The worst, however, is that after 4 or 5 scans, the machine starts 'stuttering' requiring constant re-scanning of images

During the last 6 months the Lide200 started having frequent errors (i.e., "cannot communicate with the scanner") while scanning to images and pdf.

I did have a little trouble getting started.

but how can a scanner start failing a month after being bought

One deficiency is the strength of the platten––it has limitations as to the weight of a book that one may want to scan.

I like the size and light weight of this scanner as well as that it doesn't need a separate power cord

However, this version of the software is not so bad as to make it unusable