The Lamp Was Over
Pros:
It was nice while it worked.
Cons:
It only worked 2 hours in first 2 weeks and had to be replaced.
The Bottom Line:
Moderate, qualified recommendation. Read full review for details.
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Overall Rating:
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Author's Review
I have had this scanner for less than 2 weeks. During the 2 hours it worked and was in use, I loved it. Unfortunately, those 2 hours were an exception. First, the scanner arrived with a dysfunctional power cord. It was one of those cords in that needlessly comes in 2 parts, that has to plug into itself. The problem was, the two parts did not match, even though they came together in a single sealed plastic bag. It took Canon a week to get me a replacement, which was 3 days after it was first promised. I had to call the day after it didn't come, only to be told that there was no good reason why it wasn't sent. Oddly enough, once it finally came it was in one piece, but thankfully it worked.
Then I finally was able to install the scanner. I was very pleased with the results. I only used one of the 4-5 pieces of software that came with it in the brief time it worked, but I found it easy to use and was pleased with the results. Suddenly today, it does not work. It worked yesterday, but not today. The hardware display says "Lamp error." The software says, "Error: The lamp was over." Over what? Overheated? Even though it hadn't been used in more than 24 hours? Over what? Who writes an error message like that? The lamp was over?!?!?!?! It makes no sense.
The useless documentation lists help for only 2 error messages, neither of which is either "Lamp error" or "The lamp was over." So now I have to call Canon tech support, which (1) is currently closed, and (2) the useless documentation does not even provide. It's also hard to find the number on Canon's website. Plus, I have the happy experience of them failing to deliver the replacement power cord quite close in my memory, since it just happened last week. This thing is a doorstop, and Canon support is abominable.
UPDATE: Canon did the best they could under the circumstances. The tech rep walked through some possible fixes, which took about 20 minutes, then decided to send me a replacement. It arrived overnight, and has worked for a week so far without incident. It is refurbished, so I guess my original unit will be fixed and either sold as refurbished or sent as a replacement to someone else. As long as the refurbished unit works, i don't mind. The techie also fixed a software glitch I introduced while working on the hardware problem, and confirmed that the power cord mismatch was a known issue that affected an entire batch of the scanner. Based on this response, I'm raising rating from one to three stars.
