Microtek Phantom 336CX USB

High-quality flatbed scanners are increasing in quality and functionality all the time, and yet their prices appear to be in continuous freefall. The Umax Astra 1220S (reviewed issue 47,165) is the current champion of the marketplace for the cost-conscious. Building on the success of the Astra 1200, it boasts fast scan speeds, excellent image quality and carries a reasonable price tag too.

However, Microtek is now throwing down a challenge to Umax's crown with its Phantom 336CX, just one of a steady stream of USB-capable devices that has appeared in recent months. As a result, installation is a breeze if you're running Windows 98 or 95 OSR 2.1 with the USB patch correctly installed. It's a simple matter of plugging the device in, waiting briefly for Windows to detect its presence and then loading the ScanSuite software. In terms of convenience, the Microtek should score points with those who'd rather do without the rigmarole of removing the PC's case to install a SCSI card or fiddling with BIOS settings to make sure the parallel port is set up properly.

USB interface aside, the Microtek is notable in that it's one of the thinnest scanners I've encountered. At just 43mm thick and weighing 3.5kg it's also very light and yet, with a substantial hinge mechanism and a lid that closes snugly, it still feels surprisingly well made.

The bundled software is, of course, an important consideration too. Here, Microtek includes its own ScanSuite application and front end, which are again very easy to use and sport preset buttons to select standard scans such as black and white photos, text or colour photography. The software can also be used to fax or copy an image and launch Microtek's bundled OCR application.

Most important, however, is the ScanWizard TWAIN controller software; this has a rather quirky interface, but once you've adjusted to its idiosyncrasies scanning is straightforward. A wide array of advanced features caters for those wishing to dabble in preprocess adjustments, but there's no way of accurately calibrating the colour settings. You can set the white and black points using the histogram tool's sliders, but it's all a bit of a pain; an easier to understand eye-dropper tool would have made the process simpler.

As a comparative test, I scanned targets and references images and compared them against results achieved with the Umax Astra 1220S and Agfa 1200P. Turning to the Umax first, I found the Astra 1220S gave far superior results in terms of detail and colouring. Zooming into a standard area of a reference image saw the Microtek's image become increasingly pixelated, whereas the Umax's remained sharp and detailed. Colour from the Umax too was far more natural, while the Microtek's scans veered towards the garish. However, when you consider that the Umax's 600ppi optical resolution outstrips the Microtek's comparatively lowly 300ppi, such differences are hardly surprising.

Comparing the Phantom 336CX with the 600ppi Agfa SnapScan 1200P (reviewed issue 50, p186) again offered proof that 300ppi optical engines simply don't cut the mustard these days. In fairness, there's nothing fundamentally wrong with the scans produced by the Microtek, they just lack the clarity and depth of detail of the Agfa.

Moving on to speed tests, the Microtek proved comparatively speedy next to the Agfa and Umax. The Agfa took 93 seconds to scan a 10 « 8in mono image against the Microtek's 57 seconds; the Umax, meanwhile, clocked in at one minute, 14 seconds. However, as both the Umax and Agfa operate in a vertical resolution of 1,200ppi, the reason behind the Microtek's apparent speed becomes obvious. There's no denying it's quick, but it does cut corners along the way.