Visioneer OneTouch 8900 USB Scanner

I have the 8920 which is the same scanner with a slide scanner...it is entirely possible that they have COMPLETELY different hardware under the hood, but I doubt it. No problems...but one curious issue. The glass lid is not designed for being pushed on, and the holders (on the left side as you look at it) can come loose. If they do, or if you press down on the glass...like if you are scanning a book...that can stop the scan head, and of course the computer will assume the lock is still on. This has happened to me a couple of times. If you shake it (gently) you will hear the holders (little plastic pieces) on the bottom. Yes it is a silly and sloppy design, HOWEVER, put them back in place and press on...mine didnt drop loose until after 2.5 years of use.

I had demoed Visioneer scanners for 3 years at a computer store and was always impressed with the speed, quality and price of them. I happily bought my own Visioneer 8900 as I liked the quick access buttons, the quality, and the price. The installation was quick and simple and I was scanning right away. Did about 5 high quality scans and everything was great. I hadnt used the scanner for a couple of months (it was off) so I fired it up again and I got these ugly green lines all throughout the scan. I rebooted and tried again and the same thing happened over and over. Then it would lock up on me saying the scanner lock was locked but I checked and it was not locked. Downloaded the latest drivers, installed them, and tried again. It still has those ugly lines. (I use Windows XP Pro) I dont know why after only a couple of months it died on me but I am disappointed in Visioneer. I cant recommend this scanner based on my experience with it but with only two reviews I would research it more.

I no longer have this scanner as I donated it to the church for their use - but when I did have it I used it quite often and had good results, especially for oversized items that could not be scanned by other means.

One star is too good for this product.. ive had a visioneer 8700 USB about a year.. it just died..the scanner keeps telling me to unlock the scan head.. i physically removed the lock.. despite restarting the pc, reinstalling etc etc.. the fault persists.. The online help is useless, there are no specific references to the fault though i have found a large number of references ( but no solutions to it) on the web.. I cant reccomend the scanner.. there are equal and better second hand scanners on the market.. that dont suffer this fault. I cant recommend the visioneer online support.. i still have a dead scanner.. I cant really think of anything good to say about visioneer.. i wish i had never wasted money on it...

This is a great scanner for the money. Unfortunately the design engineers made one little mistake which I corrected. It took care of the scanner locked problem. Now I love it. The software is great, the ergonomics are great, and it is FAST! To fix it is very simple, and requires no electronic skills. Added 9-12-04 So many people have emailed me re the fix I decided to add it here. Unfortunately the fix did not work with most of those who emailed me. My Scanner works very well with Win98SE. I suspect many of those with problems are having trouble with some aspect of their software/OS. I frequently Format and reinstall my OS when my machines get sluggish. Re formatting is absolutely necessary in my humble opinion, especially when you are connected. Its like the garage, you have to clean it out once in a while. I pressure wash mine. :-) My Repair, given freely, so dont sue me: Remove two screws on left side under rubber plugs. #1 Phillips, thin screw driver needed. 2. Rotate cover with glass up and to the right and pull hooks out of loops. Lay to the side. 3. Remove lock button from base by squeezing hooked ends together, and push out of hole. 4. Grind or sand down protrusions that stick up from bottom of case. They are what the scanner carriage gets wedged on. 5. Check to make sure wire leads to front controls are not pinched to the point of being severed. 6. Clean glass, lube rails with molylube and Re-assemble without lock. This is what I did. It worked great. Jim A

I bought this refurbished and its a good thing too because I missed the locking problem a lot of people have been mentioning. The scanner worked decently in the beginning when I was using it in Windows 98, sometimes Id have to fight with it to get it to work right, but it usually did. Then when I upgraded to XP Pro SP2, it installed fairly easy. But intermittantly, and with increasing frequency, their XP driver crashes (usually in mid-scan), and I constantly have to reinstall the driver to keep working on my scans. The scans I have made with this were all beautiful, and when its working, its a pleasure to use. But Visioneer writes really crappy drivers. Theres no way their XP driver got a real Designed for XP rating from Windows Hardware Quality Labs, no designed-for-xp software would work so poorly and place all the blame on SP2. I have been wondering whether to go to the hassle to dual-boot to Windows 98 whenever I want to use the scanner, or to buy a new scanner. I think Im going to buy a different brand, and you probably should too.