I have a Nikon and it is fantastic. It is one of those "pro-jobs" though, so I don't have too much to add. Except for this...
VueScan is the best scanning software on the planet. It is way better than the $500 SilverFast suite, and compatible with just about every scanner under the sun. And, for $40, you really can't go wrong. Plus, the guy who develops it reminds me a lot of JRiver with how he releases updates to the application. New versions come out about once a week (sometimes two, during the holidays especially), and he actually adds valuable features to new versions, rather than just pumping out bloat. VueScan also has a really unique method of supporting scanners. To use VueScan, you do not need to (or even want to) install the drivers that come with the scanner at all. All of that is built-in to the application, and it always does a vastly superior job than any "consumer-grade" scanning software out there. Most of the drivers that come with scanners are absolutely horrible. They commonly break (or at least make run terribly) other software on the system via the TWAIN plugin architecture, block you from doing future upgrades, AND they typically have horrible quality issues as well.
Really can't recommend it highly enough, especially if you are going to be doing a lot of "batch" scanning. There's a free trial too (and it used to be for "30 days" but enforced only by a nag-screen popup and your honor, though he might have changed this with recent versions). Whatever scanner you end up getting, do yourself a favor and try it out before you even install the craptastic TWAIN drivers that come with the scanner.