Features:

  • Auto Scan Mode automatically adjusts settings by detecting what you are scanning
  • High speed letter size color scanning in approx. 10 seconds
  • Just one USB cable for data and power
  • Advanced Z-lid expansion top for scanning bulky items
  • 4800 dpi x 4800 DPI (Optical)
Great, fast little scanner

Our old-but-dependable flatbed scanner (an Umax 1220S) utilized a SCSI controller card that requires an older style PCI slot in the computer. We purchased a new computer recently (OS: Windows 7 Professional), replacing a 10+ year old home-built system. The new PC only has PCI-e slots... the old SCSI controller card would not work in a PCI-e slot, so we could no longer use the old scanner. I searched reviews of modestly-priced scanners suitable for home use and came across the CanoScan LiDE210. Based on reviews, it seemed this scanner would fit the bill. Since purchase, we have used the 'copy' feature (scan-direct-to-printer), standard scanning jobs (inserting documents and photo images into documents, email and presentations), and scan-to-PDF creation. The included software works fine for our needs. Very pleased with this little scanner's performance. Quick to warm-up (much quicker than our old scanner); scanning itself is much quicker too. The smaller physical footprint lets us locate the scanner in a more convenient location. One other thing: because of how the room is laid out, we needed a longer-than-supplied USB cable, so we purchased a 3 meter (10 ft) USB 2.0 A Male to Mini-B 5pin Male 28/24AWG Cable w/ Ferrite Core - (Gold Plated) - 10ft, also from Amazon. This cable-scanner combination works flawlessly... so if you need a longer cable, this is one way you can go. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ UPDATE: It is now 5½ years later, and this little scanner is still doing a great job. Used quite frequently, we've have had zero issues over the years. Dependable. Great image quality.

Love this Scanner for More Reasons

I love this scanner for many reasons: 1) the scanner does not require an external AC power supply, rather it is powered through the USB port of your computer; 2) it can create PDFs of all scanned documents, especially helpful for keeping receipts for taxes - no need to keep paper receipts; 3) it creates a backup copy of all scanned materials as jpg images in folders that are dated; 4) it works with Mavericks OS and earlier - software installation is easy and MAC-compatible; 5) even through the highest dpi is 600, it does a great job of scanning photos (black-and-white or color) as well as documents; 6) it gives the option of scanning documents in black-and-white or color (which is a tad slower); 7) its lid is flexible to accommodate scanning pages from books (beware to not break copyright laws!); 8) its flatbed is legal size yet you can change the size of the scan, e.g., letter size, A4; 8) it is light enough to move around the office/house if you want to scan in different locations. This is the second time I purchased this scanner. I had one for three years, yet I believe the USB cable ultimately failed. I researched many other scanners, before I decided that this was still the best scanner for my needs. Unfortunately, Canon does not sell the USB cable separately, which is a bummer. Regardless, I purchased this model again and I'm loving it.

Perfect scanner for home users

Bought this to replace an old, outdated HP because I need to digitize, restore and preserve family photos (prints). First, I got it in 3 days -- way to go Amazon. Second, it installs in a jiffy using the enclosed driver and application disc. Using it with my desktop PC on Windows 7. Unit is very lightweight, but then most hardware is these days (my old HP weighed a ton, but used ancient technology). This doesn't mean it's cheap, just surprisingly light. It appears very well constructed. I like the Z-fold top for scanning thicker documents. Comes with an adapter for mounting the unit vertically, on its side, which I assume is for those with space restrictions. I don't have that issue, so I prefer to keep it flat. I like the function buttons (PDF, autoscan, copy and email) and the bundled software, while not feature-rich, is suitable for most jobs. The OCR tool works perfectly on several tests. I will most likely use the scanner with Photoshop or other higher end photo editors. I like the low energy consumption, powered by the USB host, and the fast LED warm-up time (two seconds, max). I plan to put this machine through its paces in the coming months, so will add more to this review if necessary. So far, I'm extremely pleased with the price and quality.

Great space saver!

I have limited space and I needed a printer and a scanner for my documents and photos. Naturally, a multifunctional printer would be the route to go but I found that the optical resolution on the multifunctional printers was not cutting it. Knowing that I had to get two separating devices I went on a search for a scanner. I dont often scan so I wanted something that I can take out, use, and put away. It's been a couple of years of light use and it is still working great. I like that there is only one cable to handle-- the USB cable provides it the power it needs. For something this size and powered by USB, it scans at a good rate. The software included is quite functional. This is coming from a person who often does not like using the included software. In the past when I needed a PDF, I would scan from Acrobat. Or if I needed a photo, I would scan from Photoshop. I find myself using the Canon software and the function buttons on the scanner for some the automated tasks. It even does a good job of cropping photos. I am comfortable with it that I load up a few pictures and let the Canon software crop them and automatically save the photos into individual files. The only criticism of the software I can think of is how it handles where files are stored. As an seasoned Windows file storage user, I prefer that the saved files are nested that deep. Bottom line: This is a great light use scanner with high optical resolution specs (4800 dpi x 4800 DPI). Additional thoughts: Though multifunction printers are designed with space savings in mind, I ended up saving more space by getting this scanner and a smaller printer. The only caveat is that I have to put away the scanner when I am not using it. Again, since I only use it so often, it is not a huge inconvenience.

