Tamarack ArtiScan 2400FS

Review Date
August 12, 2007

Overall Rating
 3 of 5

Value Rating
 3 of 5

Used product for
More than 1 year

Reviewed by
Gerry Ehrler , Intermediate

Price Paid
$0.00

Photography Experience
21+ years , Outdoor

Summary
I purchased this scanner at least six or seven years ago and have use it
extensively. I purchased one of the new HP flat bed scanner that can
handle up to 16 slides at a time. The only problem is it will produce from 8 to
10 slides and will not process the rest. I take the unprocessed and put them
thru the TAMARACK with no problem. I talked to HP about this and they had
no help as to why there scanner was'nt doing all the slides. My only difficulty
with the TAMARACK scanner is I can only use it on my WINDOWS 98SE
computer. I need a software update for WINDOWS XP.

Strengths
I personnel like the software program that came with the TAMARACK
scanner. It is not a complicate system and has all features that I have needed.

Weaknesses
It is a slower system and only handles 4 slides or 6 film strips

Similar Products Used
HP flat bed scanner (16) slides

Customer Service
When I purchased the unit everything worked. I had no reason to contact
customer service.

Review Date
September 20, 2004

Overall Rating
 1 of 5

Value Rating
 1 of 5

Used product for
More than 1 year

Reviewed by
Romas , Intermediate

Price Paid
$199.00 at Global Computer

Photography Experience
21+ years , Other

Summary
Well it worked when I first installed it. Spent a day or two trying it out and had difficulty getting good color on the scans. After a week it started making al kinds of noises and I called support. The final conclusion was to send it in. Well there went all kinds of shipping cost. Got the repaired unit back and within a few days same problem. Found that if I fooled with the scan settings I could actually make it work quietly.

I also discovered that the unit runs hot and starts warping the film, so you get a distroted scan. Also the light is inconsistant in dispersion making it impossible to get uniform contrast.

It has been sitting next to my computer for about two years now and I just downloaded the XP version of Documan (believe it or not it's available on drivers.com). I may try it again, but am worried about some of the review comments. This could end up being a take it apart toy just ot see how it works.

Strengths
Cheap.

Weaknesses
Cheap. No automatic scan settings. Impossible to adjust. Requires excessive time with Photoshop to make the picture look good.

Similar Products Used
Flat bed scanners with film scanning capabilities.

Customer Service
They did help me, but treated me like I knew notging about computers, etc.

Review Date
November 20, 2003

Overall Rating
 2 of 5

Value Rating
 2 of 5

Used product for
More than 1 year

Visitors rate this review
5.00 of 5, 1 votes

Reviewed by
Jim Donch , Intermediate

Price Paid
$99.00 at Tiger Direct

Photography Experience
6-10 years , Other

Summary
I have found the scanner to be wanting. It was dificult to set up (had to reinstall the software many times) and it continues to have "glitches". For instance, I have to continually move the slide tray after selecting "scan" before it will actualy grab the tray.

Strengths
Small footprint and weight

Weaknesses
1. Usually, it will not automatically feed the film tray: one must "jiggle" the tray until it catches.

2. The image is extremely grainy and the "filters" are very sensitive without a good preview, this makes it difficult to correct errors in the scan.

3. scanning is very slow.

Customer Service
very little.

Review Date
June 24, 2003

Overall Rating
 2 of 5

Value Rating
 2 of 5

Used product for
3 Months to 1 year

Visitors rate this review
5.00 of 5, 2 votes

Reviewed by
Katia Gramacho , Intermediate , from Salvador, Ba, Brazil

Price Paid
$99.00 at office depport

Photography Experience
0-1 years , Fine Art

Summary
I bought a Tamarack ArtiScan 2400FS and I didn't receive the Cd installation ron. Please as I can install it? With the diskette it doesn't give right.
Please helpe me

Strengths
doesnt´work

Weaknesses
the manual doesn't give all the information

Similar Products Used
Sacanner

Customer Service
At that time in that I bought it was good. after the purchase I didn't have more attendance

Review Date
June 6, 2003

Overall Rating
 4 of 5

Value Rating
 4 of 5

Used product for
More than 1 year

Visitors rate this review
3.33 of 5, 6 votes

Reviewed by
Robert Proctor , Intermediate , from Tacoma WA

Price Paid
$200.00 at Amazon.com

Photography Experience
21+ years , Other

Summary
I had some trouble with the unit when I wnent to Windows XP but found that if I removed my flatbed scanner and the support program for it and loaded Doucman 3.00 by itself that it worked fine. The main trouble is you have to do it all over again if you reinstall the flatbed scanner.
Anyone needing a copy of Documan 3.00 I will gladly burn one for you. You can contact me at bobp31@juno.com

Strengths
The results that I have gotten are very good. You can see them on my site at http://bobp31.homestead.com/index.html all the photo by Bud Coons, Mel Pope and myself were scanned using the ArtiScan 2400fs. Except for some of the BW photos which were scanned on a flatbed scanner.