For an occasional-use photograph and document scanner, the entry-level flatbed CanoScan LiDE 300 is a good value, but its LiDE 400 sibling is only $20 more and comes with valuable extras.

but the lip on the edge of most flatbed scanners keeps the document from touching the platen properly. [Matthew] decided to hack his Canon LiDE 90 scanner to use it in a face-down format.