Very much so. Parallel scanners are very slow and require most of your
computers attention when they run. SCSI devices have their own processor so
your scanning speed is much faster with little or no effect on your system.
You will however, need a slot for a SCSI card...  ISA or PCI. A new SCSI
scanner would come with some kind of card, usually just capable of running
the scanner. The negative is that SCSI scanners is going to be your most
expensive choice by a wide margin.

Another approach is USB. I have no personal experience with USB scanners
but I read good things about them and they don't require any special card,
if your motherboard already supports USB. USB is probably your most cost
effective choice if you want good performance. I bought my UMAX SCSI
scanner back in 96 and it has worked out great for me. Particularly since
it has network support. In 96 USB was just barely off the ground. However
if I was in the market for a new scanner I would probably be looking at
USB. I use a USB mouse and Digital camera and they work great!

Flat bed scanner quality is going to be relatively similar in the middle
price range, for a name brand scanner. At least  from the non professional
users point of view. So look to differences in driver features and warranty
to compare them. You might want to wait until XP is fully out in the open
so you can be sure your new scanner supports XP. Scanners are usually the
device that won't be immediately supported by a new windows upgrade.
Depending on the scanner manufacture a new version of windows may never be
supported by a older scanner.

Rode
The NOSPIN Group

At 04:04 PM 9/9/2001 -0700, you wrote:
>Mark,
>     Speaking of SCSI Scanners, would you reccommend that type over the
>Parallel type?
>My HP 5e started grinding on me, and it's probably time for replacement.
>Sounds like
>some gears stripping inside.  It's right at 5 years old now, and was bought
>at a model
>close-out sale at CompUSA at that time.  Are they reparable at all?
>System = W98, Intel PIII 800 (or 850?)
>Ken Hollingsworth

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