Functional Features

The HP Scanjet 8200 with the lid open

As I said above, the HP Scanjet 8200 is defined as a high-performance scanner, which fact is specially emphasized. The machine boasts a max optical resolution of 4800dpi and a color depth of 48 bits. Such a high optical resolution helps the Scanjet 8200 to digitize 35mm slides and negatives besides the ordinary stuff like sheet originals and photographs.

The slide-adapter’s lamp is integrated into the scanner’s lid and is powered by connecting its power cable to the appropriate connector on the scanner’s back panel. The fact that HP doesn’t declare the maximum optical density parameter for its scanner again doesn’t surprise me anymore.

The slide-adapter is in the scanner’s cover lid

Before scanning transparent originals you first remove the white screening panel from the lid. Thus you access the slide-adapter unit with a frame for 35mm film and a “slide-feeder? You can see them in this picture:

Top ?the frame for 35mm film; bottom ?the slide-feeder

The slide-adapter can be only regarded as an amateurish addition to the scanner; The HP Scanjet 8200 can’t match the Epson Perfection 4870, the competitor top model, in this respect.

Next, the scanner uses a cold-cathode mercury-based lamp, and I find this rather strange on the manufacturer’s part. If they are talking about a really high-performance scanner, they should have equipped it with a xenon-based lamp (with zero warm-up time). This scanner is positioned as an office model, but I doubt office workers will appreciate the necessity to wait even for a minute by the scanner as it’s warming itself up rather than performing the scanning task. The advantage of mercury-based lamps is their low price, so the manufacturer must have just tried to reduce the product cost. That’s why Epson’s GT series scanners look preferable in this aspect.

These connectors are found on the scanner back panel

The scanner connects to the computer via the Hi-Speed USB 2.0 interface. If necessary, you can optionally purchase a SCSI adapter ?there’s place left for one inside the Scanjet 8200.

The exterior of the device is official, office-like looking, but for me it looks kind of “old-fashioned?despite its numerous buttons. The case is made of robust gray/silver plastic. The lid is removable (for an easier scanning of thick books). The lid is fixed with two stoppers when lifted to the vertical position.

The scanner offers a wide selection of quick-scan buttons

There are several quick-scan buttons on the scanner’s front panel. Using these buttons you can activate the scanner’s driver with preset digitization parameters. Such an abundance of buttons came as no surprise to me as Hewlett-Packard is known to be into “quick-buttoning? reassuring the customers that it’s very convenient in practice. My own subjective opinion is that a scanner should have only two buttons, namely Scan and Power. More buttons would suit a multi-functional device better. But again, this is my subjective point of view. By the way, the Scanjet 8200 has no power-off switch, being endowed with power-saving functions. The device turns off automatically after a long time of idleness or you can disable it yourself by pushing the appropriate button.