Mustek ScanExpress 1200CU review

Nearly all A4 flatbed scanners are exactly the same shape and size - slightly bigger than the A4 paper it can scan, and about 10cm tall.

Mustek's ScanExpress 1200CU breaks this rule, with a height of less than 4cm, and it looks a lot sleeker and groovier for this fact. Luckily, its plastic case still feels fairly solid, and the black finish gives an air of professionalism.

It manages to be so compact because it uses LEDs (light-emitting diodes) to illuminate the subject that's being scanned, rather than the fluorescent tubes used by others. This means no warm-up time is required. It also means a theoretically increased life span, although in normal use a fluorescent tube-based design will last pretty much forever, anyway.

A USB interface delivers images efficiently, and keeps installation as smooth as possible. The 600x1200 optical resolution helps keep scans as smooth as possible too, and results are indeed very respectable, with good focus and clarity. However, colour reproduction, despite the supposed advantages of a 36-bit output (which can deliver over 68 billion colours), was less than perfect - each of these 68 billion shades was a good deal paler then it should have been. Of course, this can always be remedied with the supplied PhotoExpress software, but it could get very tedious.

If you really want a scanner that's as compact as possible, then the Mustek is better than the similarly-shaped Canon CanoScan FB330P. It's well built, sports a USB port, looks very professional and has a definite image-quality advantage over the Canon. However, if you can live with a more traditional-looking box (that will take up no more room on your desk), then you're better off looking elsewhere.

Author: - Dave Fearon