[T Paul]

If you could have any Epson scanner which one would you pick and why?

I am thinking about purchasing a new scanner and Epson seems to be the name I always hear mentioned in this forum. The problem is there is a big difference in prices with the various Epson scanners. So I am looking for a little insight.

[thomasgeorge]

I have been drooling over the Epson Expression 1680 Pro because of the USB and Firewire interface capability, the large capacity for scanning transparencies, the excellent bundled software and the good reviews I've read about it. The only problem is the price which , while not out of line for what you are getting, is still steep, and my better half has indicated that she has prophetic visions of an apocalyptic catastrophy which would surely befall me should I try to "sneak" one in the house. I think she means I cant have one yet. Tom

[DJ Dubovsky]

Check out this site. It might help you make a decision. http://www.pcworld.com/reviews/artic...36583%2C00.asp
I have a printer by Epson and I love it. I would seriously consider them if I were choosing a scanner too.
DJ

[thomasgeorge]

T. Paul, Firewire is a technology developed originally by Apple and also is known as 1394 standard. That confusing but muddy prelude out of the way, the main advantages of firewire vs. USB is that the firewire technology is extremely fast at transfering data, somewhere around the 400 million bits/sec. range. It is simple to install as all that is required is a firewire interface card which plugs into the " innards " of your computer in an open slot.(Caveat--the OS must support it, not a problem unless running early Windows versions-3.1,or early Windows 95 releases to my understanding anyway) The cost of a board is in the $75. or so range. Like USB it is true plug and play and supports hot plugging( unlike SCSI which is a Pain to work with and the only "plug and play" feature of SCSI is you plug it in and go play while the repair guy debugs it at $50.00 plus per hour!). Firewire is becoming very popular for external data transfer devices like scanners, cameras, video and external hard drives because of the generally bug free performance and speed. If you have a USB connection on your computer I would not rush right out and add firewire though, as most devices which support it also have connectivity and ports for USB built in. There are a very few external devices which solely use firewire as the connection interface and usually there is a USB version avaliable as well. As time goes on firewire will become more of a "player" but, as the addition of the necessary hardware to run it is easy, I dont think I would consider it a must have right now. Hope this helps. Tom