Thursday, April 17, 2008

Getting a Linux scanner

My old scanner just packed it in. That's ok, because I picked it out of some corporate garbage years ago, and put in a new power supply. Linux is great for attaching old crap, but not so great for the new.

In fact, I found that simple scanners are a rare commodity. When I took a list of available scanners, and compared them to the Sane compatibility list -- no matches! I was screwed!

Then I thought, get a network scanner! They're like a thousand bucks! Especially since I've got a zillion old photos, and I wanted a document feeder.

But then came the Eureka! moment. I found these 'all-in-one' things on Costco.ca . The scanner comes mounted on a cheap ink-jet printer, but they subsidize these things to hook you on cartridges. I found a scanner with document feeder, and ethernet for $249! With a networked scanner, you don't have to worry about compatibility, they do pdf's that can be shipped to a storage location (I hope!), or else just taken off a web server. I'll let you know how it works out.

1 comment:

Harold Asmis said...

I eventually got an Epson v300 Perfection. All in ones appeared to be generally allergic to Linux.