Microtek ScanMaker X6

Since flatbed scanners now dominate the scanning marketplace, there's a baffling selection to choose from. Do you spend 49 UKP for the ultimate budget model to meet your most basic needs, or shell out the best part of 250 UKP for a high-end model which will probably have more features than you'll ever use?

For most people, a mid-range scanner is the best choice, and the ScanMaker X6 falls neatly into this bracket. We immediately noticed the better than average build quality: the aluminium frame mainly contributes to this, giving a suitably heavy and rigid feel to it.

You can choose between SCSI or USB connections when buying an X6 - we tested the USB version. Setup was easy, provided you carefully read the installation insructions in the helpful manual. An impressive selection of software is bundled, including Photoshop 2, Omnipage OCR and Ulead PhotoImpact.

Pressing the 'GO' button on the front of the X6 invokes the ScanSuite on your PC (or Mac), which allows you to scan documents as well as OCRing, copying and faxing, provided you have the appropriate extra hardware. We were impressed by the speed that documents were scanned. Taking only 24 seconds for a full-bed prescan, and only 41 seconds to scan an A4 document in millions of colours at 300 dpi, the X6 zipped along. We OCRed an A4 sheet at 300 dpi, and it was scanned and recognised in a swift 28 seconds. When we opened the file in Word, we found that most of the text had been recognised correctly, but much of the formatting was lost, such as emboldening and tables. Even small print was accurately reproduced.

Quality-wise, the X6 impressed us by accurately reproducing the colours of our test photo on screen, without using any of the image-enhancing features built in to the comprehensive driver. If you're in the market for a scanner, the X6 is well worth considering.