Qualities to look for in a Scanner?

[thebassman]

When shopping for a scanner, what specs should I be looking at when picking one out? What are some good scanners? What are some scanners to avoid?

[gubbs]

When shopping for a scanner, what specs should I be looking at when picking one out? What are some good scanners? What are some scanners to avoid? Its a year or so since, but I looked bought the Epson 3200 (http://www.dgrin.com/showthread.php?t=1365)

[cmr164]

When shopping for a scanner, what specs should I be looking at when picking one out? What are some good scanners? What are some scanners to avoid?
The Canoscan LIDE-80 is certainly working fine. I'd like a faster workflow for negatives and slides but that means a big jump in price.

[pathfinder]

When shopping for a scanner, what specs should I be looking at when picking one out? What are some good scanners? What are some scanners to avoid?
You don't specify if you are shopping for a flat bed scanner for prints or text or a film scanner for slides or negatives. What is your price range also as there can be a large variation in price. Good flat bed scanners with decent software support will run ~$500.00 while film scanners may approach `$1000.00.

There is a bit of a learning curve to get really good scans, but you should be able to get fair scans fairly easily with modern scanners and equipment. Brands that I favor are Epson for flat bed scanners and Canon, Nikon or Minolta for reasonably priced film scanners. Learning to use them well can pay real dividends in quality.

www.hamrick.com (http://www.hamrick.com) has a program called VueScan which allows multiple pass scanning and can provide very nice scans, but it takes a little learning to use well, but it is inexpensive at about $40.00

[thebassman]

Honestly, I'm looking for a good scanner that would do both prints and negatives/slides, if possible... I'm hoping to keep it in the <$1000 range, if possible...