We received a Next Engine 3D scanner a little while ago to try out.  This is a scanner that I would call a mid-level machine as it's not a Makerbot Digitizer (low end) nor is it a high end device.  My first impressions are that it is a well built machine that is relatively user friendly.  Our first scan was of a caveman (our mascot here at the high school) and it turned out fairly good.  Any mistakes that were made with this first scan should be attributed to us and not the scanner.  You really have to coat your object to be scanned with powder (we used foot fungus spray powder) in order to diminish and reflectivity.  The scanner doesn't like shiny surfaces at all.

In the photo above we are scanning a part for a student that goes on a small river racing boat.  The part is not only expensive to purchase but my understanding is that it can be quite hard to find.  Hopefully we can reproduce it with enough accuracy for it to be useful.

We are going to use the heck out of this machine while we have it.  I hope to get our science department involved in our endeavors as well.  I'll update our opinions as we spend more time with it.