Q: I'd like to buy a scanner, but i have no idea on how to rate a scanner. If we're buying a camera, we care bout the mega pixels wat bout scanner?
A: It's very similar to a camera, so you have to check into some similar things. But there are some unique things too. Here's my list: 1. Highest optical resolution ( ???? x ????) will tell you how big the resulting scanned file is. A large number here, means a large file. 2. Whether or not it has a film negative scanner attachment. 3. Whether or not it comes with a backlighting gadget for slides, or a "slide scanner" 4. What it has for "instant buttons" such as can it instantly create an OCR PDF file? Mine can, and I love using that function. It's my favorite scanner button. 5. Does it make one pass or three (one for each color RGB)? This is more of a concern for older scanners, but it's still possible that a professional scanner will have this as a functional option for amping up the res. 6. Can you find any resolution tests on the web for the scanner? These involve scanning fine lines very close together and seeing how they come out in digital format. Possibly other people have other advice too. Good luck!