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| Visioneer 6200 USB Scanner |
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Hardware Reviews May 2001 • Vol.12 Issue 5 |
 Visioneer 6200 USB Scanner | ||
 Up to now, our acquaintance with Visioneer machines generally has been a lackluster experience at best. However, a surprising combination of good performance and low price for Visioneer's 6200 USB Scanner and a few of the company's other models has us seriously reevaluating that stance. With 600 x 1,200dpi and 24-bit color, the 3.7-inch high x 10.5-inch wide x 16.7-inch deep 6200 is not a scanner for the graphics professional. However, the solidly constructed 5.8-pound scanner can still do the job for the budget-conscious home user who wants to scan photographs and documents for personal use. In addition to speedy scan times ranging from 0:10 for a 150dpi black-and-white photograph to 1:37 for a 600dpi large color photograph, for example, the 6200 renders sharp, detailed images with decent color. Image contrast and balance also looked good, though white and silver shades appeared just a little bleached. Moreover, although the scanner had some problems recognizing subtle differences among a few mid-tone shades, it did an excellent job rendering extremely light and dark colors, an uncommon ability for sub-$100 models. We were also impressed with the images' natural skin tones and reasonably smooth transitions among varying shades. The scanner rendered black-and-white media very nicely as well. The grayscale test image appeared with 29 shades of gray, two above our benchmark average, and a test photograph appeared very detailed with good contrast, though, again, white areas looked a little bleached. The graphic scanned in even and clean with good ink coverage, and the text document was clear and readable. We also liked the 6200's accompanying software bundle, which should handle most of your home-scanning tasks. Titles include ScanSoft PaperPort Deluxe, MGI PhotoSuite II SE, TextBridge Pro 8 OCR, and PictureWorks PhotoEnhancer 3.1. And a disc is included for those who want to sign up and use AOL 5.0. The scanner's user-friendly scanning software, which comes with advanced settings for adjusting an image's brightness, contrast, and gamma levels, particularly impressed us. One-touch software settings, for example, automatically adjust resolution settings for images and documents you want to edit, fax, file, or copy. Other one-touch options will set resolutions ideal for scanning black-and-white or color photographs, and a Custom feature lets you create your own one-touch scanning option. Installing the 6200, which works with Windows 98 and 2000, is easy. Included documentation gives you information and tips for setting up and getting started using your scanner. If you need more assistance, a technical support card lists contact numbers for Visioneer. With its decent performance, fast results, and useful software bundle, not to mention a one-year warranty, the $80 Visioneer 6200 USB is not a bad scanner for the money. It wins a spot in our online Top 5 hardware review listing for sub-$100 scanners and is definitely worth a look. by Lori Robison
$80 Visioneer (888) 229-4172 (925) 251-6300 http://www.visioneer.com
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