Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I own a Canoscan 4400f, and it performs well scanning. The problem it shares with the 9000f is the two little flat pieces of plastic that hold the negative during scanning the negative. If you lose or break those little cheesy pieces of plastic, you are Esso L, my friend. Look at the photos of the machine here on the Amazon website and you'll see what I mean. The little hinges on the plastic pieces on my machine cracked after a few months, so I thought I'd buy a couple of these "negative holders" - maybe buy 2 or 3 extras. Sorry Charlie, Canon doesn't sell the holders separately and never did. I looked at the Canon website, and it's the same deal with the 9000f and the other models. The lousy little pieces of plastic are not for sale as accessories or as anything else. Canon gave me the non-toll free number of some warehouse in Virginia that was supposed to have the parts but the guy there told me they don't have the junk plastic dodads. I could tell from the tone of his voice that he'd had a lot of calls on the subject. If you're seriously going to buy a 9000 or a 8800, I'd get the warehouse number and see if you can order a bunch of doodads. They don't last long if you scan a lot of negatives. I'm handling my little negative thingees like they were made out of gold. I'm fitting the pieces together with difficulty to scan negatives. The negatives fall out or the thingees don't stick click together. Maybe I'll see a used 4400f at a flea market or in a thrift store and I can pay for a used scanner just to get the weak part in this machine. I'd recommend a Canon scanner but not a film negative scanner. Canon, why have a sturdy, efficient negative scanner depend on something so fragile and irreplaceable? I've always trusted Canon, but not now.