"Clamshell" iBook/Scanner question

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jeepster485

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I recently bought a Canon LiDE 30 scanner for my iMac. It is powered directly off the USB port, so no other cables are needed other than the USB cable. I would like to use it on my dads iBook but he is afraid the power supply would get messed up since the scanner is powered through the USB port. Does anybody use this scanner with their laptop? Or does anyone know of a website that would say whether or not it could be used on an iBook? Anything that I could show my dad so won't have to worry about his iBook dying would be helpful. Thanks!
 
It's fine :)

I use it on my dad's PowerBok and my sister's Toshiba. It draains the battery a little bit faster when the power cable on th ecomputer isnt plugged in, but as soon as u unplug the scanner it's fine.

It's just like normal when It's got the computer power plugged in. the amount of power the scanner uses is tiny. Seriously. It's about the same as an Optical mouse.
 
Speaking of scanners: christmas is coming up and I think I'd like a scanner: is this one worth the money? Is it a good quality scanner I can use with Photoshop and such?

Also: does it have native support for OS 10.2?
 
All of the Canon CanoScan USB scanners are pretty good. The slimline LIDE ones that are USB host powered. Check to make sure it's OS X campatible first though, because I am not sure if ALL their new ones are. I know my CanoScan FB630U ( a couple of years old) ISN'T and Canon seem to refuse to make drivers for it, but I am pretty sure most of their new ones will work.
 
I just bought the Canon LiDE 30 this past weekend. My choices were between an Epson Perfection 1250, the Canon, a Microtek ScanMaker 4800, and a Hewlett Packard Scanjet 3500. All were priced at $99 at CompUSA. When I went to buy one, I looked at the Canon first and loved it because it's only a little over an inch high and weighs 3.3lbs. I decided to check the others out. I opened the lid of the HP and it came right off....even though it's designed to lift up to accomidate bulkier items I still didn't like that I was able to pull it straight off. I looked at the others and just decided to go with the Canon. It had the same features and was much smaller and, in my opinion, looked better. So I bought the Canon. The installation CD that comes with it has OS X drivers, but Photoshop 7 is required to use them. I went onto Canon's website because I knew they had to have a new version of the software for people without Photoshop and was able to find it. There are two thing you must download, the CanoScan Toolbox and then the specific LiDE 20/30 Drivers. In my opinion the scanner works just fine and scans pretty quickly if it's in normal optical scanning. Once interpolation is necessary for higher dpi, the scanner speed slows down. It took the thing almost 4 minutes to scan a 4x6 photo with 1200dpi, whereas 300dpi was roughly 15 seconds for the final scan and like 10-20 for the preview. I am extremely satisfied with the scanner and feel it was a good choice for a basic, quality device. Hope that helps!:)
 
That grealy helped, thank you!

But now for more questions: what can I use a scanner for? I mean being a graphic designer and all I guess it could help, but I don't want to buy something if I'm only going to use it for doggy pictures and then never touch it again.

Any ideas? :)
 
Oh trust me, you'll love it! It's more useful than for just getting some pics on the web, or fixing crap photos. As a photographer/graphic designer, I can swear that a scanner is indespensible! Especially if you have Photoshop, you'll end up scanning everything, making EVERYTHING into artwork, even family snaps!
 
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