Recommendation: CanoScan LIDE 50 or other?

Archived from groups: alt.comp.periphs.scanner,comp.periphs.scanners (More info?)

(follow-ups set to comp.periphs.scanners)

I've given up the idea of an all-in-one and selected a nice laser
printer to replace my trusty LJ IIIp, which finally bit the dust.

My requirements:

- I have a lot of photos (my own and from magazines) that I want to
store on my computer. I have no interest in printing them, but if
possible I'd like to keep that option open for the future.

- It's lower priority, but I will eventually scan pages from one or
two of my books and OCR them for text searching. Therefore I want a
flatbed.

- Image size: 8.5x11 is fine

- Feeder: I don't care about ADF because the photos are all odd
sizes and I want to expect to take some time with each one.

- Speed vs quality: For the same reason, I'm willing to wait a few
extra seconds for an image if I gain in quality of scan and
especially of cleaning up schmutz like crease marks on photos.

- My system: Windows 98 (desktop not laptop), 96 MB, USB port (not
2.0)

- My desk space is really limited, so being able to run the scanner
on its side is a plus though not a must.

Looking at the review sites, I really like what I read about the
CanoScan LIDE 50, but I'm concerned for two things:

(1) The manufacturer site says "128 MB required". Do I need to take
that seriously in Win98? If so, memory's not expensive, so I'm
willing to add some; but I'd like to know for sure first.

(2) The CanoScan pulls power from the PC through its USB 2.0 cable.
My PC has the older form of USB; will the CanoScan be able to pull
power even so, or if not is there an auxiliary hookup to power it
off a wall outlet?

While the CanoScan LIDE 50 looks good on the Web, I'm not married to
it; if you think another scanner would be better for my needs
please say so.

--
Stan Brown, Oak Road Systems, Tompkins County, New York, USA
http://OakRoadSystems.com
"Sticklers unite! You have nothing to lose but your sense of
proportion (and arguably you didn't have a lot of that to
begin with)." -- Lynne Truss, /Eats, Shoots & Leaves/