I just bought a dedicated film scanner (Nikon Coolscan 5000 ED) and will post my initial impressions once it arrives sometime next week. It was, in a word, expensive. To be honest, I have serious doubts that the cost was justified. We will see.
There are other dedicated film scanners in the $300 - $500 range that are supposed to be quite good. My next choice after the Nikon was the Plustek 7500ai or the soon-to-be-released Plustek 7600ai. Both models ship with Silverfast AI Studio and a calibration target slide. I was also considering the Reflecta RPS 7200 (aka Pacific Image PrimeFilm 7250Pro3).
Here is a European site that has scanner reviews:
ScanDig Scanner Tests
Steve