Diane,
I scan my slides with a Nikon Coolscan 4000 but that ISN'T the inexpensive way to go. I bought it to replace a decent Minolta Dimage Scan Speed that I had that would scan to 2820 dpi. The Nikon goes to 4000 dpi and was pricey. Nikon has a Coolscan 40 if memory serves me that doesn't go to as high of a digital resolution but has the rest of the bells and whistles.

You definitely want a scannare that has scratch/dust removal software built in. Nikon calls that Digital ICE - which is a trademark of Applied Science Fiction and as good as it works, it might just be from sci-fi land! I wouldn't be without it. I used to abhore spending hours cleaning dust specs out of a scan from a slide that had been left sitting out.

You might also try some of the big photo houses and the major scanner manf's for reconditioned units or trade-ins. Roberts Imaging in Indianapolis and B&H Photo in NYC are excellent outlets that I've dealt with in the past.

Good luck..

Gary