management system. The HP ScanJet 5200C scanner with Intelligent Scanning Technology automatically optimizes scanned photos, logos, line art and text, and preserves page formats when scanning entire pages while allowing you to edit each element independently.