Canon CanoScan LiDE 50 Color Scanner

48-bit color and a 16-bit grayscale provide rich tones and clear contrasts; the 1,200 x 2,400 optical resolution (9,600 x 9,600 dpi interpolated) handles the rest with clean, crisp detail. USB 2.0 interface means there's a single cord that supplies both power and connection, as well as a speedy transfer of data.

Bundled with the scanner is an impressive array of software for both Windows and Macintosh OS systems that will allow you to convert, smooth, and organize your images in a variety of ways. Perfect for home use, the Canon LiDE 50 is backed by a one-year warranty with Instant Exchange service.

What's in the Box
Canon LiDE 50 scanner; stand; power/USB 2.0 cable; instructions; setup poster; warranty information; Adobe Photoshop Elements 2.0 CD-ROM; CanoScan Setup CD-ROM with ScanGear CS (Windows/Mac), CanoScan Toolbox (Windows/Mac), Arcsoft PhotoStudio (Windows/Mac), ArcSoft PhotoBase (Windows/Mac), ScanSoft OmniPage SE OCR (Windows/Mac), NewSoft Presto! PageManager (Windows) and NewSoft Presto! BizCard (30-day trial version, Windows only)

I won't rehash all the nice features of this scanner since many of you have read the LiDE 30 reviews. It seems to be an LiDE 30 with impressive USB 2.0 Hi-Speed performance added. It's also capable of generating 48bit color output and 16bit monochrome output, whereas the liDE 30 is half that, not that this is really important. 24bit is 16 million colors and 281 trillion colors is something I don't relate to.

Aside from speed, I was pleased with the space saving design and attractive "stainless steel" appearance. The scanner bed has sufficiently high edges to allow me to easily position a sheet of paper in proper alignment, without it trying to climb over the edge. A lot of human engineering went into this product!

Windows XP really loves this machine. The software installed without the slightest hiccup. This scanner is as hot-pluggable as any device could be. XP recognizes its presence and absence immediately. Even though the LiDE series requires no power source other than from the USB port (boy do I enjoy the absence of another power brick!), I prefer to remove power from the scanner when it's not in use and it's a snap to pull the cable from the front USB port. (If you're curious, the LiDE requires 498mA against the standard USB output of 500mA. Probably 10% or less of the current draw of CCD technology scanners.)

The package comes with some impressive looking software but all I wanted to do was scan images from PaintShop Pro and Adobe Acrobat and enjoy convenience copying. There is appx. 500MB of software if you load everything but I only installed the XP Driver and the CanoScan Toolbox. I did this not because I didn't want the other software, but really to see if the scanner would be fully functional without it (including the 4 "one-touch" buttons).

I was glad to discover that the CanoScan Toolbox has everything that's required to Copy, Scan to a program (PaintShop Pro?), Scan to email, and Scan to a file (including a PDF file). You may like some of the other programs they offer if you want to try your hand at OCR, manage photo albums, and similar tasks. I did install the Adobe Photoshop Essentials 2.0 because I respect Adobe software and wanted to see what this entry level image editing program can do. Not counting the 95MB for Photo Essentials, the driver and Toolbox took only around 30MB or less out of the potential 500MB.

The CanoScan Toolbox is very functional, impressive software. It allows you to setup 7 discrete type of scans with their unique resolutions, scan method (color, grayscale, etc.), paper size, your printer, specify your pet image editing program, etc. Then, you can associate your choice of 4 of these 7 functions with any of the 4 physical buttons at the front of the scanner. Canon has preset reasonable defaults.

There are a couple negatives to be aware of. CIS technology, as has been reported by some LiDE 30 users, is sensitive to the item scanned hugging the glass. This is quite true and even a thin pamphlet will produce a distorted scan, especially at page edges and corners where there's curl. The solution is to press the lid down to flatten the page against the glass. Consider this if you do a lot of scanning from magazines and books.

Another negative is my mild disappointment with the automated scan functions and single button functions --- a bit overrated in my opinion. Scanning to a program or file creates a JPG file first and then saves it and/or gives it to the image editing program. The quality of that JPEG was not to my satisfaction and I'd rather have the imaging program manage the scan and work with the raw scan data.

PDF files can be created automatically but may be a bit bloated and can have a grayish background. This can be improved considerably by choosing "Text Enhancement" or "Black and White" as the scanning mode. If you want to create an occasional PDF file, the Toolbox can do it for you rather easily.

The scanner appears to be durable. I scanned 120 8.5x11 color glossies over a 2 day period and it didn't breathe hard or make any strange sounds. It's also pretty quiet, in my view, although a few have complained it was loud. It could easily be used in a home office environment while you're talking on the phone.

Today I called Canon's technical support to ask some "how-to" questions. It was not toll-free but I got through very quickly and the technician was extremely courteous, knowledgeable, and generous of his time. After one year, they will continue to help but at only $10 an incident. Very good first impression here!

