Xpan "contact" scans - which flatbed?

[Terao]

For those of you who use flatbed scanners, what would you recommend as a cheap/good option for creating a contact scan (i.e. load up a roll of cut Xpan negs and get a quick proof scan). I have a Coolscan 8000 with the glass holder but scanning a frame at a time is obviously time-consuming. What I'd like to be able to do is quickly proof scan my negs before selecting shots for further scanning with the Coolscan.

I'm guessing therefore that the quality of the holders (3rd-party or otherwise) and the software is more important than the overall scan quality. Ease of use in terms of scan setup is key - I'd like to be able to place say 9 frames on the scanner and batch scan them reasonbly quickly.

 

[Terao]

I ended up with the Espon V500 to do this - you can scan 6 Xpan shots at once and the holders and software are pretty good. If you need more capacity upgrade to the much pricier V700/V750 - they will do 12 Xpan frames, but is probably overkill given that the V500 is heavily discounted at present. If you had the space you could actually buy 3 V500's for the price of the V750!

 

[Sjixxxy]

I have the v700 and often just skip past the holders and just throw a page of my 120 negatives right onto the flat bed and scan them as a proof sheet. Works well enough to let me analys the roll to find any keepers. Usually takes me two passes to get them all in, then I stitch them together in photoshop.