Lost 3 hours fighting with an old blueprint scanner at a shop in Detroit

I spent $40 on a used wide-format scanner from a liquidation place thinking I scored a deal. Thing kept jamming on every roll of vellum I threw at it, and the software wouldn't even recognize the drivers on my laptop. After messing with it for 3 hours I just gave up and took it to the dump. Has anyone else had bad luck with those older Contex models?

2 comments

2 Comments

anthonymurray27d ago

oh man, I feel your pain on those Contex scanners. I actually had the same issue with a Contex Chameleon I picked up from a surplus sale a few years back. What finally worked for me (after way too many rage-quit sessions) was finding an old Windows XP laptop and installing the drivers from a CD I found on eBay for like 5 bucks. Those scanners really hate newer operating systems (like, they just flat out refuse to talk to them). Once I got the right driver matching the exact firmware version on the machine, it actually ran smooth for about a year until the belts finally gave out. Also, make sure you're using the right vellum weight - some of the older models can't handle anything thicker than 20lb without jamming. It's a headache but once you get that one specific setting right, they're surprisingly decent machines.

jamesf2627d ago

bro that XP trick is gold, I ended up doing the same thing with an old Thinkpad just to keep my Contex running. its wild how those things are basically useless on anything past Windows 7 but rock solid once you get the right driver combo.