I hope you learned something about the LiDE 50 and its software and technology from this review. If you're on the fence between Canon and another vendor, you'd likely be happy with the LiDE series. If you're on the fence between the LiDE 30 and 50, you'd save $$$ and probably be just as happy with the 30 if you don't have USB 2.0 capability or plan to install a PCI USB 2.0 adapter. (Canon explicitly supports a wide array of Adaptec adapters.)

Good luck with your decision and enjoy the Canon experience if you take the plunge.


Awsome Scanner Dudes!   September 9, 2003
29 out of 43 found this review helpful

I had a Canon FB630 that went belly up so I bought a Epson perfection scanner because Consumer Reports rated it a fast scanner. Yeah Right! Its fast alright, after it takes time to warm up. So I sold the Epson and bought the Canon Lide 50, Damm! I thought it was the second coming of Christ! No warm up, goes right into a scan and its fast. The scans come out very clean. I would highly recommend this scanner to anyone. The only thing I miss is the Fax button on the canoscan toolbox.


Mixed results with new Macs   October 3, 2003
Matthew R. Holiday II (Dallas, TX USA)
22 out of 30 found this review helpful

Executive summary: the scanner has good and bad points.

The immediate problem is that the drivers available as of 9/2003 do not support Apple's new USB2.0-based Macs (G5, new iMac). Canon acknowledges the problem and says they're working on new drivers, but no promise on when they'll be delivered. Another, less obvious downside is that the current generation driver leaves a background process running whether or not the scanner is plugged in, which process prevents the computer from going into "sleep mode" on its own (OSX 10.2). Also, I noticed that when I linked the scan button to PS Elements, it started Elements in classic mode (solution: link to files Preview, or scan from within Elements). Again, as others have noticed, it can be slow and noisy. I do believe that when it works with USB2.0 Macs, it will be faster; currently, some scans finish (in the scanner) while data remains to be transferred to the host. Lastly, the OCR software still runs only in classic mode.

So, what are the good points? For one, price. For another, its form factor, including the fact that it's USB-bus powered (even with a PowerBook) -- no wall wart or line lump required. With the driver installed, you don't have to start the "Canon toolbox" program to use the keys on the front of the scanner, and once you've configured the software, there's no delay to click buttons on-screen to make the scanner scan (for example, to copy). Four buttons are nice, too. Less obviously, its origin for scanning is at the front left of the scanner, rather than the back; if you need to scan a bunch of cards or 4x6 photos, it's more ergonomic. I haven't tried the "Z-fold" lid trick yet with books. I haven't used it enough to judge its quality with color photos, but scanning index cards in black&white or grayscale, or using it as a black&white copier, it seems fine.

I think the scanner is a keeper, but then, my requirements are for a simple flat-bed scanner, and not for a graphics powerhouse model. If it were working with my USB2.0 iMac today, I'd rate it a star higher.


I expected a fight   December 12, 2003
20 out of 20 found this review helpful

Almost everytime that I buy something for my computer, I have to fight to get it to work. I'm a software Developer, so I know my way around computers pretty well. After struggling for 5 hours to get some new peripheral to work, I often wonder why non-geeks put up with it. HP used to be my default brand for everything, especially printers and scanners. I've had such bad luck the last few years with them, that I'm reluctant to purchase anything from them, except laser printers. So, even after reading all of the wonderful reviews about this Cannon scanner, I was still surprised that the installation went so well...put in the CD, click a few buttons, connect the scanner, begin scanning. I really like this little scanner...one cable, no power cord. It scans pretty fast and doesn't require warm up time. Cannon has showed me that it is possible to make quality computer add-ons at a low price. In addition, I also recommend buying this from amazon.com, instead of just reading the reviews and buying it from somewhere else. I could only find the LIDE 30 model in the stores I check, and the price was $30 over the price here, plus there isn't tax. I used the Supersaver for free shipping and it got here in 3-4 days. Impressive!


Easy to use, good results -- RECOMMEND   September 9, 2003
15 out of 16 found this review helpful

I bought this scanner after a couple of weeks of research at consumerreports.com, epinions.com, amazon.com, etc. Finally decided to buy this unit for my small office graphic scanning needs (small web design firm). I couldn't be happier.

It is VERY easy to install the software and get the scanner up and running -- less than 10 minutes! Unbelievable. I previously had a scanner that took forever to warm up and almost every time gave me a conflict error with my printer (I had to daisy chain the printer and scanner).

The USB/power cable is a fantastic idea. I just started scanning some previous magazine work I did and the results are good -- I have yet to work out the specifics of adjustment. However, due to the ease of which this installed and was ready to use, I have no doubt that this will be a piece of cake also.

I highly recommend this scanner.