Editorial Review
Box Includes: HP Scanjet G4050 Photo Scanner, template kit, USB cable, power supply adapter/power cords, software and User's Guide CDs, Setup and Support Guide, I.R.I.S. registration flyer
HP's Scanjet G4050 Photo Scanner lets you scan slides, negatives and photos with superior color accuracy. Capture the most realistic color, with high-definition photo and film scanning through HP's exclusive 96-bit scanning. Enjoy high-definition scans with 4800 x 9600 dpi resolution, and preserve crisp text in documents with scans. Get built-in dust and scratch removal tools, plus edit text from scanned documents and magazines. Scan up to sixteen 35 mm slides or 30 negative frames and bring old or damaged photos back to life by restoring faded colors. Quickly and easily preserve and share precious memories with the Scanjet G4050. Powered by external adapter System Requirements - PC - 233 MHz processor, 128MB RAM, 500MB HD space, CD-ROM drive, USB port, Internet Explorer 5.01; Mac - PowerPC G3 to G5 processor, 128MB RAM, 250MB HD space, CD-ROM drive, USB port and Mac OS X 10.3.9 or higher Operating Systems - Windows 2000, Windows XP Home & Professional, certified for Windows Vista; Mac OS X 10.3.8, 10.4 or higher Included Software - HP Photosmart software for Windows & Macintosh (includes integrated OCR, HP Photosmart Share, faded color restoration, dust and scratch removal, HP Adaptive Lighting and HP Image Editor with Auto Red-eye Removal capabilities) Dimensions - 11.93 x 20 x 4.25 Weight - 11.6 lbs.
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Customer Reviews
HP Scanjet G4050 
2008-05-09
I have had almost every brand of scanners over the past 20 years. Most are in a pile in the basement. What I found over time, is that the various manufactures quit supporting the particular models so that when new operating systems come out, drivers are not available. This is not the case with HP.
I do quite a bit of photo restoration and my Scanjet 4670 started to give me stripes on the photos (mostly sepia). I really liked the vertical see through scanner but had to have one in a hurry to finish a job. I ordered the G4050. The delivery time was excellent (via UPS not USPS). I was able to track the package to my door with no problems.
The unit installed with no problems (Vista 64 bit) and was running in minutes. The first picture came out perfect. I was back in business.
I would have given this unit 5 stars instead of 4 but I am spoiled by the small footprint of the 4670 against the flat large footprint of the G4050.
The bottom line is this is a lot of scanner for the money.
HP Scanjet 2008-04-28
I think that this is a very serviceable unit. It was hard to find a good product that would work with a Mac, but this fit the bill. The pricing was attractive and it is very easy to use. It would be helpful to have a little more insight as to which setting should be used for various kinds of documents (is a signed agreement with a logo a text over image or an image over text?), but trial and error will overcome this lack of instruction.
Poor performance on slides 
2008-04-07
If you need to scan photos or documents this is an alright scanner but there are others less expensive that do that well. The idea of being able to batch scan 16 slides is the reason I bought this scanner, unfortunately it does a very poor job even one at a time. The results were grainy, banded, and lacked detail depending on the settings I used. I tried technical support but received very poor support on HP chat, the rep even forgot what we were talking about and started asking about the documents I was scanning.
So if you are looking for a decent slide scanner this is not one to even try unless you just want to make small prints (fair 4 x 6 or less prints could be done with some Photoshop work on them).
DPI (Don't Presume Integrity) 2008-03-29
I had high expectations for the HP Scanjet G4050 scanner.
I purchased the G4050 to scan large format negatives, and was very disappointed with its capability. When I compared the results of the same negative (no dust/scratch removal) scanned with a CanoScan4000 negative scanner at 2000DPI with the G4050 at the same approximate resolution (no dust/scratch removal or "sharpness" correction) the image produced by the CanoScan easily showed the film's grain while the grain could not be seen at all in the G4050 image. In fact cobblestones on the street could easily be seen on the negative and the CanoScan image but not at all in the G4050 image (couldn't say whether if was cobblestone or asphalt based on the G4050 image). Increasing the G4050 to max resolution resulted in no improvement. Apparently 4800 dots per inch don't mean anything if the scanner can't properly focus on the negative.
With that in mind, I also tried placing the negative directly on the glass (held flat by a piece of optical quality glass) and saw no improvement in resolution.
However, it was not a total loss, since I can use the G4080 negative holders to hold the negatives against a backlit milk-glass background and take pictures of the negatives with a macro lens (like we used to do in the old days). Those results are far superior to the G4050, and the image acquisition speed is click, click instead of 5-10 minutes per negative.
However, I have to confess the mistake was mine. I trusted HP to produce a quality product that would meet its product claims and specifications. Bad plan!
In a nut shell, the advice I give to amateurs regarding what camera to buy applies here, "megapixels don't mean anything if your put cheap glass (a cheap lens) in front of them".
My scanjet G4050 review. 2008-03-25
This machine serves me very well. I only have one problem with it. The image on-screen is not very well defined or I am not doing something right. Overall, it's fantastic. Worked fine, right out of the box.If anyone out there knows how to fine tune the image on-screen, how about shooting me a line or two, and share your knowledge with me about my issue. Dr. Love
Disappointment 2008-07-10
I spent the best part of a day trying to install the scanner, without success. After the second call to HP Tech Support, it was declared defective and to be returned. I accepted a second G4050 scanner. Spent another day with phone calls and no success. I would then spend two consecutive hours on the phone to HP Tech Support, with no success. Later that day a repeat with a different technician for another two hours. I returned the device with regret, because I liked the ability to scan sixteen 35mm slides-if it works.
Fantanstic 
2008-07-09
This scanner is fantastic. The set up was easy, and works just as advertised. I have not done any high level scanning, but it works great for pictures and for slides!
Slow, ok for documents 
2008-07-01
Not a great product, very tempermental. Negatives are blury and colors are not accurate. This is one of the slowest to warmup, and slowest to scan. Forget anything above 2400 dpi. This is big, bulky, and clunky at best. I wanted to upgrade my canon N1220U. I needed this to scan negatives...
Great slide scanner 2008-05-27
After reading all of the reviews I was a bit worried about the ease of scanning slides with this unit. I am totally happy with it! I have easily scanned 100+ slides in a very short period of time. The template that holds the slides in place sits directly on the scanner's glass. Then you just lay the slides in it- very easy! I have the default setting at a very low resolution to get many slides scanned quickly- I can't believe how true to color and clarity I'm getting!! It takes about 5 minutes to scan 16 slides, cataloging is very easy with the software.
So, go get this scanner and bring back to life the great old slide photos hidden away in your boxes!
Awesome Scanner, but poor instructions 2008-05-20
The scanner is awesome and does 16 slides at once and they are very good.
It does take some time, but worth it. The photo scanner is excellent.
I had trouble loading in the HP Solution Center part of the program, but after 2 1/2 hours on the telephone with excellent help, it is now working great. There is no instruction book on the best size for slides, etc. and what the different settings do. I just called the help person in Canada and got the problem solved. I am now a happy camper. HP Scanjet G4050 Photo Scanner (L1957A#B1H)
