Umax Astra 2400S

If you're serious about the quality of your scans, you'll want a good quality scanner. The Astra 2400S offers an optical resolution of 600x2400dpi, and you can add either a transparency unit or an automatic document scanner.

Many PCs come bundled with cheap scanners, but the Astra 2400S is not the kind of scanner you'll find in your average store for first-time buyers. It is aimed more at the needs of the business or niche user.

The 2400S is SCSI-2 based, giving data transfer speeds an immediate boost. You'll need a spare PCI slot in your PC, but most people have at least one of those spare, and it's much faster than chaining it to your parallel port.

The 2400S's standard scanning resolution of 600x2400dpi can be increased by interpolation, to a maximum of 9600x9600, and as well as 32-bit colour scanning the Astra is capable of 42-bit output using Umax's Bit Enhancement Technology. Sixteen-bit, greyscale, and black and white scanning is available too.

In our tests the 2400S scanned a 42-bit, 600dpi colour image in 50 seconds, and a 2-bit mono 300dpi A4 text page in 12 seconds - above average. Colour reproduction was good too, with minimal degradation between the original and the scan.

Although it's aimed at the more professional user, the driver software has the option to swap between Beginner and Advanced modes. The former requires a simple click to scan, but the more serious user can define resolution, colour depth and image correction. Adobe Photoshop 4.0 is also bundled.

For an extra £175 you can get the transparency unit which clicks on the top of the scanner in place of the standard lid, and if you're looking to install the Astra in a high-volume workplace, a 6ppm ADF (automatic document feeder) is available. It's £351.32 if bought separately, but buy it in a package with the scanner and you'll save £116.

Contact IMC 01344 871329

Minimum requirements PC or Mac running Windows 95, free PCI slot for SCSI card.