This scanner offers more dots per inch (1200 dpi) than entry-level scanners, and a few more console button to quick-launch functions such as scan-to-web, email and scan-to-printer.
HP's new mid-range line of scanners feature what the US company calls its "dual sensor" technology. For a greater price of the entry-level 2200c, it is supposed to help the 4400c speed up preview scans.
Another feature which adds a premium above the entry-level is the resolution of the 4400c: It features true 1200 dpi (dots per inch), 48-bit colour quality, compared with 600 dpi at 42-bit quality for the 2200.
With optics of this calibre, you can scan in smallish pictures such as 3R snapshots at maximum resolution, blow them up on your PC, then crop tightly, while still retaining acceptable image quality.
Quicker previews
From a cold start--mains power off--the 4400c takes about 40 seconds to warm up and do a preview scan. However, if switched on from standby mode (console power button off), the device takes only about 20 seconds to do a preview. These are fairly good numbers, and gives weight to the strength of the dual-sensor technology HP mentions.
Scanning a 16cm x 12 cm (roughly 5R size) photo at default 150 dpi took almost no time at all. At 300 dpi, the same photo took 35 seconds to scan and save; at 600 dpi, it took around 80 seconds.
For a lark, we scanned the photo at the top resolution of 1200 dpi. This took around 7 minutes to scan, plus another 6 minutes to save on a Pentium III 800 MHz PC with 128 MB of memory. This may seem a long time, scanning this size of image at this resolution hardly ever happens; most users would usually scan a much smaller image at this setting.
In general, the 4400 turned in scan speeds that are acceptable for a machine in its price range.
Image quality
Images scanned from photos showed great colour fidelity and were noise-free; no touching up was necessary on any image that went into it.
In general, sticking to the recommended 150 dpi setting strikes the best balance between quality and scanning time. If larger images are needed, 300 or even 600 dpi will be called for.
In fact, the 600 dpi setting should be close to archival quality for most photos sized 4R and larger; scanning at 1200 dpi is overkill, and consumes lots of disk space.
Hush hush
The 4400 went about its tasks smoothly and quietly. The button that users will be using 99 per cent of the time--the preview button--worked like a charm. One touch, and around 20 seconds later, you'll get a preview image.
The bundled HP PrecisionScan Pro 3.1, which presents the preview, has a user-friendly easy step-by-step interface for selecting hi-res scan formats from the preview. Arcsoft PhotoImpression is also given for cropping and tweaking, although more advanced users may have preferred the more powerful and popular Photoshop LE.
However, ACD System's ACDSee, the popular and useful image browsing and cataloguing software is also bundled.
Buttons galore
Besides the Preview button, there are other buttons on the 4400 which allow users to scan to a printer immediately, or to scan pictures as email attachments. Those with CD-RWs installed can also enjoy use of a scan-to-CD-writer function.
At AU$259, the 4400c represents fairly reasonable value, given its top resolution of 1200 dpi, faster warm-up times and solid USB implementation. Its software package is not outstanding, but it is adequate for most jobs.
Also, the lack of printed documentation may annoy some; you'll have to print the user guide from the CD.
HP ScanJet 4400C PC Scanner
Company: Hewlett Packard
Price: AU$259
Distributor: HP Australia
Phone: 1300 309 955
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