Pros: Interesting design concept and easy alignment of the original
Cons: Poor software and set up; single voltage power supply inappropriate for a portable unit
The Bottom Line: Keep looking if you want fast operation and dual voltage capability. The easy alignment and large document scanning options are good assets. Otherwise avoid.
prashton's Full Review: Hewlett Packard Scanjet 4670 Flatbed Scanner
I have owned an HP Scanjet 4670 for about a year. Because I travel a lot I was attracted to this scanner for three reasons: it is relatively compact, the "glass" is polycarbonate and therefore could travel in a suitcase, and the scanner can be used to easily and accurately scan portions of large maps, etc. I use it with an Apple 15" PowerBook.
The design of the 4670 is unique. It can be used either vertically, in which case the document is placed between the scanner and its cradle, or it can be used horizontally, in which case the scanner is placed "upside down" over the document and the clear see-through window allows exact placement of the scanner on the document.
Using the 4670 in its cradle is ideal for scanning pages from documents or anything the same size or smaller than the Letter/A4 coverage of the scanner. Multiple pages can be scanned into one document. There is no automatic sheet feeder option, however. Positioning of the document is made easy by the see-through design of the scanner. The cradle folds out and provides a stable, vibration free, base.
Using the 4670 without its cradle is ideal for scanning portions of large maps or documents that are larger than the cradle's Letter/A4 limitation. Again, the see-through scanner concept works to great advantage in that the scan can be accurately aligned.
The connecting cables are very thick and inflexible for such a portable device. When setting up the scanner be sure to place the cables in such a way that they cannot move the scanner inadvertently during the scanning process. This is particularly true when not using the cradle as the scanner is more free to slide across the surface of the document, defeating the ease with which the scanned area can be defined.
The Software that is included is standard HP stuff, designed to work without other software unless you change the preferences. I have found HP's software to be unfriendly and cumbersome. Unless you scan every day you have to re-learn the software's quirks. Some settings (such as resolution) are not remembered and have to be re-entered every time the software is started. As might be expected, the software for OS X has some Windows features that are annoying.
I use the HP software as little as possible, in other words, only for capturing the scan. After doing a pre-scan, I scan to PhotoShop and let Adobe's user friendly interface take over. The scan is saved as a tiff file with a strange file name that means nothing to the user. So I then have to "save as" and remember to delete the HP file once the image is manipulated.
The scanner has great potential as a portable unit but I have not used it as much as I thought I would. The main reason for me is that the power supply for a US bought model is limited to 110 volt. It needs a converter in a 220-240 volt world. There is no excuse for this and it is a serious design flaw. So I cannot use the scanner in places where it would be really useful as a quality portable unit.
The second reason is not so important but the clear plastic scanning surface can get scratched quite easily if packed carelessly. And the little silicone rubber "bumpers" simply fall off the unit far too easily. I am not even sure why they are on the device in the first place.
Why don't I recommend it? Several reasons: (1) the software is clumsy, (2) the image quality is only fair when for the money is should be very good (there is noticeable parallax induced in the scan), (3) the power supply limitations, (4) the scans take a while to make due to a long lamp warm up time.
The advantages of this design should make it a desirable purchase. However I get the feeling that HP doesn't put too much thought into the overall experience of its latest scanners, particularly from an efficiency angle.
*Jin Saotome's Dangerous Toys Auctions!* Welcome to another one of my auctions! Please take a moment to read the entire auction before placing a bid, ...More at eBay
Vertical see-through digital flat-bed scanner 2,400 x 2,400 dpi maximum optical resolution 48-bit color depth, 256 gray levels Included transparent ma...More at Amazon Marketplace
Epinions.com periodically updates pricing and product information from third-party sources, so some information may be slightly out-of-date. You should confirm all information before relying on it.
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.