HP Scanjet 5500c

With its automatic photo feeder (APF), a transparency adapter, and a bevy of push buttons, the HP Scanjet 5500c is one of the most versatile, easy-to-use scanners we've seen lately. The unique APF, which is built into the scanner lid itself, works much like an automatic document feeder except that it handles stacks of photo prints (as big as 4 by 6 inches) instead of paper sheets. Place a pile of up to 24 prints in the APF's feeder tray, push the Scan button on the front panel, and the Scanjet 5500c will automatically scan each print, generating a separate file for each one. In informal tests using the APF, it took roughly 4.5 minutes to process a pile of 15 3-by-5-inch photos, or approximately 18 seconds per print, at 200 dpi (the APF's default setting). We found that the APF operated very smoothly and didn't cause any damage to our prints as they passed through its transport mechanism. Tested using its USB 2.0 interface (like all USB 2.0 devices, it's backward-compatible with USB 1.1 ports), the 5500c earned the highest overall performance score among all the small-office scanners we've tested in recent months. For example, it scanned a 2-by-2-inch photo at 1200 dpi in 21.23 seconds, a little more than half the time the Epson Perfection 1660 Photo took (40.83 seconds), which we also tested using USB 2.0. To be fair, though, these two scanners posted times within a couple of seconds of each other on many of our other tests. In our image-quality tests, the 2400-dpi 5500c earned high ratings for its line-art scans, which showed accurate test patterns and letters. Its black-and-white photo scans also scored well, with excellent brightness, contrast, and details in shadows and highlights. Its color scans looked sharp and bright overall, but some colors appeared more saturated than in the original photos. Skin tones, for example, had a somewhat more reddish cast than they should have. However, the color accuracy was easily improved by changing the scanner's Color Adjustment setting from the default Enhanced Color to Original Color.
Although the 5500c is rich with features, it also comes with a rich price. At $300, it's one of the most expensive scanners on the small-office chart. And it isn't a good choice for buyers interested in heavy document processing: You can't get an automatic document feeder for it, so you can't run through stacks of letter-size sheets or legal-size documents. And this model's power supply adapter is bulkier than most: It takes up substantial space on a wall plug or power strip, so it may obstruct other outlets.
Like its predecessor (the HP Scanjet 5400c), the 5500c's front panel features ten shortcut buttons for various scanning tasks. In addition to common quick-start buttons such as Scan, E-mail, and Share-To-Web, it also offers photocopier-like controls for scanning directly to your printer: You can choose color or black-and-white, plus the number of copies (via a two-character LCD). The 5500c also comes with a separate transparency adapter that neatly fits over the scanner glass and holds as many as three 35mm slides (or a single strip of negatives). The software lets you scan only one slide or frame at a time, though--it doesn't let you select and scan multiple images, as you can with some models (such as the Epson Perfection 1660 Photo). This Scanjet's bundled software includes HP Photo and Imaging, an integrated suite of tools for editing images, creating photo galleries, archiving images on CD, and printing photos in a variety of predesigned templates. The image editor provides only basic tools, and lacks the more advanced features (such as photo composite tools and special effects filters) found in most standard image editors, such as Adobe Photoshop Elements. HP's scanning software also includes a built-in OCR engine from IRIS. HP's TWAIN driver (called HP Scanning) provides a streamlined basic interface for beginners and casual users, and improved access to advanced features, such as color and tonal adjustments.
The 5500c's novel photo feeder is a truly useful innovation, and the scanner is a speed demon that produces above-average images. But its price will dissuade many potential buyers.

Buying Information

HP Scanjet 5500c
USB 2.0 and USB 1.1, 2400 by 2400 dpi, 12.2 by 21.6 by 6.7 inches (width by depth by height), 11.6 pounds, 8.5-by-11.7-inch scanning area; includes transparency adapter and automatic photo feeder. One-year warranty, one-year free technical support (16 hours on weekdays, 7 hours on Saturdays; calls are not toll-free).
$ 300
USB 2.0 and USB 1.1, 2400 by 2400 dpi, 12.2 by 21.6 by 6.7 inches (width by depth by height), 11.6 pounds, 8.5-by-11.7-inch scanning area; includes transparency adapter and automatic photo feeder. One-year warranty, one-year free technical support (16 hours on weekdays, 7 hours on Saturdays; calls are not toll-free).

http://www.scanjet.hp.com
800/722-6538