Epson Perfection 2480

Epson Perfection 2480 Photo

Perfection 2480 Review, by Richard Jantz July 26, 2004

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• Reviewed by: mpradman

  Strengths: slide and photo scanning, photo enhancement, user friendly - easy to use and navigate.

  Weaknesses: Little bit big.

  Overall: Very easy to setup and learn to use, does not take any time at all. color sharpness of the scanned pictures, negatives are very excellent. color of the scanned images were correct, much better than my old canon.I have liked the photo restoration tool with this scanner and also the included softares are good, ocr softare lets you scan the text straight to computer and you can use it in word.

• Reviewed by: bs_price

  Strengths: Produces good scans with good color fidelity quickly. Slide and negative scanning works well. Optional automatic photo feeder lid works very well.

  Weaknesses: Substantially bigger than my Canon Lide scanner - but it does more and is much faster.

  Overall: I wish it were smaller, but this works faster than any of the other scanners I've had and produces very nice scans. I had a Visioneer whose color fidelity I could never get right (and I'm not a purist or professional - it was really obvious), while this looks just right with no tweaking. It took me a little while to figure out the scanning software/TWAIN driver options, so I would say this is a little less intuitive than other software I have used, but getting the hang of scanning with other than the default options still was pretty straightforward. I haven't used the photoediting software (I'm sticking with what I have and already know) or the OCR software (never need to do OCR), so I can't comment on that.Negative scanning works very well - but getting all the dust off is a pain (nothing to do with the scanner - it's just that dust looks much bigger when you blow it up in a slide scan than when you scan a print). I did not have much luck with trying the settings for scratch/dust removal to get rid of same.I got this scanner in part because there was a $100 Compusa.com rebate on the version with the automatic photo feeder (the 2480 Limited Edition). This is a very nice feature if you have stacks of photos you want to scan and the negatives are not immediately at hand. With the rebate, the whole thing was cheaper than the scanner alone elsewhere.With the backlighting of negatives and slides, and the need to power a motor for the optional photo feeder lid, the lid needs power and the scanner can't be bus-powered. But Epson nicely has a cord coming out of the adapter brick so it only takes 1 normal-sized plug-in space.

• Reviewed by: jcp1740

  Strengths: Reasonably fast speed, and quality photos. Low profile. USB connection. Low price.

  Weaknesses: Lack of brightness in picture of a 3D object. The deeper areas of the object don't show well. I have had other scanners where this was only a slight problem. Should have a instruction book.

  Overall: Overall a nice scanner for a reasonable price. I am mostly happy with it, and would buy this same brand again. I guess I would just like a stronger light beam for the deeper 3D objects. Maybe one of the more expensive models would solve this problem. A little tricky to use, as for instance when you want to brighten a dark picture before final scanning, it isn't really noticeable when you do it. Overall good deal for the price.

• Reviewed by: layd

  Strengths: Remarkable ability to recognise type of source, including slides and negatives.

  Weaknesses: Buggy software, poor tech support.

  Overall: The package came with an obvious last minute addition of a piece of paper warning that the software can only be installed if the Windows regional setting is US English. OK for most of you but I don't live there. Turns out that Smart Panel also will not RUN unless you live in, or pretend to live in, the US. Further to this, the installation routine made several copies of my files, amounting to 20 GB of hard drive clutter, within its installation. It took over a week of e-mails and phone calls to tech support before they sent me an updated file that made it work. I am still waiting for a promised updated install CD that will work worldwide and will not corrupt my hard drive. I'll give it an A for features, C for functionality, F for tech support.

• Reviewed by: benbar53

  Strengths: Easy to use controls in professional mode, allow you to descreen, color correct, sharpen, remove dust, and more during scan.

  Weaknesses: Like uclabennett, the 2480 didn't work on my computer's secondary 4-port usb card, but plugging it into one of the original usb ports enabled it to work flawlessly.

  Overall: Love it! Fast learning curve - have scanned negatives, photos and slides - included transparency scanner is great. Especially like the ability to adjust the histogram - had a very dark slide from 1975 that I never got a good print from, but by adjusting the histogram - the shadow, midtone, and highlight points were adjusted to bring out the subject of the photo. I now have a beautiful print!