New scanner for Christmas/birthday

[Brad Johnson]

Mom and dad are getting me a scanner for a combined Christmas/birthday present.  Actually, they gave me a budget let me pick the unit since they have exactly zero idea what to look for.

I've settled on an Epson Perfection 4490 (the model without the document feeder).  All the reviews I've seen are both consistant and complimentary.  Short of a pro-sumer model that costs several hundred more, this seems to be the unit many hard-core amateurs are turning to.

I'm looking forward to it - it arrives in a week or so.  It better work as expected because I gave all my family a custom DVD slideshow for Christmas!  That means somewhere in the vicinity of 500 photos/slides to scan.  Plus, I have a bunch of negatives and slides I want to archive digitally.

Any of you folks have experience with the 4490?

Brad

[charby]

Please don't get drunk and post pictures of your scanned *expletive deleted*ss.

[Brad Johnson]

Please don't get drunk and post pictures of your scanned *expletive deleted*ss.

There isn't enough beer in the universe...

Brad

[Paddy]

I thought you were talking about a police scanner.  Don't know anything about the Epson, I have a HP Scanjet 4370 that works great, but the software is unwieldy (or I haven't taken the time to learn how to use it).

[Brad Johnson]

I have a HP Scanjet 4370 that works great, but the software is unwieldy

That's one of the first things I noticed - the HP software issue came up a lot on the product reviews.  That specific issue prompted me to shy away from HP on this purchase.

Brad

[JimMarch]

Make a catscan!

Do you have a cat?

[Brad Johnson]

Two, actually...

Brad

[cosine]

I have a HP Scanjet 4370 that works great, but the software is unwieldy

That's one of the first things I noticed - the HP software issue came up a lot on the product reviews.  That specific issue prompted me to shy away from HP on this purchase.

Brad

Yep. I have a HP combo printer/scanner and the software is a royal pain in the posterior. It works, but really clumsily. 

[Tallpine]

I thought you were talking about a police scanner.

Me too ... I wondered why a radio scanner would have a "document feed" 

[mfree]

I thought you were talking about a police scanner.

Me too ... I wondered why a radio scanner would have a "document feed" 

Packet fax? :-D

[Ben]

I've been buying the Epson Perfections for the office for the last few years. I think the latest one I bought was the 4490 (not in the office right now). Great scans, no issues. Can't speak to the software much as the people that scan here use Creative Suite to talk to the scanner.

I also don't like the HP software. I had an HP multifunction which I really liked, but the damn HP software is way invasive and memory / space eating. I switched to a Canon MP830 multifunction and LOVE it. Eats through the ink tanks, but results are fantastic.

[Gewehr98]

Still noodling around with my CanoScan LiDE 30 here.  It seemed minimalistic to me at the time, powered via the USB cable, and a minimum of extra driver/bloatware.

[mtnbkr]

I have a Canon LiDE series scanner as well.  It's a 30 or 40, can't remember which.  Not very fancy, but does a great job on photographs, which is what I bought it for.

My wife and I scanned a combined total of 200 photos over the Christmas holiday.  I personally shot 5 rolls, then there was a roll her folks shot.  We gave that little scanner a workout.  One nice thing is it's size.  It carries nicely in the laptop case with my wife's laptop.

Chris

[Brad Johnson]

Just got the e-mail.  The scanner is here.  Yippeee!

Brad

[Brad Johnson]

Got it set up and tested for function last night.  Played with it a little and am very impressed with the scan quality for photos (prints).  The clarity and color are outstanding, especially for a scanner under the $200 price point.  Still have a lot to learn on scanning slides and film, though.  When it comes to enlargements I keep forgetting a photo scanned at 2400 dpi is different than a slide scanned at the same resolution.

Brad