Nice choice for general home and small office use

The context

I bought this scanner as a replacement for my HP 4470 scanner whose lamp went out after only three years of not really intensive duty. After spending one hour or so on HP web site and phone support service, I figured out it would be easier and faster to buy a new low price scanner than trying to find a replacement lamp.

The needs

I use a scanner for work (home office), for personal use like to scan pre-digital pictures and as an occasional copy machine. I estimate my use to an average of 15 scans per month. Basically I was looking for an inexpensive scanner with good image quality and possibly some nice features. Also, I was looking for a small device because I have limited desk space.

The good things

The LiDE 60 is compact, low price, it produce very good quality image and is relatively fast. So, my basic criteria were fulfilled. It’s also nice looking.

The nice features

What I really appreciate is that it is USB powered, so there is no power cable (a little less spaghetti under my desk). It also has the ability to create directly a pdf file.

The scanner can be put and use vertically by using a small plastic stand. It’s a nice feature for saving some desk space. But, it can only be use this way if you scan a flat, single page, regular thickness document otherwise you have to put it flat on the table. The expandable hinge system it a nice feature too.

The annoyances

Although it is complete in terms of functionality, the CanoScan Toolbox software is not easy to use. Let’s say it’s not really straight forward and intuitive. I always manage to do what I want, but I really don’t understand the “logic” behind it after two months of use.

The bad things

No bad things to say about it.