Hewlett Packard SCANJET G3010 Flatbed Scanner

Recently my company purchased me a Hewlett Packard Scanjet G3010 Flatbed Scanner for use in my office. My job requires that I archive documents on our networked hard drive, which means that I have to scan hard copy documents into .pdf form. I have also used the scanner to scan photographs.

Product description (from Amazon)
Product Description
Box Includes: HP Scanjet G4010 Photo Scanner, USB cable, power supply adapter/power cords, software CD, Setup and Support Guide, I.R.I.S. registration flyer

HP's Scanjet G3010 Photo Scanner provides you with exceptional photo and document scans. You'll create beautiful reprints with 4800 x 9600 dpi resolution. Scan multiple photos, slides or negatives, then save as separate files. Easily convert cherished 35 mm slides and negatives into digital files you can print, share or save. The software included with the Scanjet G3010 Photo Scanner allows you to bring old or damaged photos back to life by restoring faded color, removing dust and eliminating scratches. Reprint photos, copy documents and save images at the touch of a button. Powered by external adapter System Requirements - PC - 233 MHz processor, 128MB RAM, 500MB HD space, CD-ROM drive, USB port, Internet Explorer 5.01; Mac - PowerPC G3 to G5 processor, 128MB RAM, 250MB HD space, CD-ROM drive, USB port and Mac OS X 10.3.9 or higher Operating Systems - Windows 2000, Windows XP Home & Professional, certified for Windows Vista; Mac OS X 10.3.8, 10.4 or higher Included Software - HP Photosmart software for Windows & Macintosh (includes integrated OCR, HP Photosmart Share, faded color restoration, dust and scratch removal, HP Adaptive Lighting and HP Image Editor with Auto Red-eye Removal capabilities) Dimensions - 11.73 x 18.58 x 3.54 Weight - 6.6 lbs.

The Hewlett Packard Scanjet G3010 Flatbed Scanner retails for $99 at Amazon.

Physical aspects
I have experience using a Canon Canoscan scanner, which is very small and slim for a flatbed. The Hewlett Packard Scanjet G3010 Flatbed Scanner is considerably larger; its dimensions are listed as 8.84 Lbs (WxLxH) 11.73" x 3.54" x 18.58". I find that the Hewlett Packard Scanjet G3010 Flatbed Scanner takes up quite a bit of desk space. Having used a much smaller scanner (with a faceplate of equal size), I find the size of the Hewlett Packard Scanjet G3010 Flatbed Scanner off-putting.

My other comment about the physical aspects of the Hewlett Packard Scanjet G3010 Flatbed Scanner is that the included USB cord is very short (maybe 3 feet). For home use, this would be sufficient, but because of its size and my office layout I keep it on a table to the side of my desk and have to physically move my laptop closer in order to connect it to the scanner. A longer USB cord would improve my user experience.

Software Installation
The HP Scanner software comes on a CD-ROM. I actually experienced some trouble with installation; I left my computer for a few minutes during installation, and the screen saver turned on. When I came back, the installation had stopped progressing and the program was frozen. Control-alt-delete was not effective; although I was able to end the program this way, I was not able to restart it until I restarted my entire computer. After restarting my computer and removing the partially installed software, I was able to install the software successfully.

Scanning Quality
Scanning quality is excellent for both documents and photographs, and for both color and black-and-white. I have saved most of my scans in .pdf form and find that these documents are very high quality. My only complaint is that the document size is very large when you scan at a high resolution.

Scanning Experience and Software Use
I find the HP Scanner software clunky to use. There are at least three screens before the scanning process begins. First, I position my document on the glass and hit the scan button on the front of the scanner unit. The initial screen asks me to choose my format and resolution and the location to save the scanned file. The second screen gives me additional options for saving the document. Finally, the third screen provides the scan preview, where you select the physical area to be scanned and the document orientation.

The scan preview is one aspect of the software use that is sorely lacking. First, the white background on the scanner cover makes it extremely difficult to locate the edges of a document if you are scanning something on white paper. Second, the automatic border detection is extremely sensitive to contrast within the document, meaning it frequently selects small sections of the document to scan. This is easily remedied by manually selecting the scanning region, but as noted above, this can be challenging if the original document is white. It also means that the software basically requires human intervention to successfully scan some documents.

In scanning multi-page .pdfs, it is necessary to tell the scanner between pages that another page is about to be scanned. If you accidentally select "no" when the software asks if there are additional pages, then the pages already scanned will be compressed into a file and there is no option to add additional pages. Because this can cause a loss of a lot of time and work if you make an error with a larger document, I would like to have the software ask me "Are you sure?" before compressing the scans.

Aside from these issues, the scanning software is actually very easy to use and intuitive for novice computer users.

Overall
Overall, this scanner is a good buy for someone looking to be able to scan basic documents and photographs with little fuss. If you are frequently scanning longer documents, I recommend buying a scanner with a top-feeder instead. But for general home or office use, the Hewlett Packard Scanjet G3010 Flatbed Scanner is an excellent value. If your office space is limited, I would look at the Canon scanners which are physically smaller and make the most of limited space.