Look at scanning in the same way you look at photographs; tell me what camera you have and I will tell you what scanner you should get.
Most people who want a simple device buy one of those little Japanese cameras that can be carried in a pocket. They are great for snapping Wanda on the Great Wall or Felix at the Sphinx.
If that is what photography means to you, then this Umax 1220 is what you want. But if you have anything remotely approaching a professional-quality camera and you know something about imaging, stop reading and go straight to Tech Talk.
The Umax 1220 is small, light and cheap. It claims to be a 600x1,200 dpi (hardware) scanner with software that can give 9,600x9,600 dpi quality. It also says it can handle 36-bit colour. This may be true but it is useless information.
The key is knowing what the scanner will be used for. The only purpose I can think of would be to put pictures on the Web or send pictures over the Internet. This scanner would be ideal for that.
Pictures for the Web need not be high resolution because our screens can only handle about 72 dpi. The colour depth also is less important. Most Windows machines can only handle eight-bit colour. Most Macs can handle 24-bit.