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WHICH? REVIEWS: Scanners

Get the best machine for the job with a Best Buy scanner. Our Best Buys are quick, easy to use and product great-quality scans.

Our Best Buy scanners produce good-quality scans quickly, are easy to set up and use, and come with user-friendly software.

They offer a range of additional features too, such as the ability to scan slides and negatives as well as paper, bundled image-editing software or even an optical character recognition program (OCR) for converting hard-copy text into editable documents.

However, lower-scoring models suffer from a number of problems. Some are very slow to scan, while others can't match the scan quality of our Best Buys - you may find scans are lacking in contrast or aren't as sharp as they should be. Some scanners are let down by awkward-to-use software.

You can find out our Best Buy recommendations by taking out a £1 30-day trial to www.which.co.uk Below, we explain more about the features of scanners

Resolution

The amount of detail picked up by a scanner is determined by its resolution, which is measured in dots per inch (dpi). Generally speaking, the higher the dpi, the clearer the image.

A resolution of 1,200dpi is fine for most tasks, but enlargements require a higher resolution to maintain image quality. For scanning film, select an optical resolution of about 2,400dpi.

Quality

All the scanners on test exceed these requirements. However, a higher resolution doesn't necessarily mean higher quality scans: one model on test with a maximum resolution of 3,200dpi is just as capable of producing great scans as one with a top resolution of 6,400dpi.

File size

Scanning at such high resolutions produces massive files (around 60 to 70MB apiece - a typical digital photo is around 1MB, by comparison).

The scanners' default resolution settings are much lower (around 200 to 300dpi). It's best to experiment with a number of test scans at these settings before cranking up the resolution.

Speed

Those planning to scan regularly should factor speed into the buying decision. But remember, scan speeds will be affected by your computer's USB connection. You'll get best results with the high-speed USB 2.0.

Additional features

Image-editing software

Scanners come bundled with useful software. Some can automatically remove scratches and specks of dust; in advanced mode you can do image adjustments such as tweaking the colour balance.

Generally all scanners also come with third-party image editing software to enhance your scans.

Optical character recognition (OCR)

This software converts scans of words into text documents that can then be edited in a word processor. This is handy for digitising old type-written items.

One-touch scanning

Some scanners let you scan directly to a PDF of email at the touch of a button.

So what's the best scanner for you? By taking out a £1 30-day trial to www.which.co.uk you can discover all you need to know about scanners and find out our Best Buy brands.

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