tailieunhanh - How to Do Everything With Your Scanner- P14

How to Do Everything With Your Scanner- P14: My thanks to the terrifically creative and knowledgeable staff at Osborne, particularly acquisitions editor Megg Bonar and acquisitions coordinator Alissa Larson for their responsiveness and flexibility. Special thanks to technical editor Steve Bain, not only for his insight and attentiveness to accuracy, but also for actively coming up with many ideas for content. | CHAPTER 3 Selecting the Right Scanner 49 3 TIP J The Common Contenders Parallel and USB Connections Most PCs and scanners today have two types of ports parallel and USB. Your scanner requires a compatible cable to connect to either of them. Scanners usually include one or both of the parallel or USB port cables but sometimes you have to purchase a cable separately at an added cost of anywhere from 12 to 30. When comparing two closely priced scanners make sure they both include a cable and that it is compatible with your PC s interface. A parallel port is actually a printer port. Most PCs have a single parallel port a few PCs boast a second one. Herein lies the downside of a parallel port it s the port you usually use to connect your printer. This might mean that if you have only one parallel port every time you want to use your scanner you need to disconnect your printer and restart the computer. Fortunately most recent parallel port scanners allow you to connect your printer to your scanner which is then directly connected to your PC. This way you can use them both at the same time. On the other hand if you have a USB connection you don t have to keep shutting down your computer to disconnect and reconnect your printer. You might even plug in and unplug the USB device without having to restart your computer. Many scanners such as those manufactured by Visioneer include both a parallel and a USB cable. TIP Most newer computers and scanners have USB ports and the scanners come with USB cables. A new faster USB cable USB has recently made its market debut. This new generation of USB cable offers faster data transfer speeds and connects to existing USB ports. Scanner manufacturers currently including USB cables are expected to switch to this second-generation cabling. All things being equal opt for USB cabling over standard USB if it s available for your scanner. TIP SCSI Connections High-end scanners might offer another type of connection called a SCSI which