The ultra-portable Canon CanoScan N676U offers one-touch capture, fast performance, and above-average image quality for its affordable price.
Canon has updated its ultra-portable CanoScan N656U with the N676U, adding useful new features and improving performance. The N676U also offers above-average image quality for its class and comes with a useful software package. A sleek metallic finish makes it even more attractive. However, if you care more about bargains than beauty, take a look at the lower-priced CanoScan N670U--the only difference between the two models is the lid colour.
Roughly the size and weight of an extra-wide laptop, this 600dpi scanner is powered directly from its USB connection, so you can hit the road without toting a bulky power brick. Velcro tabs keep the flatbed's cover snugly in place and the scanner head locks for transport with a slide switch, letting you just tuck it under your arm and go.
If you can't clear a 25.7x38.4-cm desktop space for the 3.6-cm-thick scanner, you can set it on its side in a snap-on stand to scan in a vertical position. Upright, the scanner leans at a slight angle to let you rest single sheets on the scan bed. In practice, vertical scanning doesn't save very much space, since you still need to clear roughly 20.3 cm of desktop to open the scanner lid. You'll want to scan books and thick documents with the scanner lying flat to take advantage of the lid's clever hinge, which opens a full two and a half centimeters to accommodate bulky originals.
The N676U installs easily: link the scanner to your computer with the included USB cable, and Windows finds it automatically. Spend a few minutes installing the bundled OCR, photo editing, and album software, and you're all set to scan and organize both documents and images. The photo-album program can even write to a CD-R disc. The N676U isn't built for high-volume or film scanning, however, and there are no transparency adapter or automatic document feeder add-ons for it.
If you eschew the three front-panel single-touch buttons, the ScanGear Toolbox's user-configurable icons can direct a scan to your printer, email, a file, your choice of image editors, or the OCR software. A full-featured ScanGear Twain interface offers complete control over scans in both simple and advanced modes from within image editors such as Photoshop or PhotoStudio. The multi-photo mode, which captures and crops multiple images from a single scan, is particularly useful.
EDITORS' RATING: 7.6
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8In our lab tests, the N676U turned in above-average results for its class when it came to image quality. Skin tones looked natural, and colour balance was good. The scanner has an outstanding ability to capture the brightest whites and deepest blacks. However, it fell down on tonal separation in shadow areas, failing to capture the distinction between several shades of dark grey. We also noted slight misregistration and a small amount of colour noise. Still, our images looked smooth and well balanced on the whole. The scanner is an ace at sharp text capture, outpacing many of its peers. It also stays ahead of the pack in terms of scan speed, with both colour and monochrome originals.
True portability, useful features, and good performance make the CanoScan N676U an attractive package for those with basic scanning needs, limited desk space, and a desire to use a scanner with multiple computers.
Canon CanoScan N676U
Company:Canon Australia
Ph: 1800 021 167
Price: AU$229
Availability Early October
What these scores mean
Value: Weighs the merits of the product against its price, relative to its competition. We look for the scanner that delivers the most bang for the buck, not necessarily the cheapest model.Installation and Setup: Evaluates how straightforward, intuitive, and fast it is to install and set up the scanner software and hardware.
Image Quality: Rates how accurate or attractive the colors of scanned images are, as well as the level of detail in highlights and shadows, the overall dynamic range, and the degree of color noise and artifacts. Also rates how crisply text and line-art are scanned.
Features: Indicates how flexible, extensive, and effective the features are relative to the cost of the scanner and its intended users. For example, a novice might want one-button scanning, while a graphic designer requires advanced controls and calibration.
Ease of Use: Rates how easy the scanner is to use relative to its features. We consider whether the controls are effective and intuitive, how easy it is to position media for scanning and upload images, and whether included accessories are easy to attach and use.
Performance: Rates color and monochrome scan speed.
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