“a consumer reports for the cheap” — the new york times
Also see our full Scanners review:
  1. Cheap Scanners, Best Cheap Scanner
  2. Scanner Reviews
  3. Discount Scanners Features Comparison Table

Almost all cheap scanners can scan at optical resolutions of 4800dpi and in 48-bit color, both of which are more than home users will need, so look for other distinguishing features. Scanners that use an LED light source need no warm-up time, which means you can start your scans faster. If you have old slides or negatives that you want to preserve, you'll need a scanner that supports scanning those materials. Finally, a scanner that includes an OCR (optical character recognition) program lets you copy a document and convert the image into a text document you can edit -- a nice extra feature.

Resolution Color Depth Light Source OCR Software Slide/Negative Scanning
Epson Perfection V300 estimated price $80
4800x9600dpi 48-bit LED Yes Yes
Canon CanoScan 5600F estimated price $105
4800x9600dpi 48-bit LED Yes Yes
Canon CanoScan LiDE 200 estimated price $70
4800x4800dpi 48-bit LED No No
Visioneer OneTouch 9520 estimated price $60
4800x9600dpi 48-bit CCFL Yes Yes
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