filmscanners: Do I need Digital ICE? & Scanner selection Advice

["dbdors" <dbdors@mail.ev1.net>]

I am in need of a film scanner.  As I have a low budget, I have 
narrowed my choices down to the Canon 2710, the Acer 2720S, the 
Acer 2740s or the Minolta Scan Dual II.

My first Choice is the Acer 2720 as it is the cheapest.  My second 
choice is the Acer 2740.  Although the 2740 is a little more 
expensive than the Minolta or Canon, the Acer has Digital ICE.

Thus the question in the subject line, Do I need Digital ICE?

I will be mostly scanning 35mm slides that are fairly new.  They 
may have some dust of particles on the slides, but no old slides 
with major scratches.  I will certainly try and make sure the 
slides are as clean as possible, but I don’t want to spend a lot 
of time trying to clean up the scans using software.  I have 
Photoshop LE, so my software tools are limited.

I will likely be scanning no more than 10-12 slides a month, (thus 
the need for a cheap scanner) but again, I don’t want to spend a 
lot of time cleaning up slides.

I have heard many Pro's for getting a scanner with Digital ICE, 
but I am also reading some CON's, i.e. no improvement when using 
ICE, not needed if no scratches on slides, ICE not needed if using 
Vuescan (which I am considering buying).

My main reason for doing the scans myself is that I have been 
spending a fortune on Photo CD scans and the results are not very 
good.  Many of the scans will be used on the web but several will 
be used to print from.  I have been seeing many who scan 
themselves and get great results.  My total spend on the scanner 
will be $500 USD or lower.

Thanks for your help.


Darrell
--
dbdors@ev1.net
 

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