I have owned an HP Photosmart scanner for six months. I have scanned prints, slides, and negatives. It particularly excels with slides and negatives at 2400 dpi scans. I tried to save money with other brands of paper - results were acceptable, but are superb on the Epson paper. Some photos need minor touchups in MS PictureIt 2.0 or Adobe Photo Deluxe 2.0.
Manipulation is easy and rewarding.
You may read this and believe I work for one of these companies. Actually, I'm a USAF officer working for NATO, and have to figure out how to make the most of a reasonable, but fixed, income. These products made a personal dream come true at an affordable price - I now have a digital darkroom. I can watch TV over my shoulder, or listen to the BBC news on RealAudio while I work, etc. Some people may have nitpicks, particularly about dust.