Review on Plustek OpticFilm 8100-35mm Negative Film/Slide Scanner with 7200 DPI and 48-bit Output: Bundle Silverfast SE Plus 8.8, Supports Mac and Windows by Chris Owens

I'm pretty tech savvy and don't usually have a problem installing drivers and software but boy were the reviews right it's not that easy to install IF you don't have a CD drive. I eventually got it working, but installing the driver was alarming for the following reasons, and while installing the software was easier, everything went through this link, exchanging your serial number for a new one, etc. is a bit confusing. However, my biggest concern is that this scanner does NOT support iSRD (Infrared Dust and Scratch Removal) and it took me a few scans to realize how practically useless software dust/scratch removal is. This isn't usually a big deal for those of us who often prefer to touch up dust and scratches in Photoshop (since you have more control and can "undo" anything, which is weird), but if you plan on doing a ton of old stuff scan negatives with sticky dust, smudges etc no matter how hard you try to physically clean them - do yourself a favor and choose the 8200i instead. No matter how good you are at removing dust in Photoshop, doing it manually will still be a time-consuming problem. The software dust removal is great, but it can misinterpret pixels in the image itself as dust and do weird things - it's hard to explain, but easy to see in a few photos. As soon as I saw this release it essentially rendered it useless for me, except maybe for very simple photos with not too much detail. Even then, it still won't remove all the dust. 1) Installing the driver (no CD drive) for this scanner is confusing. I finally got it working, the first few times there was no dialog box or anything (nothing to click or do) other than a blue box with the scanner's name written in yellow. When finally the installation dialog came (after I gave up and installed the software, which the installation guide without CD drive undoed, it says to install the driver as step 1 and the software how about step 2). even pushing the buttons but he still ended up in the blue window. The window stayed open for over 20 minutes (before I had to force it shut). It didn't interfere with anything (or so it seemed), but it still seemed to do something, but as I said, it's just a blue window with the scanner's name on it, so you have no idea what's going on, and X ( window close ) is currently inactive. Had to force it shut in the end. I was completely frustrated, but I ran the program anyway just to see if it worked and apparently it works. Although I still have a bad feeling about installing the driver because of this window. There was no "Done" button or anything like that. Because of this, part of me anticipates software issues in the future, as do other reviews here on Revain and online forums. Infrared. iSRD (Infrared) is not available on the 8100. For just $30 you should get the 8200i that has this. I didn't think it mattered much until I looked through some old negatives; Software dust removal is basically useless to me. I've tried this in many different ways and only found that I should have gotten an iSRD capable scanner instead. And I don't think Adorama will give you a refund just because you are unhappy with the product. The rest is fine, but honestly, dust removal is so important when you're working with old negatives. I'll probably get what I can from this scanner within a year or so, resell it or give it away and get the 8200i later. Maybe just scan clean, newer negatives/slides with it - if you have dirty old negatives and are stuck with this scanner like me, you may need to physically clean the negative yourself, which is just plain absurd with me having hundreds of rolls to scan. If I could I would return it and/or exchange it for an 8200i but I think I missed my window.