[DGthe3]

I can't comment on 3D printers, but I do know of a workaround for a scanner. Autodesk (owners of AutoCAD) offers a 3D 'scanning' program/service for free. I think its called 123D. Basically, take a ton of pictures from different angles of the thing you want a model of. From those pics, 123D will identify the features & geometry of what you're taking pics of and composite them into a 3D model. I think its based on cloud computing (rather than relying on your own computer) so hardware requirements are minimal. Its probably not quite as good as a laser scanner, but its hard to beat the price.