HP Scanjet G3110

Amazingly, for a device of this size and price, the HP Scanjet G3110 is crammed with features. Everything you need is pretty much covered straight out of the box, with OCR software from IRIS and HP's own photo-management program. If you want to get into the finer tuning of image processing, you'll have to invest in your own software, though there's plenty available for free if you don't want to fork out.

The device features four buttons to provide rapid and easy access to its most commonly used functions: basic scan, copy (scan direct to a printer), scan to email and scan to PDF.

It also has a built-in transparency adapter that lets you scan four slides or five negatives, back-lit from a relatively slim light unit attached to the top of the scanner. As a result, the HP Scanjet is the bulkiest of the models we tested, but it was the only one that included this function.

Tweaking some of the finer settings involves going through a number of screens, but the scanner comes well set up for beginners. If you're not a confident scanner operator, the HP Scanjet makes for an excellent proposition, providing a full complement of features at a very competitive price.