Umax Astra 6400 Flatbed Scanner (FireWire) for 60.00 @outpost

[saltedeggman]

http://shop3.outpost.com/product/2800204/#detailed
i don't know why nobody posted this...it included a PCI firewire card with 3 ports i believe...

 

[Delbert]

Not bad.
fixed link

 

[Joony]

wow, a firewire scanner

 

[saltedeggman]

just a note, the firewire card is by Texas Instructment

 

[Goosemaster]

Sounds interesting
is it worth it?


My paretns are getiing a dv camera anyways and this might save them money

 

[jandaman]

I was very close to buying this until I mentioned it to some people. They said what a great buy but then when they found out it was a Umax they told me to avoid at all costs because support for this scanner is non-existent (in terms of phone and drivers).
www.cnet.com has this rated as second best but read the feedback left by users. Even Umax doesn't have this scanner listed as WinXP compatible.

 

[worms]

A firewire scanner sure would be nice. I had to throw away my nice fast SCSI scanner back when they outlawed ISA. My fancy new USB scanner only works occasionally, is slow as all hell, causes all kinds of problems with Outlook Express, and has bizarre conflicts with my parallel printer. Anyone want a gently used but violently beaten Astra 3420 for...say...$60?

 

[Slikkster]

Re: Drivers Not Available for XP: I did a little searching. Seems the biggest problem is that Umax USA doesn't update their website as much as other world offices do.

There ARE XP drivers for this scanner. Get them at the German site for UMAX (you can get an English Download): 6400 XP Drivers for Umax Firewire Scanner

 

[nekote]

A Firewire card *alone* can go for $60 or so!

And this deal *includes* a PCI Firewire card!


One Question, what is the speed of a black & white scan of an 8.5 x 11" ?
Any web site / review of scan speeds?

(I already have a USB scanner, but it is *really* slow)

 

[chumbucket666]

I had problems with my Umax 3400 after I installed WinXP. I didn't lose functionality, it was just slow and I missed the Vistascan interface. I also got the drivers from Umax's European website and it's back to normal now. My only problem is that it has a hard time scanning some colors such as white. I would only buy another Umax if it was a great deal like free after rebate.

CB666

 

[worms]

I too hate my Umax 3400 but I must note that my previous scanner was a Umax 600S (SCSI) and worked beautifully for many years. I thought the 3400 would be an upgrade - boy was I wrong.

 

[stickdogg]

firewire isn't faster than SCSI is it?

 

[nealh]

Is anyone using the Vistascan 3.55 with update for winxp..I still have a Umax 600s using an Adaptec 2906 scsi card for it with Vistascan 3.1 drivers with WinXP...seems to work ok

I think this scanner gives better scan than newer one I have tried and returned...and it is a 300x600 dpi scanner

 

[jsfiat]

I have this Umax scanner. I bought it when it first came out $225.00. The card is a bargain with the software. It is like getting a scanner for free. Never had a problem with it. 98SE recognized the card and the scannner. The scanner is a little noisey but nice and fast. Makes great scans and very versatile.
I recommend it but would be leary if I was doing it all over again cause of all the complaints about the 3400. But.... this isn't the 3400

 

[Pennstate]

Firewire is not necessarily faster than USB unless you are scanning a 1200 optical dpi image.

Also, don't buy a scanner because it has "firewire", a feature that has nothing to do with a scanner's purpose.

 

[Packy]

This would rock if I didn't have a scanner, since I DO need a firewire card for some video editing. Nice find either way

 

[Slikkster]

<< Also, don't buy a scanner because it has "firewire", a feature that has nothing to do with a scanner's purpose. >>

??? The thing comes with a free 3-port 1394 Firewire card, and it's "purpose" it to offer speedy data transfer. Works great for me in both Win98SE and XP. This is a much better scanner than the sloth Microtek Slimscan I got a couple of years back that worked off the parallel port.

 

[jsfiat]

Well said!

 

[cubanx]

It's now $49.99

 

[The Sauce]

Just ordered one. Came to $56 with ground and no sales tax. Pretty sweet deal. I'll let you all know how it works.

 

[ergo]

Dang - $50 is getting hard to resist. Firewire scanners are rare. Has anyone used this under Win2000?

 

[DealyDo]

<< A Firewire card *alone* can go for $60 or so! >>



Not in this forum. There's an abundance of ways to get a firewire card much cheaper around here, not to mention that the Audigy sound card incorporates it now. I bought a up copy of dazzle Studio Editor DV-SE for cheap (Like $20.00) that came with a firewire card and a DV connector cable.

 

[worms]

Well, I gave in. Apparently, it's shipped from somewhere in the neighborhood (AZ only has 2 cities and they are practically adjacent) as I had to pay tax. Unfortunately, they must ship it by ground in an airplane (?!). It'll be neat to see a jumbo jet pull up to my house but even so, I'd rather have my $10 back. Total came to $64 - hopefully I can recoup about half my costs selling my POS Astra 3420 USB scanner on eBay.

 

[DavidO]

I echo the above posters warning to beware of Umax due to lack of supported drivers. I have a Umax 2000P (parallel port) scanner which worked great under Windows 98. After I changed to Windows XP I cannot use it now. I tried the Vistascan 3.55 and xp update from the german support site and it did not work at all still. The Vistascan scanner test program will not even see it.

They seem to not want to support parallel port scanners under newer OSs (encouragment to upgrade scanner). I do not scan too often so cannot justify buying a new one right now but I feel ripped off. There is no real reason they could not have supported this under XP.

So now I am stuck with a perfectly good scanner (physically) that makes a great paper weight with XP on my computer.

I will not buy a Umax again after experiencing this.

 

[Lucky]

holy crap, great deal. there a coupon for outpost?