P3D Slide Scanner (Prime Film 1800U)

["Harold Baize" <baize@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

A about a week ago I posted a message asking about the 
Prime Film 1800U scanner. It is an easy to use slide 
scanner with USB interface that costs only about $200. 
I have since received the unit and unfortunately I must 
say it does NOT provide a quality scan. There is a lack 
of detail and clarity in shadow or dark areas. The scans 
are good enough for inclusion in e-mail or low res postings 
on a web site but not for serious work, such as image 
manipulation for later return to slide film. 

If the mail order company will not take it back then 
I will try to sell it on eBay, with full disclosure 
of the limitations, of course. 

Meanwhile, has anyone here tried the HP PhotoSmart S20? 
That one might be of high enough quality and costs $500.
It will also scan an area wider than a single frame so 
it might be handy for scanning two or three stereo pairs 
in a single scan.

You can also get the Microtek Scanmaker 35T for about 
$500, but mine recently died (I paid over $700 for it 
about 3 years ago) and it has a SCSI interface 
that is a pain in rear to install. 

Harolddd