I have found the most important investment for scanning, besides the computer,
is removable media, especially magneto-optical, such as those used with the
Fujitsu 640SE DyanMO drive (640MB capacity, about $15/disk). No matter how
much hard drive capacity you get, it will not be enough, and 32MB RAM is
probably sufficient for most scanning, which is less than most systems come
with standard now, unless you do batch recognition, in which case it is the
speed of the processor and RAM and the size of the cache that affects
performance more than the total amount of RAM. Cheap, small, lightweight
flatbed scanners are sufficient for most purposes. Good ones can be bought for
less than $100 now. If you do books, make sure the cover comes off. If they
aren't fast enough, then the upgrade is not to a slightly faster flatbed
(because most of your time will be turning the pages and placement on the
flatbed, not waiting for the scanhead), but to a snap scanner that takes the
entire image in a single shot (no moving scan head), and those cost a lot now
(until inexpensive digital cameras have about 32 megapixels, probably about
two years).
--Jon
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