I've never had a scanning product like this one, so I don't know how it compares to others presently on the market in terms of useability and value for price, but I can tell you what I think this would be fabulous for. The old photographs that this scanner is designed to scan are in the possession of our elders those beloved grandparents and great grandparents who know the stories behind those old photos and are at a time in their lives when it's beneficial for them to sit down with family fascinated grandchildren if not their harried parents and tell those stories. This product seems to be ideal for just that kind of activity.

The scanner does not require a computer to operate, so you can just tuck it in a bag and go. It does, however, require a memory card to be installed before it will work (not included), so keep that in mind if planning to give this scanner as a gift. It's simple enough to use (too simple for those accustomed to flatbed scanners connected to computer software), and I only had difficulty with full 8.5"x11" sheets if I started them feeding in too crooked. (I stupidly tried scanning a stapled booklet of about 12 pages by laying it open flat, and I wouldn't recommend doing that because the staples keep the scanner from pulling the sheets through smoothly. Knock on wood, I don't think I ruined the scanner when I did this, but learn from my mistake and don't do it. Remove the staples first!) A plastic guide slider adjusts in 1/4" increments from 8.5" down to business card size. Anything narrower than a business card could probably be fed through, but the guide won't slide any further to the right.

The visual feedback of the LED screen is an important feature that sets this portable scanner apart from others I've seen. Although you probably would want to wait to do any serious cropping in a computer based program designed for that purpose, the ability to nudge the scan in all four directions as well as rotate it is useful. You can delete scans, either one at a time or all of them, from the memory card. It's important to read the manual on how to adjust the scanner's features via the Menu button, but just mucking around I was able to find the tools pretty well.

Many people are going to want to use this scanner specifically for putting images on the web or sending them via email, and in those cases the print resolution does not have to be that great. The fact that this little scanner can scan in print quality 300 dpi is a significant feature, however; this makes it perfect for putting together books suitable for printing on paper. Whether scanning drawings for how to books, children's artwork for a parent child or teacher children book collaboration, or anything at all that's easier to put down on paper than create on the computer, it can be scanned for press quality printing.

If my father in law were still alive, I think I'd take this scanner and a tape recorder and spend an afternoon or two with him, letting him tell me the stories behind the pictures as we scan each one, speaking hints aloud if needed to help me match up the scans with the words for later transcription and assembly into a book. A book put together in this way through a print on demand service like Amazon's CreateSpace would make a beautiful, relatively inexpensive gift for family members and a record of hard won wisdom before it passes into obscurity. I think this kind of activity would be especially valuable (and therapeutic) in cases of early Alzheimer's before the dementia sets in as a means of helping capture memories before they are gone.

What I'm saying is, this little scanner opens up a lot of possibilities for creativity, sharing, and family bonding. It's a neat, neat thing.