Existing users, 
I bought the product to support a Microtek X6 USB with ADF under OS X. The scanner has always worked fine, but support wasn't available under OS X.
Before any other problems, I note that the user interface of this program is just plain horrible. HORROR MOVIE HORRIBLE. Selecting options in one pane changes options on another pane. Selecting a checkbox causes half a dozen other options to appear; clear it and they vanish. To stop adding to a multi-page PDF in progress, you clear the "multi-page PDF" check box (as opposed to clicking a button that says "Stop multipage PDF"). Yep, it's just awful. The whole application is sluggish, and it'll hang on a regular basis. "Force Quit" doesn't always work on it.
When I first got the product, it was at 8.2. I tested it with my X6 and ADF, and it seemed to work. However, to complete my whole test, I couldn't have the dollar signs placed as a watermark on my documents in the trial version. I foolishly paid the $90 for a real license, and that's when the headaches began. Basically, the X6 support was "experimental". Every support email resulted in a new incremental release of VueScan (up to 8.3.71 now!), and instructions for me to "try this one". Nope. The first problems were resolved, but the thing now hangs randomly, and even leaves the scanner confused and requiring a power cycle.
The last straw was the email from the author asking me to reset to all defaults, then to work through the option settings until I find the one that causes the problem. I've probably changed a dozen settings with the program. If I have to debug the software, why didn't I just write it myself?
At this point, I've held out hope for nearly six months that this program might actually work some day. I doubt it ever will. Save your $90 and buy a scanner with software that actually works.
VueScan
Scanner software for most scanner brands.
Version: 8.5.39
Just stay away.
Feedback Type: Review
Contributed by: mrbib Wednesday, October 04 2006 @ 08:36 AM PDT
Product Platform: MacOSX
Used Product For: 1-6 months
Recommend Product: NO
Overall Rating:
Ease of Use:
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Features:
Quality / Stability:
Price:
Comments
Just stay away. - Paul_Vail_674
Let me understand you: the developer has continued to work with you, and your 'helpful' attitude, for several months and iterations of his drivers for your old scanner (that never worked well in OS 9, let alone OS X). The developer continued to ask for your assistance in determining a working formula with your equipment.And you are disappointed. Boy, are you going to like Windows Vista. Have fun.
Friday, October 06 2006 @ 08:40 PM PDT
Just stay away. - PrimeWaveZ
I can't imagine unlocking the application causing problems, however, I can't imagine spending $90 to support a 7-year old $200 scanner to begin with. Like another posting said, Hamrick reverse engineers a lot of stuff that the scanner makers don't want to reveal to developers.Have you ever considered that your equipment may be failing? It is 7 years old, after all, and you might just have something that wore out and died.
I think that Ed has done a good job at organizing all of the myriad options that are available into the best possible interface you can have. I love VueScan, and though I only use it once a month for four or five scans at a time, when I did have to batch scan 200+ negatives a couple years ago, I bit the bullet and bought the unlimited license. It has been one of my most valuable software purchases and thank Ed for the constant upgrades and reliability on all of my (not mechanically failing) equipment.
Saturday, October 07 2006 @ 11:32 AM PDT
Just stay away. - chahn2
To the above respondents to my review,This is NOT shareware. If it were shareware, it would be fully functional when downloaded. No, one has to pay cold, hard cash to use the program without watermarks. Further, Mr Hamrick now claims the license isn't even tranferable, even though NOTHING said it wasn't at the time the purchase was made.
The UI is horrible whether or not the program works ( http://homepage.mac.com/simx/technonova/C1766861589/E20060208033106/ is pretty accurate), but the truth of the matter is that the program does NOT work. (And I could not determine it did not work until I purchased it, to get rid of the dollar signs that were going to interfere with my end-to-end processing.) VueScan is advertised as a program to extend the life of an "old" scanner, but it's untrue with regard to this particular scanner which is allegedly supported. The fact that my scanner is older by current scanners is irrelevant, as VueScan is supposed to fix that problem.
Finally, telling me that I have to spend a morning messing around with various settings to figure out why the program doesn't work with a scanner it is claimed to support is a farce. My time is worth more than that. Even at $10 per hour, 4 hours of trials with VueScan adds $40 to the cost of the program.
Thus, my advice to those considering VueScan: buy a scanner that has software that works as advertised.
Tuesday, November 21 2006 @ 07:58 AM PST
Just stay away. - foulgernz
Please engage brain before opening mouth. We all know that hardware gets redundant at the speed of light and that Mikrotek have always lacked support for a large number of their scanners.Scanners are so cheap these days that surely the best answer is not to go hypercritical of a dedicated shareware author but to simply upgrade your equipment to a scanner that works (eg Canon).
Put yourself in his position. Manufacturers are loth to give out details of their software and Mr Hamrick struugles against these odds all the time.
I can assure you he is a dedicated man and his constant updates are an effort to keep on top of things.
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Thursday, October 05 2006 @ 02:38 PM PDT