Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I've been giving the ColorMunki a workout for several weeks and find that it is easy to use and my print colors have never been more accurate. It replaces a first generation Pantone Colorvision Sypder I bought in 2002. My desktop is year old quad core PC from HP running Windows Vista Ultimate, an Acer Ferarri 20-inch LCD monitor and photo printer is an Epson Stylus Photo 2200 printer. I've seen a number of negative reviews here that leave me baffled, so I offer some advice. 1) Before you install ColorMunki software, be sure to un-install and/or disable other color management software, like Adobe Gamma. On Windows, I'd recommend using a good registry cleaner, like RegCure, to insure no color management applications are being loaded in the background. 2) Check to make sure your graphics card software is set to the defaults. Some games and photo editing software might "tweak" the color management settings. 3) The ColorMunki "Easy" mode calibration requires a good, late model graphics card and software controllable graphics monitor. For best results, use the "Adanced" mode and check both "Optimize brightness" and "Optimize Luminance" boxes. 4) Don't calibrate you in monitor in "Advanced" mode a darkened room. A fairly high level of ambient light is needed to set reasonable levels of brightness and luminance on your monitor. This is likely the source of comments that brightnees on iMacs and other LCD monitors can't be turned down enough to make the ColorMunki happy. 5) When creating paper profiles a) allow test prints to dry at least two hours before you scan them and b) make sure you scan the strips on top of a white card or stack of like paper. My fist calibration of Epson Ultra Premium Presentation Matte paper was a little off because I scanned it directly on my blonde wood desk. 6) Most laptop displays really cannot be calibrated adequately for critical color work because they use an integrated GPU with limited capability. Results are going to be disappointing if the laptop does not have a dedicated GPU, like the ATI Mobility Radeon X800 or nVidia GeForce 9600M GT and fully adjustable display. Only high end laptops meet this criteria, like the new MacBook Pro or HP Pavilion X16-1040. 7) Take your time. The brightness and luminance readings take about 30 seconds each time you make a change.