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HP ScanJet 8250 Document Scanner | List Price: $1,003.00
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Brand: Hewlett-Packard
Binding: Electronics
Release Date: 2003-07-04
Warranty: 3 years warranty
Features: - Up to 4,800 dpi resolution, 48-bit color
- 4-second preview scans; 6 designated one-touch buttons
- Built-in transparent-materials adapter for slides and film
- Auto document feeder
- 1-year warranty; PC and Mac compatible
Cautions for Mac users, can't say for PCs [Posted on 2005-03-22]
I bought this scanner because it promised everything I was looking for, including a duplex (unattended double-sided) scanning feature. I wanted to use it with a 933 Mhz G4 Mac and a 1.5 Mhz G4 Powerbook. I ended up returning the unit for defective hardware.
When the scanner was delivered, the feed rollers for the ADF were loose in the box, apparently some attachment pins were broken. HP customer support assisted me with the problem and determined that the unit needed to be replaced. HP was helpful but I decided to return it rather than exchange it based on the poor performance of the scanner otherwise.
I was able to make some test scans on the flatbed and found that the scanner performed about 4 times faster on the Powerbook. I'm not sure if it was the difference in ram (768 vs 512 Mb), processor speed (1.5 Ghz vs 933 Mhz), or the USB port (USB 2.0 vs 1.0) but one or more of those conditions made a huge difference in performance.
The software for the Mac includes HP Scanning tools, PaperPort, and Photoshop Elements 2. The scanner has buttons that can be set to various functions and options, but I found the software settings couldn't be relied on. Some options, such as page size or color vs bw, were often the wrong setting in spite of reading the manual and configuring the software as instructed.
The scanner software would not work with Adobe Acrobat's "Scan to PDF", even though Acrobat indicated that it recognized the scanner. Using the HP scanning software, I tried to scan several pages and put them in one document, but 3 times I couldn't save the file and lost the scans. Twice the software froze up, causing me to lose those scans as well. Twice the software showed a mirror image with the page divided into three vertical sections of red and blue stripes. When the scanner did function well, the image appeared clean and sharp, but the software was not overly friendly with regard to adjusting the image brightness and contrast.
The unit has a one-line LCD display panel that reports settings and current activity, which is a nice feature but it was dim and unless the overhead lighting was just right, it was very hard for me to read.
I've returned the scanner and should note that Amazon was very good about handling the return. Now to find something else.
Okay when it works. [Posted on 2006-01-05]
I expected much better for the price. Software is a little quirky. Scanner after moderate use has stopped working. Scanner gives a "DMA TimeOut" message, then it won't do anything and even the on/off button won't work. HP customer support? Forget about it. There must be other scanners out there that are reliable.
Aweful. Jams constantly with no customer service [Posted on 2006-08-18]
This is an absolutely aweful scanner. I have had 4 document feeders replaced by HP and it still does not work correctly. This scanner would be better marketed as a door stop than a business machine.
Unreliable, jams, software glitches [Posted on 2007-04-25]
The rollers are not great, so it will jam periodically. The worst thing is the software. It freezes and has to be re-installed all the time.
Works just fine once you figure out software [Posted on 2008-08-11]
I bought a refurbished Scanjet 8250 for $80 in Aug 2008, figuring that even if it didn't work, I'd only be out $80 rather than the original price of $800. Anyway, I have owned HP automatic-document-feeder scanners before (most recently the Scanjet 5550c w/single-sided ADF), so I alreay knew all about the quirky, slow, and clunky HP scanner software. Out of the (refurbished) box, the included original driver/software (HP Imaging 2.2) did not work with my Windows XP Pro SP3 Pentium 4 2.4 GHz Thinkpad. There were various errors and crashes, even after patching with the latest updates from the HP website. Thankfully, there was a completely new set of drivers/software dated May 2007 (HP Solution Center), which did end up working just fine, though it thought the scanner was an 8270 for some reason. Yes, HP's new software (just like the old software) is well over 100 MB and is still slow and clunky, but it includes an image/picture manager w/rudimentary photo editing features. If you don't to deal with HP software, then HP provides a much slimmer TWAIN driver that includes most or all of the scanners features, though you wouldn't be able to use the scanner front panel buttons. You can use a third-party document manager such as PaperPort with the TWAIN drivers. I chose to install and use both sets of drivers/software. Anyway, after 2 weeks of use, the ADF hasn't yet jammed on me (from my experience with the HP 5550c ADF scanner, jams are fairly rare and that scanner has kept working for 5 years straight now). The front panel buttons are convenient and very customizable, so I've assigned each button for particular common scanning tasks I do (e.g grey scale 200dpi PDF, grey scale 300dpi for OCR, color 300dpi for scanning 4x6 prints, etc). Of course, you can use the software to do the same things, but the buttons speed things up.. Overall, once you get used to the software and configure it to do what you want, you will find that this is a very capable machine. I look forward to many years of service from this HP scanner.
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