GiiNii GN-5LS NuLife Full Page Picture Scanner with 2.4-Inch LCD Screen-Black

Feed can cause a mark on pictures.

Best scanner ever. It scans pics at a very fast pace. I love it. I Definitely recommend it. Did I say, I LOVE IT.

Ive never had a scanning product like this one, so I dont know how it compares to others presently on the market in terms of useability and value for price, but I can tell you what I think this would be fabulous for. The old photographs that this scanner is designed to scan are in the possession of our elders--those beloved grandparents and great-grandparents who know the stories behind those old photos and are at a time in their lives when its beneficial for them to sit down with family--fascinated grandchildren if not their harried parents--and tell those stories. This product seems to be ideal for just that kind of activity. The scanner does not require a computer to operate, so you can just tuck it in a bag and go. It does, however, require a memory card to be installed before it will work (not included), so keep that in mind if planning to give this scanner as a gift. Its simple enough to use (too simple for those accustomed to flatbed scanners connected to computer software), and I only had difficulty with full 8.5x11 sheets if I started them feeding in too crooked. (I stupidly tried scanning a stapled booklet of about 12 pages by laying it open flat, and I wouldnt recommend doing that because the staples keep the scanner from pulling the sheets through smoothly. Knock on wood, I dont think I ruined the scanner when I did this, but learn from my mistake and dont do it. Remove the staples first!) A plastic guide-slider adjusts in 1/4 increments from 8.5 down to business-card size. Anything narrower than a business card could probably be fed through, but the guide wont slide any further to the right. The visual feedback of the LED screen is an important feature that sets this portable scanner apart from others Ive seen. Although you probably would want to wait to do any serious cropping in a computer-based program designed for that purpose, the ability to nudge the scan in all four directions as well as rotate it is useful. You can delete scans, either one at a time or all of them, from the memory card. Its important to read the manual on how to adjust the scanners features via the Menu button, but just mucking around I was able to find the tools pretty well. Many people are going to want to use this scanner specifically for putting images on the web or sending them via email, and in those cases the print resolution does not have to be that great. The fact that this little scanner can scan in print-quality 300 dpi is a significant feature, however; this makes it perfect for putting together books suitable for printing on paper. Whether scanning drawings for how-to books, childrens artwork for a parent-child or teacher-children book collaboration, or anything at all thats easier to put down on paper than create on the computer, it can be scanned for press-quality printing. If my father-in-law were still alive, I think Id take this scanner and a tape recorder and spend an afternoon or two with him, letting him tell me the stories behind the pictures as we scan each one, speaking hints aloud if needed to help me match up the scans with the words for later transcription and assembly into a book. A book put together in this way through a print-on-demand service like Amazons CreateSpace would make a beautiful, relatively inexpensive gift for family members and a record of hard-won wisdom before it passes into obscurity. I think this kind of activity would be especially valuable (and therapeutic) in cases of early Alzheimers before the dementia sets in as a means of helping capture memories before they are gone. What Im saying is, this little scanner opens up a lot of possibilities for creativity, sharing, and family bonding. Its a neat, neat thing.

This thing was totally non functional. We sent it back.

works great

Finally started using this. This is NOT as great as these reviews are Im sorry! The more I sit here scanning the more Im ready to throw it across the room!! Im having to delete every other photo because its cutting off!! Have to delete then flip and rescan!! Literally, EVERY OTHER PHOTO!!! This is ridiculous already!! Suppose to be easy! Scan it through and its done. NOPE!!!!!! I can go through less stress and aggrevation using my all in one!! Which at this rate I may have to!! Waste of $$!!

This works not only for photographs but old news paper articles as well. The only draw back is you have to keep an eye on the photos shown on the display for signs of cleaning needed which isnt that big of a deal.

Does what its suppose to do

great product

This scanner has done wonders for simplifying my life. I dont use it for pictures very often, although I have scanned quite a few. The main thing I scan in is documents and receipts to reference later when I dont know where they have gone. :) I am not very organized normally. I tend to have a very good memory, so I will remember where I left something, but that doesnt work when people come along behind me and move things. :) I got into the habit of scanning in receipts a few years ago to track prices of items I purchase. However, I was using a slow flatbed scanner, and it took so long I only did it every few months. This means I didnt have access to the most recent receipts, and it wasnt near as helpful without recent data. I paired this scanner up with a 4GB Eye-Fi connect card so that it automatically transfers my pictures over to my PC. I leave the scanner on my kitchen counter, and when I get home I scan in any receipts or mail I received that day. It is very quick and works without the hassle of dragging a scanner out and using software to scan it in. I really like the image preview to see right away if the image came out right so that you can rescan if it didnt come out just right. It comes with a dual plug USB adapter to power it for scanning, but I was able to use a standard mini-usb cable to power it from my PC when I tested it. It depends on the amount of power that your PC outputs via USB if it needs both plugs or not. Downsides: The scanner does need to be cleaned/calibrated every so often. I have scanned almost 1000 images with this scanner, most of which were from the pile that had built up before I purchased it. At about the 300-400 mark I started getting pink lines in my images and had to calibrate the scanner a couple of times (with the included card) in order to get them to stop showing up. This isnt a huge deal with documents like the ones I am scanning, but if you are scanning photos it is something to keep an eye out for. Also I made the mistake of scanning a document that had some sort of glue on one side which got all over the glass inside, and I had to spend quite a bit of time with the included cleaning wand to get it all out. Most scanners have a white panel above the glass, but this scanner has a black roller above the glass. This can be an issue if you are scanning dark images, as if may only detect the light parts of the picture as an image, and will crop out the dark parts. What I do to overcome this is place another picture behind the one I am scanning, but reversed so that the white backs are back to back. Then I slide the back image over slightly, so that it picks up a white border on the dark side of the image. You could also use a piece of paper or anything light in color that is convenient so that it can see the entire image. This scanner detects the end of a document with a sensor flag on the right side. If the document is bent or curved this sensor flag may raise before the document is all the way through and the document will stop in the middle. To prevent this I have gotten in the habit of lightly holding my fingers over that side to keep the paper down, but not hard enough to skew the paper feeding through the printer. This isnt really an issue with heavy weight paper like pictures. The last issue I have is that the scanner does produce a Date Taken entry in the exif data in the image, but it always lists it as the same date of 1/1/2010. It seems to count up the time from that day the longer it is on, but reset itself the next time it is turned on. It may count up as long as it is plugged in, I am not sure as I always unplug it when I am done using it. I emailed the company to inquire about setting the date, and they responded to my question quickly (within 24 hrs), but informed me that there was no way to change this date stamped within the scanner. The Eye-Fi card is able to store by the date taken, or the date transfered, so I set it to date transfered. The images seem to transfer almost instantly with the Eye-fi card, but if it is set up this way, and important to have it stored by the correct date it may be best to leave the scanner on for a minute or two after you are done scanning in order to make sure everything is transfered over before shutting it down. Overall I am very happy with this scanner. It does everything I wanted it to at a very reasonable price compared to other portable scanners, and has a LCD screen as a bonus.