[uvaspina]

I have what appears to be a decent scanner/printer (HP Photosmart C4795), but it drives me crazy because it never scans cards consistently. Sometime I can fit 4 cards in one scan, sometimes 1. Sometimes when I just scan 1 card it's really small, sometimes it's really big. There appears to be no rhyme or reason to the madness.

In any event, I was thinking about getting a new scanner and dedicate it to just scanning baseball cards. (And let my wife use the main one for her business). I was half-way thinking about getting a business card scanner, but maybe that's a stupid idea. The appeal would be that it could (in theory) scan single cards quickly and simply.

Does anyone else have the same problem I'm having? Any scanner recommendations?

On a related note, I'm surprised no company has developed a scanner includes a top-loader feed. Basically, you'd just load a stack of cards, and it would feed through the scanner. Something like that would probably save ebay sellers (and collectors) a lot of time and hassle. Maybe such thing already exists? (nothing showed up on google).

[nyyankeesfan28]

I have one like your's but mine is a 4680, and it works well.

[thepozr]

Do you preview your scan or just scan it? I preview mine and then crop it down and then scan it. It works really well for me.

I bought a wireless Canon Pixma when Amazon had one of their lightning deals before Christmas. Worked really well, but now it won't let me scan for some reason. Still prints. I have to go back to the wired printer to scan.

[stera8]

I wouldn't get a get the business card scanner because you actually feed the cards through which could damage the cards. As I wait for a teaching job I worked in this type of retail for the past 6 years. If you want just a scanner, Epson are very nice...if you want an all in one go hp. Most all in ones have about the same scanner resolution. Usually now you can get a good Epson for about 100...check maybe v37 model I believe the model is, I'm heading out tonight but feel free to ask me any questions you have. If you find some, PM me the links and ill let you know

[uvaspina]

Thanks for the comments, guys. Especially Stera8. I'll check out the Epson. I'm looking to set up a (new) card room once our basement renovations are complete. I'd like to have a scanner in my 'cave' and eventually scan my PCs.

[Texan1985]

I find the best scanners, especially for graded cards, are the stand-alone scanners. You can find an older model on craig's and it'll run you $20 or less. A lot of the older scanners stopped putting out updates for their drivers, so you might have to do some work-arounds to get them to work on a newer OS, but I find this is well worth the quality.

[walth4]

I find the best scanners, especially for graded cards, are the stand-alone scanners. You can find an older model on craig's and it'll run you $20 or less. A lot of the older scanners stopped putting out updates for their drivers, so you might have to do some work-arounds to get them to work on a newer OS, but I find this is well worth the quality.

I'll second using an older stand-alone scanner for graded cards. Most new scanners have CIS scan technology, which will focus only about 1mm off the scanner glass. The older scanners use CCD scan technology and have a much deeper range of focus - important for graded cards because the cases keep the cards a ways off the scanner glass.

I had an HP 750 PSC that was awesome for graded and raw cards, but the scanner wouldn't initialize more than half the time so I decided to upgrade. I bought an HP OfficeJet Pro 8600 to replace it, and the quality is great for raw cards, but the graded card quality is not very good. Wish I would have done more research before pulling the trigger....

[kstjst]

I use the sannner/printer that came with my computer...it's an ink jet, but it's wireless. I just place up to 9 cards on the glass and scan them all at once. Then I crop each one. It does take awhile, but the quality is pretty good. Your computer's program that is tied into the printer/scanner is what you have to look at. That's where you will be allowed to crop, resize, and increase your pixels to sharpen the picture.

[iconms]

I'll second using an older stand-alone scanner for graded cards. Most new scanners have CIS scan technology, which will focus only about 1mm off the scanner glass. The older scanners use CCD scan technology and have a much deeper range of focus - important for graded cards because the cases keep the cards a ways off the scanner glass.

I had an HP 750 PSC that was awesome for graded and raw cards, but the scanner wouldn't initialize more than half the time so I decided to upgrade. I bought an HP OfficeJet Pro 8600 to replace it, and the quality is great for raw cards, but the graded card quality is not very good. Wish I would have done more research before pulling the trigger....

Very interesting points about the scan technology. Makes sense. I have an HP all-in-one and am GENERALLY happy with it but the quality of scans when i do something in a thicker case (like a BGS slab) is pretty poor.

Can anyone recommend a scanner that doesn't have a problem with this? I had purchased 2 used standalones a while back for very cheap but they did not work with the newer computers. So I don't want to go that route anymore

[cweiland]

I wouldn't get a get the business card scanner because you actually feed the cards through which could damage the cards. As I wait for a teaching job I worked in this type of retail for the past 6 years. If you want just a scanner, Epson are very nice...if you want an all in one go hp. Most all in ones have about the same scanner resolution. Usually now you can get a good Epson for about 100...check maybe v37 model I believe the model is, I'm heading out tonight but feel free to ask me any questions you have. If you find some, PM me the links and ill let you know

I have the Epson v37 model and it works great. I got it at Staples for a little under a 100.00. Easy to use and everything looks the same each time I scan.