usb scanner or parallel port?

[clayman]

im looking to get a new scanner but i dont know if usb or parallel port would be better.

i currently have a 5yr old scanner with parallel connection but its big and loud and its time for a new one.

Im mainly going to be using it for scanning pictures for the web... they need to be clear but not pro quality so Im looking at some of the cheaper canon ones.
The N640P uses parallel port conectivity and scans A4 colour w/o data transfer in 120sec
The (marginally) more expensive N670U and N676U are usb and scan A4/600dpi colour in 112 sec

So looking at that it would appear as though the usb scanners are the better choice but is there any disadvantage to usb?

If not then i'll base my decision on the numbers above

thanks

 

[eplebnista]

IMO, I'd go with USB.

My $.02,
eplebnista

 

[clayman]

thanks for the input..im thinking usb is the way to go too.... especially since im only deciding between those models... faster and less cables. seems to make sense

 

[Zoinks]

USB USB USB - no question.

Faster, simpler and I don't know how long they're going to keep putting parallel ports on computers.

 

[Mday]

they dont make parallel port scanners anymore.

 

[esquared]

Sure they do, unless you were kidding. Believe it or not many people have computers without USB on them. Even a 2-3 year old motherboard might have USB capabilities but no port ( An FIC 503+ for example). You need to add the connector. Plus, enough people still run Win95 which doesn't support USB. Only Win 95 SR2 supports USB and not very well at that. Staples and more notably Fry's has lots of parallel port scanners around for 30.00 or so. There are also inexpensive scanners that are SCSI and firewire, (cards included).
Fry's was selling a Umax firewire scanner (with card) for around 49.99-59.99 not long ago. I don't recommend Umax anymore since they now charge for drivers. So don't lose your installation CD. They will charge 32.00 for the CD, if you can believe it. You can't download them anymore from their US site unless it's the XP patch. I think you can get them from the UK site if it's a model they sold there. My Umax model was only sold in the US AFAIK.