Okay, so my scanner died. I thought sure, not a problem I will go checkout the sane compatibility site, find a supported scanner (compete desired) and go buy it. This is where my process broke.

There are may scanners that show complete support, but none of them can be purchased new. I have even found few of them used. So I try another method... Lets head out to newegg / tigerdirect / zipzoomfly / buy / etc.... and see what scanners they are selling and then check them on the compatibility page... Yeah you know where I am going here. NOTHING! I didn't find a single scanner out there for sale (under $120) that had any type of support in sane.

Should this really be that hard? Below is what I am looking for. What am I missing?

Flatbed scanner
USB 2 (connection and power preferred)
1200 optical res or better
something not slower than my grandmother
under $120
small enough to fit in the middle shelf on my desk. (about 6 inches)

There are many many many scanners out there that would work fine accept the Linux issue.

Any ideas? Should this really be that hard?
Thanks for any ideas!
- PhilD

The problem with scanners and other hardware like this is that, unless the manufacturer provides some kind of direct support, the drivers usually have to be written by open-source volunteers, and it often takes months or more before anything gets done. Often the interfaces need to be reverse-engineered, taking up even more time. So usually the model is already on its way out by the time it's supported, as you've discovered. You often have to really search, or get lucky, to buy a supported peripheral brand new. I had to wait almost a year for Gutenprint to add support for my printer, for example.

That said, I would recommend Epson scannners. They provide their own binary drivers for Linux, though there may still be a short lag until they are released. The proprietary VueScan driver/program also usually adds support for new scanners rather quickly, and they support almost all Epson scanners. The links are in my signature.

But more to the point, the sane epson FOSS backend is generally able to support their scanners at a basic level even if the model isn't specifically listed, which is good enough for most general scanning use. It should be enough to carry you through until full support is provided (unfortunately though you'll probably need to use the Epkowa iscan program or VueScan to get the full range of supported dpi's and advanced features like film scanning anyway, no matter what the listed support status is).

I know the problem, and David is right about the cause. Try eBay to find obsolete scanners. Often they are offered new, being surplus stock from regular outlets.

jlinkels

That is kind of what I had decided on myself. I didn't know that Epson provided some level of driver support for Linux. So, does anyone have any history with the Epson Perfection V300 Photo scanner? I would like to get something that I can at least use.

Thanks!

I settled for an old Canon N1240U off of ebay. It looks like there is full support on SANE's site. Wish me luck!

- PhilD

Some months ago I had the same problem, my Canon LIDE 20 died because it had been standing below a leaking airconditioner. When I finally found a place where they sold the LIDE 25, I bought 3 at once. Those Canon scanners are no-repair devices, you can't open them. Now I have 2 spares

I didn't recommend this type because they are slower than your grandma.

jlinkels

Humm... Maybe I will have to put up with a grandma scanner for a while. For $25 I don't know that I will do any better any time soon. At least I will have a usable device while I take some time planning for my next one.