Microtek i300 scanner anyone?

[SteveM(PA)]

I've been wanting a scanner for a long time, and now I have an excuse. I've decided to make one of these "life posters" for my parents' anniversary:

http://www.macilife.com/2005/07/how-to-make-life-poster-tiger-edition.html

My sister works for QVC and she has an unsold Microtek i300 for $49 (lists for $130 I think). I don't know how good it would be for film scanning (my long-term use for the scanner) but the thing DOES have ICE, which is pretty remarkable for $49, and it would be great for the life poster project, where I'll be needed to scan and fix old prints of the folks.

I guess my plan would be to pick this up now, and maybe later get a used Scan Dual or something for film...unless somebody tells me this Microtek is pure JUNK! Thanks for any insights 🙂

 

[normjackson]

There's a horror user review of the "ICE Photo Print" facility of the i300 here :
http://www.popphoto.com/idealbb/view.asp?forumID=4&topicID=24337
That may be just bad luck. Mind you, the user reviews of the replacement Microtek i320 on Amazon are not great either.

Personally I'd hang on for an Epson 3490 or maybe Canon 4200F (Windows only). More modern designs, more elegant film scanning, VueScan compatibility, and a good-sized user base to bleat to if there are problems.