[filmscanners] RE: Umax experience

["Laurie Solomon" <laurie@advancenet.net>]

Lloyd,

I have a Umax Powerlook II, which I like very much; but I have had problems
getting it to function in twain mode under Windows XP when using upgraded
Magicscan and Binuscan software.  Upon checking the Umax web sight, I found
no upgrades for that scanner when it came to software that would work with
Win XP; a call to Umax did not help either.  They suggested trying the Win
2000 upgrade which enabled the MagicScan twain to work so that the scanner
could be used; but the Binuscan PhotoPerfect portion did not work.
Moreover, for some reason, the MagicScan twain would not work with programs
such as OmniPage and OmniForm.

My point is that your experience seems to indicate that, as is often the
case with many support staffs, they really do not always know what they are
talking about when they give advice.  In your case as in mine, it was not
the scanner hardware or firmware that would not work with WinXP but the damn
software, which they do not really keep up todate in terms of upgrading and
which the web site is totally ineffective in providing good substantive
information on.  Their sight when it comes to support and upgrade
information is lacking.  Their telephone support service can be expensive as
pointed out and generally not all that helpful even if you get through,
despite the fact that the personnel may be very nice to deal with and
attempt to be helpful.

-----Original Message-----
From: filmscanners_owner@halftone.co.uk
[mailto:filmscanners_owner@halftone.co.uk]On Behalf Of Lloyd O'Daniel
Sent: Friday, May 24, 2002 10:16 PM
To: laurie@advancenet.net
Subject: [filmscanners] RE: Umax experience


Again, your experience is opposite to mine. The Umax website indicated
that I would have to upgrade the firmware on my scanner to use it with
WinXP. I had a several-email correspondence with Umax on this, getting
pricing info, etc. They knew I was buying a used scanner, which does
them no direct good. They gave me directions on how to find the firmware
version so that I could get that info from the seller. When he informed
me that the firmware was old, the Umax guy found out that they were out
of stock. He offered to rob one of their scanners to get me the firmware
prom. As it turned out, my unit worked fine with the old firmware. My
Umax contact said that there was no other benefit to the new firmware,
and to use the scanner as is.

Lloyd



-----Original Message-----
From: filmscanners_owner@halftone.co.uk
[mailto:filmscanners_owner@halftone.co.uk] On Behalf Of HPA
Sent: Friday, May 24, 2002 8:23 PM
To: lodaniel@bham.rr.com
Subject: [filmscanners] Umax experience


I have had a very poor experience with Umax, because the factory will
not do email support and requires you to phone them.  Even if your unit
is under warranty you have to pay for the phone call, so my phone bill
shows a charge of $15.75 for waiting over half an hour on hold, and that
is PER CALL.  If they send you the wrong part they want you to pay them
$10 just to listen to your problem on the phone (you have to have your
credit card in hand).  The dealer who sold me the scanner spent five
months trying to order a simple transparency cable for the scanner and
could not get it from the factory, even though it is on their website as
a standard part.  So I had to do it. By the time I added up postage,
phone bill, etc., this cable cost almost $100!  I will never buy Umax
again

Tom Robinson

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