Very good for my home task of scanning in thousands of photos.

This machine has been doing a very good job for me. I have primarily been using it to scan in thousands of old photographs. I feel I have been putting it to the test with my hundreds (maybe thousands) of "scans" performed. One feature that is great: I can throw down several pictures on the glass, let's say 3 for this example, and with a single pass it will create 3 separate files - one for each picture. AND it will automatically straighten the pics so I don't have to worry about getting them lined up perfectly on the glass!! This has saved me hours of effort and aggravation! Note: it took me while to figure out and get used to the software. But once I did, my project proceeded smoothly. Note: I am using it a MacBook Air. I also used it with my Dell pc.

Excellent Little Scanner

I bought this scanner to primarily scan documents and to occasionally scan photos. This scanner does a great job at both tasks. Without installing any of the Canon software, I plugged this scanner into a powered USB port expander connected to my iMac. The scanner was recognized immediately. I use Hamrick's VueScan software for scanning, and I am extremely pleased with the results. With all settings on Auto, document scanning is great and photos (with some minor touch-up) are suitable for printing. For really great quality in photo scanning, the VueScan settings must be other than Auto and you must then set your preferences manually. To get the buttons on the front of the scanner to work you must access the scanner using Image Capture or Preview at least once. Some reviewers have complained that the scanner doesn't work with their laptop. Some laptops may not provide enough power to their USB ports. It seems to me if your USB port can't charge an iPhone, it probably won't run the scanner. My port expander provides 5W of power per connection and the scanner works great. My one complaint was that the scanner slid around too much. I took care of this by gluing some stick-on rubber feet to the bottom of the scanner.

Fast Fast Fast Scanner, Great For Large Quantities of Photos

Perfect for my needs -- speed scanning a few hundred family photos for a slideshow. For 300 and 400 DPI (slideshow quality) it scanned so fast I barely had time to grab my next photo. The software was a little confusing at first -- I didn't realize you had to save your scans initially -- but plenty intuitive that I had the hang of it quickly. It's very lightweight and would fit easily in a laptop bag (just don't forget to lock the scanner before hefting it somewhere!). There is a stand and you can apparently scan documents that way, but I didn't mess with that. I just needed a fast, easy scanner and this did the job. Note: if you are scanning any matte photographs, you may want to scan at a higher DPI so the reflection from the matte surface doesn't make your photograph look grainy. Also, keep a good soft electronics-friendly dust cloth nearby to keep the scanning surface clean. Air cans will blow dust into the scanner interior.

Nice scanner, so far. Works with Linux (*)

I was looking for something that works with Linux. Even though Canon makes no effort to provide Linux support, the SANE project provides software that supports many scanners, including this one (LiDE 210). To make it work with Linux, make sure you've installed all the SANE project packages, and the xsane scanning tool. You'll need sane version 1.0.22 or later (some non-bleeding-edge Linux distributions come with older SANE packages, like mine, so for those some extra work is required.) Anyway, Linux aside, it seems a nice little scanner--petite, fairly quiet, and reasonably quick, at least for 1200DPI or less. Higher resolutions appear to be I/O bound, it'll pause several times while scanning, presumably to let the internal buffers empty out over the slow-ish USB data path. If it supported USB3, that would probably fix the problem, but AFAIK it does not. My only problem (other than having to figure out how to install a SANE of the right version) so far is needing a longer cable. I bought (locally) a 16.5 foot A-male to A-female USB cable that doesn't work for this scanner, so it has to go back and I'll try a different brand.

Good product, works fine, simple set up.

Works great, and isn't like flushing your whole bank account to buy it. Plug and play. I've bought several of these for work, and liked them so much and used them over an over without a problem, that I bought my own for home. (I WISH they would get their PRINTERS to be as good. I gave the last Canon printer to the local thrift store because it worked so badly, and even the guy there was like "Ummm...yeah...another one of these...thanks.") But don't hesitate to get one of these scanners - they work great. I recommend popping for the extra $ to get the higher resolution one - it's not much more $ and it is better to have the higher resolution scan to work with. One can always edit it down afterwards. The only issue - if I remember correctly - is you might need to download the latest software updates. Not a deal-breaker at all, just something to expect.

So far so good!

Granted I've only used it for like a week, but it's been working great! I like how on the Mac (10.9) that to scan photos you can just have it set in a loop. You change the photo, hit scan. Put a new photo in, hit return. Over and over. The quality is high enough that you could print a 3.5x5 at 16x20 if you scan at 600 dpi. And to do a quick scan it really is only 10 seconds. Although to do a good quality scan of a photo it's more like 46 seconds including the time to swap the photos out. Either way so far I'm happy with it, especially given the price and quality.

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