The
Canon LiDE 20 is a slim (just 1.4") and inexpensive USB 2.0 scanner. I got it a couple years ago and it is still going strong. It looks nice and does not require separate power cable. The power is provided by the USB cable from your computer or a powered USB hub. Why powered? Read on...
Design
The LiDE 20 is very slim and can be operated either in conventional horizontal position, or vertically, using the supplied stand. I doubt that the vertical position is of any convenience for scanning and neither used it nor planning to, but appreciate that Canon went an extra mile and supplied the hardware.
The scanner has three buttons on its front that can be programmed using the supplied software. The defaults are for scan, copy and email. It is quite easy to hit one of the buttons when placing the document on the scanner's glass. I have never used these buttons anyway as I find it more convenient to use the scanner from either Photoshop or Canon-provided software. This way, you get more control too.
USB 2.0 and Power Struggle
The scanner is a USB 2.0 model that and doesn't even need an AC power cord as the scanner gets power from your computer via a USB port along with the controlling signals. One cable is definitely better than two (especially of one of them has a power supply attached to the power jack - it blocks other power outlets and makes me sad). Zero cables is even better than one, but that is something we have yet to witness.
The scanner consumes only 2.5 W of power (half of that in standby mode). It uses three color LEDs (RGB) to conserve power and for compactness.
In any case, the USB connection with your computer will supply power to the scanner. However, using a non-powered USB hub caused some error messages and inability to scan. Apparently there wasn't enough power to the scanner. I had to use a powered USB hub for a while (which somewhat defeated the purpose of having less cables) until I got a new computer with a
motherboard (Biostar M7NCD-Pro) that supports 6 USB 2.0 ports. No worries about powered USB hubs anymore.
After using a scanner that requires no separate power cable, I can't imagine having to endure a scanner that needs a power cable. Let alone the one with less compact dimensions. I might be getting a replacement scanner soon and it will definitely be a (newer) LiDE from Canon.
Z-Lid
The so-called Z-Lid allows you scan large objects (books, etc) and uses the specially-hinged lid. Very cool. Since the OCR (optical character recognition) software is included, it is quite easy to scan books or other printed materials.
Unfortunately, the scanner doesn't let you scan film (negatives or slides).
Some Specs
The scanner features 600x1,200 dpi resolution, 48-bit internal color (but 24-bit external color). In grayscale mode, the scanner features 16-bit scanning internally and 8 bit external output. The scanner software can automatically remove dust and scratches from images (I found that it makes pictures too soft for my taste and prefer to do it in Photoshop later on).
The scanner is compatible with Windows 98, 2000, ME, XP, Mac OS 9.x, 10.1 or later. I have used it with 98 and 2000.
The scan picture quality is excellent. It is also faster than my old MAG scanner (which was bulky too) and doesn't take so much time to warm up.
The supplied software is quite useful - I find the supplied OCR (Caere) very accurate. The supplied software/driver allows you remove dust/small scratches from the image while scanning as well as correct colors and do other adjustments (in the "Expert" mode).
The scanner came with a 1-year warranty.
Picture Quality
The picture quality is excellent in all modes, be it color or grayscale. I am very impressed with this model in terms of picture quality, especially for scanning grayscale and color documents as well as scanning photographs. The colors as well as scan clarity are outstanding, especially at this low price.
The scanned photographs look excellent (I scan them at 300dpi) and you can even sharpen them on the fly by selecting "Unsharp Mask" in the TWAIN scanner driver settings (if you are lazy and don't want to bother with this in Photoshop).
The colors are faithfully reproduced and the contrast is excellent. The scanner supports resolutions up to 600dpi/1200dpi on the hardware level. This is more than sufficient for even scanning photos (I use 300dpi max). Since the scanner does not support scanning of slides or negatives, higher resolution is unnecessary.
Speed
The scanner is quite fast in both preview and scan mode. I am very impressed at the speed (as well as picture quality) for the price. Black-and-white scanning takes much less time than scanning in color, however.
When you power the copmuter on, the scanner goes through motions for several seconds (I assume it calibrates itself or performs a warm-up procedure). On several occasions (not often), the scanner driver informed me that it needs to re-calibrate when asked to scan. Re-calibration took about a minute, after which, the scanner would start the scan.
Bottom Line
The Canon LiDE 20 is compact, nice-looking, does not require a separate power supply or cable and scans well and fast.
