Epson Launches World's First LED Scanner

[liam858]

Epson has launched the world's first charge-coupled device (CCD) scanner to use a white LED as a light source. It also claimed the V500 scanner can be used within one second of it being switched on.

The manufacturer claimed that basing the V500 on a white LED light source, instead of the more commonplace cold cathode lamp, enables the scanner to be more energy efficient and eliminates the need for a warm-up or cool-down period.

The scanner has a 6400dpi optical resolution, has a 3.4 optical density and includes a built-in transparency unit for positive or negative film. It can scan up to 12 frames of 35mm filmstrip, four frames of mounted 35mm slides and a single frame of 6 x 12cm medium-format film.

Four quick-access buttons for Scan, Scan to PDF, Scan to Email and Copy are built into the machine's front, which should make things slightly easier for when you're in a rush to scan.

The device is plug'n'play enabled, with connection through USB 2.0, and is compatible with both PCs and Macs. It comes with a range of software, including Adobe PhotoShop Elements 4 for the PC and version three for the Mac.

The V500 will be available next month for around £200 ($400/€235).

Liam

[rollie]

Hi, i am interested in Epson's new scanner, but can't find any customer reviews or ratings. Perhaps it's too new to get any feedback, but I'm mainly interested in the scanner's ability to scan photo slides. We have about 3,000 slides in the family that we would like to scan and transfer to CD's for everyone. (Having tried this on my HP ScanJet, I can tell you the quality was terrible). I saw an article on the Epson V500 in Consumer Reports Magazine, but they did not test it or rate it. I got on the internet and there are plenty of stores that carry it, but not rated by any customers. Can you direct me to a website that might tell me how others liked the scanner? Thanx!

[Welshjim]

rollie--I do not know where you live. Here is what Google offers
http://www.google.com/search?sourcei...n+v500+scanner

[photolady]

If Epson says it will scan slides, I can tell you that Epson; in my opinion, are the best. I've had/used Epson products since 1999. My last Epson scanner the 2580, scanned about 4000 slides/negatives with no problem.

With the built in transparency adapter it should do the job well, much better than those that had an plug in adapter. Mine had the film scanner on top of the scanner but was as good as a dedicated film/slide scanner. I've had both so I know the difference in quality.

And it has a $50 rebate.

http://www.epson.com/cgi-bin/Store/c...egory=Products

[Welshjim]

If you are in one of the Amazon buying plans, you may save by ordering through Amazon although the basic deal is the same as photolady mentions.
http://www.amazon.com/Epson-Perfecti.../dp/B000VG4AY0

[SuperSparks]

Using white LEDs might be new, but they can hardly claim that it's the world's first LED scanner - cheapo scanners have been using LED's for years.

I like Epson scanners though, I currently have the V700

[rollie]

I found the customer reviews on Amazon, thanks for the link. The reviews seemed to be somewhat mixed. Some buyers felt that the scanner was too slow, and were not happy at all. But then some were very satisfied with quality and easy set-up. I'm willing to put up with slow equipment if the results are what I'm after. I'm going to go ahead and buy it--I found it on Newegg.com for $214.99, ($164.99 after the $50.00 rebate). If it doesn't work out--it goes back from whence it came... Thanx for your help!

[Train]

Now if they think that one is slow, they need to use a old parallel port scanner for a day or two.

USB 1.1 beat that hands down and USB 2 is faster yet.

1 parallel to 2 USB 1.1 to 5 USB 2.0 seems to be the ratio.

[photolady]

I wouldn't put too much into reviews about this scanner being slow. It will be for scanning slides, you want the most detail a scanner can get. You don't want one that scans faster and misses the details of the slides. Also it depends on the DPI you are scanning at, the higher the DPI the slower the scan.

[Train]

Pl is right on the money, If you want the product to be about a 20 MB tiff it will take a lot longer than if all you want is a 100 KB jpg.

[ua549]

Too bad it can't scan 12" x 17" images that I get from my physician's office.

[rollie]

I ordered the Epson scanner from NewEgg.com and it arrived in just a few days. The total cost was $214.99 plus 6.99 shipping. (There's a $50 rebate from Epson) less the rebate= $171.98. It was immediately wrapped for Christmas and stuck under the tree. Yesterday we installed it and started using it right away. I must say, we are very impressed. The quality of the photos, images and slides being scanned is excellent. And it's super easy to set up and use. Personally, I did not find it to be all that slow. It's a little noisier than our old Epson ScanJet 4200C, but that's okay. I would recommend this printer for anyone looking for a way to scan slides and/or negatives. That was our primary consideration for purchasing this particular scanner. We have upwards of 3,000 slides we want to turn into photos. So far, so good. No reason to send it back!

[Train]

The Epson V200 I gave someone works just spiffy for my, well their needs.

The slide tray woks too.