Nice Promises - But Software Ruins It All

I've ordered this scanner for the work to scan multipage documents (some as big as 30-50 pages). The model looked the best choice to me both because of the specs and because of the HP name.

However, when I unpacked the product and turned it on, it became clear that most of the advertised features are not that usable, mostly because of the software. HP has a reputation for bundling "overweight" drivers and extraneous software, but this time HP has hit a new low point.

First of all, the automatic scanning doesn't really work. From HP's interface, only 200 dpi black-and-white automatic scanning works. This is, indeed, the most popular setting for automatic scan, but there is no way to change it -- no black level, no grayscale, nothing. And, if a page jams, the driver and the containing program hangs up.

The TWAIN drivers, when run in ADF mode, preview-scan every page with the same default settings, and it is impossible to change them as the scanner starts previewing as soon as the drivers load. What am I supposed to do if I want to change the settings? Insert the stack from the output tray into the feeder and try again?

Regular, non-automatic scanning is passable. The drivers are bugged (especially removal and reconnection of the scanner, that sometimes happens), and the effort required to produce the results is more than I'm used to expect from a scanner. For example, when scanning slides, the drivers preview with default settings, and I must switch to slides and then load my scanning settings (two preview passes later), and only then the results are had. Then the driver closes, and the next set of slides starts the same process from scratch.

The scan quality is good - nothing special to note here.

To sum it up, a good hardware potential is totally trashed by the horrible drivers and bundled software. A disappointment and a significant waste of money - I'm unlikely to order another HP or recommend an HP for home or work for a long time.

However, the bugs are all software, and HP might one day release a fix to solve all those issues. The question is, are you willing to bet on it?