Scanners

I am interested in buying an all-in-one machine and I was looking at the Canon MP530. Eveything seems good, but I am concerned about the capabilities of the scanner. I wanted to scan pics to edit in photoshop and the specs say:

Optical: up to 1200x2400
Digital: up to 19200x19200
Color scanning depth: 48/24 bit (RGB each 16/8 bit)
Halftone/grayscale: 16/8 bit

Here are my questions:

What is the difference between optical and digital?

Are these specs good enough to scan pics clearly so they can be edited?

Are there better options in the $200 price range?


Thanks.

 

1) The optical scanning value means that the physical reading head and lens can scan at that resolution without any digital enhancement. "Digital" scanning is the software working to improve the signal.
2) Absolutely. You will be able to scan your images and edit them without any trouble.
3) Alternative to the Canon are the Brother, Epson, and HP Multifunction units. The great part about the Brother units are the cheap ink (separate cartridges) and small footprint. Epson is terrible. I wouldn't waste your time there. HP units are usually very high end, but the inks are also very expensive. Usually, the color inks are sealed so you have to replace them all at once, which is a nuisance.