This Story Posted:
May 24th, 1999

 
 

[3:34 PM]
Just In Time For HP Mac Boycott, Umax Announces New USB Mac Scanner
Umax has announced a new line of USB scanners called the Astra 2000 line. The Astra 2000 product line includes one model with push-button scanning, and two models with USB, and therefore Mac, connectivity. Both models include 36-bit color capabilities and 600 x 1200 resolution. Announced one day after Hewlett-Packard announced they would no longer develop Mac scanners, Umax seems ready to fill any void. According to Umax:

UMAX Technologies, Inc., a leader in award-winning imaging and computer technologies, today announced the Astra 2000 family, the latest additions to the Astra scanner line. The Astra 2100U, 2000P and 2000U feature the latest version of UMAX' VistaScan scanner interface, version 3.5, designed to make the scanning process faster and easier than ever before. VistaScan features new time-saving, point-and-click, guided activities which allow users to add scanned images to greeting cards, screen savers, wallpaper or email, in a few simple steps.

Astra 2000 Family

The Astra 2000 family offers a selection of high-quality scanners with extremely easy to use features, perfect for SOHO (small office/home office) and first-time users. All three scanners provide 36-bit color and 600 x 1200 dpi with single-pass scanning for speed and quality color balance.

Push Button Scanning - The Astra 2100U, with its USB connection, has built-in one touch scanning. The scanner features three programmable push buttons, allowing users to quickly scan, copy, or use the custom button to scan an image to email or OCR a document, with just a push of a button. The Scan button provides one touch scanning and the Copy button allows documents to be scanned directly to a printer, turning the scanner and printer into a copy machine. This feature is ideal for consumers and SOHO users without a dedicated copy machine. The Custom button can easily be defined by the user for one of two options: sending a text document to the users' word processing application using the integrated OCR (optical character recognition) software, or sending an image directly to email as an attachment

The Astra 2100U also features a USB interface, for plug-and-play connectivity, eliminating the need for users to become computer experts to connect their scanner to their PC or Macintosh computer.

The Astra 2000U is perfect scanners for creating Web graphics, newsletter artwork, customer presentations and school reports with their high quality color output and the robust capabilities of VistaScan 3.5. The 2000U has a USB interface for faster scans and easy installation, offering flexibility for both Mac and PC users. Simply plug the scanner into the back of a USB-compliant PC desktop or laptop computer and start scanning.

Intelligent Vista Scan 3.5

The Astra 2100U, 2000P and 2000U all utilize Vista Scan 3.5, the latest version of UMAX' award-winning scanner interface that powerfully enhances scanning image quality and ease of use. VistaScan now features VistaAccess and VistaShuttle for significantly improved usability. Upon loading the driver software, the VistaAccess icon is added to the toolbar, providing quick and easy access to scanning functions right from the desktop. VistaShuttle allows users to create greeting cards, add an image to email, or to make wallpaper or screensavers, while walking users through a few simple steps. VistaScan automates the scanning experience.

Software Bundle

The Astra 2000 scanners are bundled with Adobe PhotoDeluxe, Presto! PageManager from NewSoft, Caere Omnipage LE OCR and the UMAX copy utility.

The scanners are available immediately. The Astra 2100U has an estimated street price of $169 and an optional transparency adapter is available for an estimated street price of $69. The 2100U is compatible with Windows 95, 98, and Mac OS version 8.0 or later. The Astra 2000U is available for an estimated street price of $129 and is compatible with Windows 95, 98, and Mac OS version 8.0 or later.

The Mac Observer Spin: We announced on Friday that HP was exiting the Mac scanner market and offered Umax as an example of a company that was ready with Mac scanning products. In fact, it is fairly safe to say that few people would be happier about HP's decision than the managers and shareholders of Umax. More power to them!

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