At $95, this scanner has one of the best price-to-performance ratios of them all. Indeed, it outperforms other scanners which cost several times as much. The CanoScan is a 600dpi parallel port scanner, which means it’s only drawback is a slightly lower data transfer rate between the scanner and the PC. However, considering the price and the performance, this is a deal that you simply cannot pass over.

If you’re willing to spend an estimated $180 on a scanner from a reputed manufacturer, Hewlett Packard’s ScanJet 4100CXI will not disappoint you. This 36-bit 600dpi scanner uses the USB port, which makes it much easier to plug in, and offers quite superior performance. 

If you’re looking for a SCSI scanner, the Astra 1220S from UMAX is a very good choice at $115. The software is very easy to use and the scanner itself offers decent performance.