HP Scanjet 4850 Photo Scanner (L1950A#B1H)

List Price: $180.00 Discount Price: $178.88

Features:

• Up to 4,800 x 9,600 dpi resolution with 48-bit color
• Scan up to 4 slides or 6 negative frames at the same time
• Adjustable lid accommodates bulky items for clean scans
• Make copies and enlarge/reduce 10 to 2,000 percent; Hi-Speed USB 2.0
• Remove scratches, restore faded color, and correct red eye with easy software

Accessories:

3-Year Extended Service Plan - Covers Electronic Items $0-$200 - Repair

Customer Reviews:

DON'T EVEN CONSIDER BUYING THIS SCANNER [Posted on 2007-03-01]
I have been trying to install the software for 5 months. No one from HP can even help. Each time I call HP I'm on the phone for at least 15 minutes & the problem still exists. I am not happy with the machine. But I am most unhappy with HP's "technical support".

Scanjet 4850 not ready for Vista [Posted on 2007-03-08]
HP hasn't distributed the software yet that will let the HP Scanjet 4850 scanner work with the new Microsoft Vista operating system. The software on the CD in the box doesn't work with Vista. HP will allow you to download a bare-bones version that will let you use the scanner for very simple things only. But as of March 8th, 2007, they still haven't released the full version.

Maybe someone forgot to tell HP that Vista was under development for the last few years?

Can we make it any slower than that ? [Posted on 2007-03-23]
I bought this item thinking that it would be a great help for me to scan negatives and slides into digital format. Oh boy, was I wrong. The scanner comes with a 450MB software+driver (why so big ???) and although it seems to work the first time, it takes forever to scan anything. The software delivered with the scanner is not user-friendly at all, slow, and doesn't help much. One example, if you want to scan a band of negatives (4 of them) it will take 25mn on my computer. I tried with HP software and Photoshop : same results.
Previously I had a $30 scanner that worked perfectly except for negatives. I thought I could upgrade with an HP model but I will now look for an other brand and model. I am so sorry about this because HP used to have much better products.

Love the scanner, hate the software [Posted on 2008-02-02]
Google-searching for alternate software solutions, I came across these reviews, and figured I'd write one of my own.

I've had this scanner for over two years now, after grabbing it off the shelf my first year of college. I installed the software initially, but never needed to use it because I'd import scans to Photoshop just using the scanner's driver. Then later, I reinstalled my operating system, didn't bother with the software this time around, because my computer just found the driver online and it worked absolutely fine through Photoshop. I've never had any issue actually retrieving scans, and the scan quality is awesome, so I can't complain.

However, I've recently started using the scanner for slides and negatives, so I was forced to download the special software so that I could get the slide/negatives aspect to work. Of course, I couldn't just get the scanner operating software (which is all I needed), the storage/editing software came in the package too, and I got warned when I tried to delete it (don't need 300 MB of junk wasting space) because it claimed that the scan software would not work without it, which I hope is BS. I don't need some stupid bloated program to help me organize my pictures, and I don't need it to edit my pictures, because I can already do that.

The scan software itself is a joke. It is so dumbed down it's inoperable. Options for settings are extremely limited, as are the formats you can actually import to. It is extremely irritating. Also, in using the software, I experienced for the first time in over two years the scanner freezing. This is why I've been on a search for third party software that most likely doesn't exist. I don't get it, why make a great scanner and then ruin it with clumsy, bloated software?

My rating would have been a five if I had never experienced the software, because through an imaging program like Photoshop with just the driver, it works wonderfually and delivers beautiful scans. Now that I've had to put up with the software for scanning slides, it's hurt my experience, but only for when I scan slides and negatives, which is not too often.

Otherwise, it's a great scanner and if you plan to operate it through a program like Photoshop and not through the ridiculous HP software, and only scan film once in a while, then I'd wholly recommend it. If you're relying solely on HP's software, operating the thing is annoying and cumbersome. It's really a shame that such a great machine had to be ruined by dumb software.

Unbelievably Bad [Posted on 2008-03-24]
I've never been so disappointed with a piece of equipment that I've been moved to write a review here. But after over a year of fighting with this thing, I'm done with it. As stated earlier by someone else, the unit will scan 2 or 3 documents then stop. I would reset it and it would scan a bit more, but now it doesn't scan at all. I tried of it. I, too, want to toss it from my second story apartment window. I'll never buy another HP product if I can help it.

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