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Photograph: Rick Rizner
Epson Perfection 4180 Flatbed Scanner (4800x9600, USB 2.0, PC/Mac)
| Scan quality (color/monochrome) | Very Good/Good |
| Performance | Very Good |
| Average 1200-dpi color scan speed | 43 seconds per document |
| Average 300-dpi monochrome scan speed | 20 seconds per document |
| Features | Very Good |
| Max optical resolution (dpi) | 4800 by 9600 |
| Scanning area (inches) | 8.5 by 11.7 |
| Color depth | 48 bits internal, 48 bits external |
| Connection interfaces | USB 2.0 |
| Removable lid | Yes |
| Transparency adapter | Included; up to 2.6 by 9 inches |
| Automatic document feeder | Optional, $199 |
| Bundled software | Adobe Photoshop Elements 2, Abbyy FineReader Sprint OCR, Epson Scan with Easy Photo Fix, NewSoft Presto BizCard, Epson Smart Panel |
| Overall ease of use | Very Good |
| Installation | Outstanding |
| Design | Outstanding |
| Documentation | Very good |
| Support quality score | Good |
| Support policies | One-year warranty; free, unlimited, 12-hour weekday non-toll-free support |
Epson Perfection 4180 Photo
Perfection 4180 Flatbed Scanner (4800x9600, USB 2.0, PC/Mac) Review, by Richard Jantz January 25, 2005
The Epson Perfection 4180 Photo brings 4800-dpi scanning, previously available only in high-priced corporate scanners, to the $200 range of small-office scanners--and throws in some excellent image-enhancement features, as well.
The elevated resolution should allow the 4180 to make huge enlargements from small originals without losing sharpness or detail, but we saw mixed results in our tests. The 4180 produced very clean line art at its maximum resolution, but we weren't as impressed with a color photo print that it made from a maximum-resolution scan. For batch-scanning slides, the 4180 comes with a trio of sturdy film holders that can handle up to four 35mm slides, 12 frames from two 35mm filmstrips, or two medium-format transparencies (120mm and 220mm film sizes) at a time. For scanning transparencies, the cover of the 4180 includes a built-in adapter.
Although the 4180 had the highest optical resolution of all the small-office scanners we saw in this group, its image-quality scores landed it in second place just behind the 2400-dpi Epson Perfection 2580 Photo. The 4180 received its best scores for monochrome line art and for a 100-dpi scan (viewed on screen) of a 4-by-5-inch color photo. In our other tests the 4180 scored slightly better than average, though always only a few points shy of the top scorer.
In speed, the 4180 ranked sixth among the eight currently tested small-office scanners (again only a few points from the top). It earned its best score for scanning a 4-by-5-inch color photo at 100 dpi in 12 seconds. However, the 4180 needed 43 seconds to scan a 2-by-2-inch color photo at 1200 dpi; the Epson Perfection 2580 completed the same test in 28 seconds.
Like other models in Epson's Perfection series, the 4180 has four quick-start buttons (Start, Copy, E-Mail, and Scan & Save), plus the Epson Scan driver. The driver has three operating modes: Full Auto, for fast and easy one-click scans; Home, for choosing a few basic settings; and Professional, for complete access to the scanner's color adjustment, tone correction, and gamma controls.
We were especially impressed with the driver's excellent one-click color restoration. It took a dull-looking 35-year-old print of a home and garden and restored color in a bed of red roses and on the house's blue exterior. Dust removal and grain reduction, which you can apply only to film scans (not prints), did wonders at cleaning up the dust and grainy look of an old 35mm slide of a bronze statue set against a clear blue sky.
The software bundle includes the Adobe Photoshop Elements 2 image editor, the Abbyy FineReader Sprint 5 optical character recognition application, and Epson Smart Panel. The Epson utility serves as a console for common scanning tasks, such as faxing over your computer's modem. People who also want an efficient way to scan multiple-page documents should invest in Epson's optional automatic document feeder, which can handle 30 sheets at a time.
Upshot: This versatile scanner provides state-of-the-art image enhancement and wins hands down in its ability to batch-scan 35mm slides.
Richard Jantz
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User Reviews
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User Reviews From Around the Web
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Reviewed by: astromood
Strengths: Pretty good quality scans
Weaknesses: Slide scans have a rainbow line running down one side. The scanner broke after 7 months. Light on 24/7 unless you turn off the scanner after use.
Overall: The scanner broke after 7 months. It makes a loud grinding noise and the belt vibrates wildly but doesn't move. Scans of slides have always had a rainbow line down one side with a fainter line beside it. Very annoying. I'm told that to get the belt problem fixed I'll have to ship the scanner to epson and it could be several weeks before I get it back. Also the Flourescent scanning light stays on 24/7 unless you turn the scanner off after use. I would not recommend this scanner to anyone.
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Reviewed by: mayhem2005
Strengths: good for photography, good software, good weight
Weaknesses: Bad for 35mm films besause I scan many 35 mm film with more faults
Overall: Look at this link: http://www.ricky.sk/scany/scany.html. This is my Epson scans. 1200Dpi resolution, Kodak Gold 200 film. I total unsatisfactory with this product for 35 mm film scannig
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Reviewed by: bmkrishi
Strengths: Excellent quality,scans fast.
Weaknesses: None
Overall: I am very much impressed with this scanner.It works great.I usually scans photos.One touch color restoration restores the brilliance of every image.I would recommend others to buy this scanner.
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Reviewed by: Ellen7
Strengths: High Resolution, Easy to install, Good Picture reproduce!
Weaknesses: Bulky, Not so solid!
Overall: I just upgraded my Visioneer to this scanner. The Epson is easy to install, not like the visioneer which has to be installed exactly as instructed, otherwise it won't work. (I like to install the drivers only, not other crap softwares.) The scan quality is pretty high, which also means that you have to use a faster computer to take advantage of. It's a little bit bulky and seems fragile. I saw one display model was broken in the retail store. LOL.
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Reviewed by: thaoho
Strengths: Good looking, multiple function
Weaknesses: High Price
Overall: I have just bought this for film scanning. I think this is one of the best negative scanner with multiple useful function. It is user-friendly. I highly recommend this machine to those who want to scan film.
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