acerscan 620st, what scsi card needed?

[cremebrulay]

hi.
have read new user post, and have tried searching both this site and others for the answer, but couldnt find it. have even tried acer (now benQ) site, but have so far not recieved an adequate response.

basically, i bought an acerscan 620st scanner at a car boot sale at the weekend.
it came with a 25pin lead and thats it.

my current system is:

windows me
athlonXP 1600+
abit KG7 motherboard
512Mb DDR RAM
seagate baracuda ata 3 40gb hard drive
Geforce 2 MX/MX 400
soundblaster audigy soundcard
btc 16x dvd
philips 16x10x40 cdrw

my problem is that this scsi thing has me all confused.
i have read up on some info about it, but could do with some advice for basically:
a) what type of scsi card would be compatable with this type of scanner. i have mailed benq to find out the card model the scanner is supplied with, but they have not told me, only that they can order me one. however this will no doubt cost mega££ and i would prefer to source my own.
b) the lead that came with the scanner has 25pins. is this an lead an scsi lead as i keep reading that they have 50 to 60 pins? it seems to fit into the parallel port at the back of my pc, which is why i initially thought it was a parallel port scanner.
c) do i need a terminator? preferably not arnie, as his methods are quite violent, but on the back of the scanner there are 2 scsi ports, and i have read that you may need to terminate one for the device to work.
d) is there a specific driver/drivers that work with windows me, as the benq site has no drivers for this scanner with this operating system.
e) is there any particular software that is good for scanning with, as none was supplied.

my apologies if any of these questions appear to be obvious, but i am usually able to find my way around computers, but this is my first experience of scsi things, and its all a bit mystical.

any help would be gratefully recieved, as i am loath to buy a new scanner, as this one works when you turn the power on, its just that i cant get the things to talk to each other, and its most frustrating.

many thanks.

[Peter M]

You should go with a cheapo PCI SCSI card like Tekram's 315U, a new cable that uses 50-pin connectors on both ends for good signal quality, and an active terminator plug to go onto the other, unused SCSI connector on the scanner.

Of course this all makes sense only if it's a really good scanner. Otherwise these expenses add up to more than a modern cheap USB scanner costs.

[zepper]

Apple started the 25-pin SCSI blasphemy. And lots of scanner companies continue it today. The scanner probably came equipped with a cheapo SCSI adapter card. Since you didn't get it with, you are probably SOL...
. I got my Visioneer 6600 USB scanner for US$25. after rebates. There are some SCSI cards on ebay that would work for you but most are in the states and apparently you aren't (used 'boot' for 'trunk'). You would probably need a 50HD to DB-25F adapter for your cable to plug into most of the cards and that would cost about $10. by itself.
. Tell me what connectors your cable has on both ends are they both 25-pin male?
.bh.
p.s. You could edit your Profile to show us your Location so our replies might better suit your needs.bh.

[zepper]

Duplicate - damn this site is slow!
.bh.

[Peter M]

Do not use cable adapters. Buy the appropriate cable. 50 pins on both ends is absolutely to be preferred. This is because 25-wire cables offer MUCH less shielding.

[zepper]

Visioneer's PaperPort is excellent scanning software.
the NCR 53C810 that a fellow is selling on ebay (item no. 3430553530 ) would be perfect as most OSes already have built-in support and it has a 25-pin external port. There is about a day left on his auction - starting bid $1.!
. The benq USA site has drivers, the manual in 3 lang, and install guide for the 620ST for all versions of Win and the ACard SCSI driver (so obviously the card supplied with the unit is from Acard). I can't imagine the other benq sites don't have all the drivers...
. The least SCSI card that acard shows on its site is the AEC-6710S PCI Fast SCSI-2 and it has a 50 pin external connector so you would need an adapter or new cable. The one that came with the scanner probably was an OEM with the 25 pin ext conn. but the drivers would be the same.
www.acard.com.tw . Perhaps some of this will offer a clue,which you don't seem to have at this point.
.bh.

[cremebrulay]

thank-you for the info.
i shall go away and do a bit of meddling and searching and that and let you know how things go.
soz for not posting my location, i didnt see the bit when i signed up, the list is rather a long one, and i just wanted to get my thread on the board.
as you asked i live in stone, a pokey little hole just south of stoke-on-trent, in staffordshire.
it probably means nothing to you, as england is about the size of a small bigmac.
n.

[zepper]

You probably don't want to hear this, but www.compgeeks.com has a special this weekend. SCSI scanner, 1200x600 res, new in box with ISA SCSI card - US$12.95... Considering the age of your scanner the SCSI card that it came with was probably ISA too. Which probably wouldn't do you any good now.
.bh.