It's becoming rarer for home users to want separate printers and scanners, primarily because of the space each one uses, which is why multi-function devices are popular.

Separate scanners still have their uses, though, and a standalone unit such as HP’s Scanjet G4050 has its advantages. It provides better scans than any combined unit we've seen, and includes a transparency adapter, which no multifunction device we've seen yet has included.

The Scanjet G4050 is a big device with a large footprint and a bulky lid, necessary to house the 'secondary scanning' system built into it. Set into the top of the lid are four function buttons, which start a regular scan, a film or transparency scan, a scan to the printer and a scan to a PDF file. These all work through the USB2 connection once HP's scanner driver has been installed, which was easily done using the supplied CD.

The scanner can handle A4 pages and scans at up to 4,800x9,600 dpi and in up to 96-bit colour. Scanning isn’t particularly quick, with an A4 page taking about 50 seconds at 300dpi and a 15x10cm print taking 72 seconds at 600dpi.

The scanner can accept photographic film slides: up to 16 35mm slides, 30 frames of negative film, two medium-format film frames or one 4x5 frame at a time, using the transparency adapter built into the lid of the scanner. This has a separate sensor from the regular scanner in the base of the unit, but uses the same light sources.

Software supplied includes optical character recognition, for transforming the scanned pages into editable text, and scratch- and mark-removal for photos (to tidy up old and damaged prints). Overall, the G4050 is a good all-round scanning package, with a versatile transparency adapter and comprehensive software.

Vista compatible: Yes