Howtek 4500 Drum Scanner Advice

[JohnnyV]

Ted,

And perhaps the 2930N and 2930U cards would work in my MAC G4 in OS 10.3.x.

But my point is that Adaptec says that the 2906 card should work in a G4 running MAC OS 10.3., and it does not work for me. Perhaps for others in the same machine, but not here.


Sandy

Sandy did you install Adaptec's driver?

I ask as at one point Apple added native Adaptec drivers to the OS and installing additional Adaptec drivers rendered the card inoperable.

John V. (from the ScanHi-End Yahoo Group)

[JohnnyV]

Running a Howtek, Silverfast on 10.4.X should be no problem. deatojef's above post says it all. Aztek is really out to sell their software so they are going to tell you anything to have you switch to a PC and their $2000.00 software. They are not going to promote Silverfast software.

With that said here's a copy and paste of a previous post of mine...

The only two regularly updated Howtek scan drivers are SilverFast and Aztek’s Digital PhotoLab.

Aztek’s Digital PhotoLab is a Windows only application. It’s the only software that “connects” to the hardware side of the scanner. Meaning it controls the Analog / Digital Converter of the scanner for supposedly smoother tonality and accuracy. I have not used it myself so I couldn’t tell you if it would improve scans or not.

SilverFast has the same interface for all scanners it produces, from Polaroid to Nikon to Howtek. Silverfast updates it software regularly and at about 30% the price of Digital PhotoLab is my choice for Howtek scanner software.

Trident has not been updated in a number of years (four years or so) but works well on Mac OS 9, but buggy on Windows. It needs a dongle to work so be warned if a Trident disk is available it will only run in demo mode...until you buy dongle.

I’ve used both Trident and Silverfast with my Howtek 4000 and I prefer SilverFast as it works with the latest OS. Also SilverFast’s user interface is so much better than Trident’s.

[Ted Harris]

BTW, you do get service that is every bit as good from Screen. I can't speak for any other company but have found that Screen's tech support is excellent. Wait ... I need to add Kodak/Creo to that list.

[Gordon Moat]

Hopefully we might add Fujifilm Electronic Imaging to the list of scanner companies with good service. That division is currently going through a slight re-organization. I don't have much information currently, though I got the feeling that they will be more responsive to repair and service questions, as well as sales and information.

Ciao!

Gordon Moat
A G Studio

[aaanorton]

It is alive!

Hi. Bringing this thread back from the grave.
I'm looking at an Aztek Premier. This drum scanner is not listed on SilverFast's list of supported scanners. I guess Aztek got wise and prevented other drivers from working. Anyone have any firm info on this issue?
Has anyone run this scanner - or another drum scanner - on Parallels through OS X?

Thanks!

[Lenny Eiger]

It is alive!

Hi. Bringing this thread back from the grave.
I'm looking at an Aztek Premier. This drum scanner is not listed on SilverFast's list of supported scanners. I guess Aztek got wise and prevented other drivers from working. Anyone have any firm info on this issue?
Has anyone run this scanner - or another drum scanner - on Parallels through OS X?

Thanks!

Aztek pulled all the stops in making their premier machine. While the ICG 380 also has a 3 micron engine and that puts it in the same class as a Premier, it is arguably the best scanner ever made in its category. They believe their software is better at getting all the quality out of it than the competitors. The scanner costs about $38K or thereabouts these days. DPL is included in the price. It makes every bit of sense to use the recommended software with a purchase of this type. Furthermore, if your scanner ever has an issue, there is one guy in the world who knows how to fix it, and that's Evan at Aztek. You need to make friends with those folks, to protect your investment, as opposed to suggesting they are somehow being "wise."

Silverfast is not the professional program that Digital PhotoLab is. Can one make a good scan with Silverfast? Sure. But it isn't DPL, which has a lot more features. Silverfast can't make custom profiles for each negative it sees. DPL is pretty amazing.

I haven't run it on paralells, the hardest part is probably the SCSI connection... I like Macs too, but if you are going to spend that kind of money, having a little pc around to drive it shouldn't be an issue.

Lenny

[aaanorton]

Thanks for the quick response!
I can see how my flippant comment could be read as disrespectful, but I did not intend it as such. I have had nothing but excellent and professional communications from Aztek so far. I'm very impressed, just doing due diligence is all.

I have other reasons for wanting to host this on a Mac, so hopefully someone out there will have experience with it through Parallels or VMWare. I'll post to ScanHi-End too.

Thanks again!

[Tyler Boley]

I'm not positive what would make the most sense for you... but, if you want to run DPL a small PC seems a minimal price to pay considering the cost of the entire scanner/software system, and the most straightforward. Why make life difficult?
On a Mac, I run Silverfast, OSX Tiger, G4 w scsi card, to my 4500 with no problems whatsoever.
Tyler

[aaanorton]

No doubt the idea of a small PC running DPL is sound advice. Probably the best way to approach this system, granted.
That said, I'm still interested in hearing from anyone with firsthand experience running -or attempting to run- DPL through Parallels, Fusion or something on a Mac.

Thanks!

[psychospazzgurl]

Wondering if you ever purchased your Howtek 4500. If not I have one for sale, comes with alot of extras too, Let me know if your interested.

Stephanie