Especially with a scanner to be moved around people. Actually, for that something like the Canon CD 4050 which just has its own CD burner and ethernet has a lot of attraction.

Still, while the 2500D is down to $500 there are other older scanners (not all USB) still fetching several thousands. I will check more into its features -- the spec sheets are vague about its grayscale abilities saying "capable of grayscale output up to 600dpi" which makes no sense for a 400dpi optical scanner.

I saw the one with the door missing. While I presume a door is not hard to get ahold of, buying as-is stuff on eBay is a tricky business. Anyway, some sneaky guy went in and bought it -- does seem worth it for you, even if just for parts.