Pakon info please

[froyd]

I know there are several Pakon users on RFF and I have a few questions, now that I'm looking at scanning options again.

Does anyone use the Pakon with a Windows 7 64 bit machine? I understand it needs XP, but I wonder if Windows 7 emulated XP is enough.

Also, is the original software required or can it be bypassed completely in favor of SilverFast or VueScan?

 

[taemo]

it's not able to run natively on a Win 7 x64 machine, you have to install Windows Virtual PC and Windows XP mode and run the program from there.

I was connecting the pakon on a win 7 laptop but the virtual XP and the Pakon software can be finicky and really slow at times that I've decided to use a dedicated old laptop running Win XP for scanning.

 

[maxwell1295]

it's not able to run natively on a Win 7 x64 machine, you have to install Windows Virtual PC and Windows XP mode and run the program from there.

I was connecting the pakon on a win 7 laptop but the virtual XP and the Pakon software can be finicky and really slow at times that I've decided to use a dedicated old laptop running Win XP for scanning.

^^Exactly this^^

It's easier to run XP on a Mac than it is on a non-XP machine. A dedicated XP laptop (~$100-125 on eBay) is the way to go. I got a Dell E6500 for $120 and it's perfect.

 

[froyd]

Thanks!

Any info on the necessity of the official software vs VueScan or SilverFast?

 

[fonzy]

You have to use the pakon software, vuescan/silverfast will not work. It operates differently from most scanners in that it doesn't do a preview scan at all, the software just receives a raw data stream from the scanner and does all the interpreting. This speeds things up tremendously, it only takes about 4 minutes to scan a roll of 36.

I highly recommend you join the facebook group, there's a ton of setup info on there.