Canon CanoScan N650U Flatbed Scanner

At November of '08 this is not the most current of Canon's Lide (LED Indirect Exposure) line of scanners. But it's better than the newer models for me. I need to carry it in a bag with a Linux-loaded notebook computer and use in class to scan student's hand-drawn structured notation & UML diagrams to project them in a classroom with limited technology (no Elmo).

I haven't seen a smaller, lighter scanner that will scan 8 1/2 X 11 paper and also has a lid. The 'pass thru' scanners are smaller and lighter but seldom deliver a perfect scan since they have to move the paper -- when students rip a page out of a notebook it usually causes a distorted scan if I don' trim off the edge. The N650U is less than 1 inch thick and is very light. It is powered off the USB so there is only one cable to attach it to the computer. I can use the computer and the scanner without having to plug into a 110 outlet, and that makes it easier to set up and use at a lectern.

This scanner is SANE (Scanner Access Now Easy) compliant so it works fine with Linux. I don't need the bunch of 'instant buttons' that Canon's newer scanners provide for use to automagically invoke Windoze or Mac software and this unit has none of them. I understand that it's not compatible with the latest version of Mac OSX, which is why I got such a good deal at ebay from a seller named macaddict who needed a newer model...

The N650U's case and lid are entirely plastic so carrying it in the bag's not going to put gouges in the thin-gauge metal that Canon is using for the newer models' lids. The lid on a 1240U I used for a while was dented and ugly after a semester at school and I expect this one will hold up longer.

Where some scanners have a removable clip to lock the innards in place, this has a latch on its belly for that purpose.

I expect to get lots of use from this little scanner, which was only $9.95 plus shipping at ebay...