The Scanjet 3570c's lackluster transparency scans won't meet the needs of serious shutterbugs or professionals, but its top-notch opaque-scan quality and low price should satisfy many home users.

The good: Built-in transparency backlight is less cumbersome than HP's previous external backlight; integrates software tools; creates attractive opaque-media scans; reasonable price.

The bad: Produces mediocre transparent-media scans; somewhat slow; unintuitive slide holder.

We must commend the 3570c for its cross-platform compatiblity. The 3570c connects to both Macs and PCs over USB 1.1 or 2.0. It supports all Windows versions starting with 98 and Mac OS 9.1 and up.

The Scanjet 3570c's design also offers some real advantages over that of many other scanners. To accommodate thick documents, the scanner's lid slides up on strong hinges or comes off completely. Better still, the backlight, which illuminates transparent media from above the glass, turns itself on automatically when you initiate a transparent scan; other scanners make this process more complicated. A grooved plastic strip above the backlight holds 35mm film carefully by the edges. Unfortunately, it isn't as careful with slides: it forces you to push the slide down into the same grooves, then hook your fingernail under the lip of the frame to pull out the slide, thus risking leaving fingerprints or scratches on the film.