Apple Reviews

I found this was a wonderful scanner. My only complaint is I paid about [amount] more than the SE model for the extra software and discovered all were obsolete and not the full versions. The OCR software was useless, and if you read the Amazon reivews you will find there is a better package from another company.
I did not purchase the fireware adapter but will soon since to speed things up. My advice is buy the SE model instead, and purchase the software on your own.
Epson scanners are great!

I wasted no time returning this scanner. I have eventually settled on a Microtek 4600. The Epson is sleek appearing, lightweight, fast. But fast is no good when the results are unuseable. The Epson software doesn't permit you to preset what you want to scan and whether or not to push more light to it, or less. It defaults to amateur settings and the results might thrill someone who's never used a scanner before, but anyone who has used one for graphics work of any kind, will find it unworthy. The factory is impossible to get hold of either through email, or telephone. In essence the software is lousy and the support is nil. Back it went.

This scanner is an excellent purchase for an ad agency or design house looking to improve their color. Right out of the box, this scanner has excellent color reproduction, and the 3.6 DMax grabs excellent detail in the shadows. Our agency... has a client roster of many large agribusiness firms, and this scanner grabs onto individual hairs in even the blackest Black Angus cattle.

The Epson TWAIN software handles USM and de-screening like some of the higher-end scanners, but it lacks precise controls for those features.

Batch scanning is one of the strengths of this scanner, with multiple marquee selection as easy as click and drag, and one-button batch scanning.

This scanner offers one-button capture(Windows only), network scanning and an Automatic Document Feeder option, but we have not explored those options in our workflow.

I think this is a fabulous scanner. I'm the curator for a photographic website ...and I've run over 4000 11"x14" photographs through mine with no problems. I use ULead's PhotoImpact 6 for image processing (TIF to JPG) - it's the only program that allows macros - when you're doing 4000 scans with several manual steps the macros are indispensible. I can't say I'm looking forward to scanning the next 4000 photos, but I sure know this scanner can do the job.

At 400 dpi it is fast (40 seconds for 14-bit greyscale 11"x14" scan) and very quiet. I added a SCSI hard drive to get the 50 MB TIF files to save to disk on my NT system in 2 seconds.

The sample size (14-bit B&W or 42-bit Color), resolution and Dmax are unmatched until you spend over $10,000.

Add the Epson 1280 printer for the best photo output.

This is the second scanner I have owned that uses a SCSI card. I have never used a USB-connected scanner, so I can't compare the two types. I wanted to get another scanner that uses a SCSI connection, because they are said to be faster. The scanner works well and is very fast. I am pleased with the unit but I personally do not like the Photo Adobe software (which comes with the scanner). I have used it previously, and just do not care for it. I wound up using MGI Photosuite III software primarily (purchased separately), which I prefer. Occasionally when saving images with Adobe, the file would read "corrupt" when retreived. Using MGI, I did not have that problem. The scanner is very fast. The SCSI card was easy to install, but I did have some difficulty loading the (software) driver. I believe that resulted from my previous scanner software. I could not completely uninstall the software from my old scanner, so I think that caused my problem. I had to use the Epson tech-help phone line, which was an excellent experience. You pay for the call, but they knew their stuff (was never on hold). The scanner arrived in just 2-days as ordered, using express shipping (you can track it the whole way). Overall, I am very pleased with the scanner. The scanner has one-button operation, but that can not be programmed to open any software you desire.

This is the third scanner I've had to purchase, and so far it's the best. Basically just plug and play, and the software is very easy to use. High resolution scans are true to color and crisp and it scans quickly. I am very pleased! And Amazon delivered it next day!

The scanner is a great piece of hardware, but the included software, TwainScan L, is very limited. The user can't easily adjust scan resolution or control brightness or contrast. Default settings are quite dark and must be adjusted with software after scanning.

I read a few reviews about this product before I bought it. Most of the reviews were positive and this scanner has won best in class with various magazines.

I have to say I was not disappointed in any way. Sure, it's not the world's most attractive scanner, in fact it's on the ugly side of unattractive, however it does what it's supposed to. It scans at an incredible quality, and does it fast. I have yet to see a better scanner on the market for under $100.

I would recommend this scanner to anyone, unless you have money to burn and want to spend 2-3 times more money; this scanner represents exceptional value and quality.

My only reservation is that the accompanying software is not brilliant.

Having owned and installed many scanners, I wanted a new simple scanner for my private office. The Epson 610 installed instantly with the included usb cable, and I was scanning within 5 minutes. It's fast, and the bundled twain driver works well. Even the basic OCR software works well for basic word processing - but you might want to install a high-end OCR software like Textbridge Pro for more options. Color photos scan well, but you get far better color if you don't choose the 'quick scan' option.

Dear Public,
This version of Epson Perfection does not support the new Windows edition of XP, therefore I would upgrade to a newer epson version of the scanner.

Scanner Tester

I hope the above product would be great for 98/nt/w2k.
but I have XP and like the same I have scanner Epsom Perfection 660 and it simply doesn't work. I bought one, didn't work, didn't know and replaced for another new one and it again didn't work. I didn't know whether it (the scanner) was compatible in XP.
thanx

I've had my 636U over a year now and it has never caused me any problems. That is a testament to how well designed this scanner and software are. I've used a lot of scanners from inexpensive parallel port models to a costly SCSI model and the Epson is the one I will choose every time. I've used it with Windows ME and Linux to scan photos, artwork and business materials.

Scanning is fast with the 12mbps USB port although you will notice a slowdown when scanning at higher resolutions because of the large amount of image data generated. That's common to all high resolution scanners and not a problem associated with this particular unit or USB in general.

The scanner works with Windows Imaging, Photoshop 5.5 through 6.0a, MS Photo Edit and other software using the Epson Twain utility. The Epson Twain software has never crashed my computer and its setup was a simple, one-time only affair.

Another big plus is that this scanner works with Linux. I use it most often as my input device for the GIMP program using the Xsane scanner interface. With this OS and app setup, I've never had a problem from this scanner.

Given my good experience with the 636U, I have recommended Epsons to friends and family alike. My next scanner will definitely be another Epson Perfection.