Ideal for casual users with a free USB port (Mustek Plug-n-Scan 1200 UB)

Name: Marechal_Ney

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Product:	Mustek Plug-n-Scan 1200 UB
Date:	21/11/01 (1390 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: good value for money, convenient USB plug-n-play feature, includes a decent OCR text recognition program

Disadvantages: a fairly redundant image-editing program, requires a USB port to function

As far as scanners go, this one should more than meet the needs of users who adapt it to any non-professional application. I acquired the Mustek 1200 UB just over a year ago (costing about £45, though this is a vague estimate, since it came bundled with my PC), and have been more than satisfied with its performance. Its plug-n-scan status means that, through a USB interface, one need only plug it into one’s PC for the green light to come on and for it to start working. The necessity of an additional power supply is thus eliminated entirely (though a USB port is obviously essential).

The scanner comes bundled with Ulead PhotoExpress 2.0 SE, the main scanning and image-editing program, and TextBridge Classic 2.0, a very useful program that uses OCR technology to recognize letters on scanned documents, faxes, and even images stored on one’s computer, and convert them into text format for further processing in e.g. Microsoft Word. I was particularly impressed with the inclusion of the latter item, before I realized that such software is bog-standard in the scanner industry these days.

The Ulead Photo Express program is undoubtedly powerful enough for the casual user, with a wealth of options to customize the scanning process and the scanned image. Upon confirming one’s desire to begin the scan, one is brought to the USB Scanner dialog box. This gives one control over the scanning resolution, and the image scale, and gives the option of previewing the scan, before selecting part of the preview for the final scan – all quite standard as far as scanners go.

After the scan is completed, the user is brought back to the Ulead Photo Express program for possible post-scan image editing. I have never, however, been a great fan of editing photo images, mainly because it appears that any effects applied to a picture, regardless of the software that implements the effect, inevitably worsen the image (unless one happens to be
dealing with abstract art). Thus, Ulead’s main features were entirely superfluous to me, and to this day I still use Microsoft Photo Editor or Imaging for Windows as my scanning interface. Why? Because this is far simpler, and because a straightforward click on the “Scan New” button on the toolbar brings one to exactly the same scan dialog box as when using Photo Express, with the same pre-scan options (infinitely more important than any post-scan features).

One thing that I learned from my year’s ownership of the 1200 UB is how to acquire a high-quality image through the scanner dialog box (I am not very adept at image processing, and so I am not sure how applicable this is to other scanners). I used to believe that high resolution means higher quality, even if the image needed to be scaled down to a more manageable size. This was totally incorrect in this case – it is better to select a low scan resolution (such as 100 pixels per inch) and to leave the scaling at the original 100%. Not only was the created file far smaller than a 300 pixel per inch scan at 30%, but the results were also much better, with a clearer and more coherent picture.

The flatbed scanner’s speed is quite acceptable for amateur users such as myself, and the noise level is suitably low. The overall quality of the scans (done at the correct resolution and size: see above) is also more than adequate for casual home use.

Overall, this scanner is a purchase I would definitely recommend to casual users who have the benefit of a crucial USB port. Its specification and performance more than meet the needs of such use, with a convenient plug-n-play ability ideal for inexperienced buyers. To top this all off, it is probably at a lower price now than the £45 or so that I paid for it more than a year ago, and is thus quite affordable.

Summary: