Epson Perfection 1640SU Scanner

Be aware buyers. Epson still doesn't have windows XP driver for this scanner. There is absolutely no reason the drivers are not ready as of Feb 2002. Even the ones coming out is not certified by Microsoft. I usually like Epson printers but this scanner is totally useless with my Windows XP system.

Scanning on the Epson 1640SU initially worked well. It was very fast, and the documents looked very good on my display. However, two of the main reasons that I wanted to use a scanner were making copies of documents and faxing documents. After I started using the Epson 1640SU scanner, I found out that I could not do either function, even though they say that they can. After days of effort with Epson technical support, I found out that the scanner would make copies, if I had an Epson printer, which I did not. Finally, one of the technical people referred me to a 3rd party SW firm that had a "patch" that would allow copying to non-Epson printers. I tried that, but my non-Epson printer was apparently not on their list, so it still did not work. Then, in order for me to fax a document, I found out that the process involved a multistep operation that I was never able to make work. After a week of effort trying to make this work, I sent the scanner back. I sent a note to Canon and HP asking them specifically about the faxing and copying, and they both replied that they work with any printer and any fax SW. I will probably try Canon or HP.

Perfection 1640SU is my first scanner, so i can not compare it to anything, but it works very well for me.I think that it is very good product. However, my problem is - communication with Epson technnical support. There is no simple way to resolve simple question of scanner/printer compatability, other than long-to-wait pay-phone connection. To request assistance in initial installation i was invited to fill form with mandatory questions i have no idea about (sound card type, port address, irq etc). It took day of contacts with Gateway to find it all out, by then i spent money on telephone conversations with Epson and resolved problem. By the way, my installation problem resolved when i changed order of things: turned on computer first and scanner second, opposite to what is written in manual.(This was brilliant idea of Epson tech. support specialist over the phone). Since than i have no problems, and hope it will be like this forever.

The Epson 1640u is a great upgrade scanner from a 600x1200 dpi scanner. With the recent drop in price it costs as much as my original 600x1200 scanner. The color and detail is very good. While the scanner is slow for high resolution scans using a USB connection (though a SCSI-2 connection is also available if you buy the cable and card), it still is quicker than the 600x1200 dpi scanner it replaced for more detailed scans. It is highly recommended for photo albums that don't need 8x10 photos.

I got this scanner to replace a UMAX 1220S that I had before. The UMAX had one big problem - I couldn't turn it off. It sat on my SCSI chain and if it saw any traffic it would stay on - since I have CD-ROMs on the same chain it was on constantly! After a while being constantly turned on must have hurt something because after a while I started getting chromatic distortion on sharp edges. So it became time to replace my scanner.

After a lot of research, I settled on either the 1240U or the 1640SU - one thing that helped me decide on Epson instead of another brand is that Epson has helped the Linux scanner programmers (the SANE project) to write drivers for their scanners, unlike other manufacturers that seem to want to keep their hardware interfaces a secret.

After some more deliberation, I decided to go for the 1640SU over the 1240U. The deciding factor? Was it the increased resolution? No - for my purposes 1200dpi would be enough. Was it the fact that it has both a SCSI and a USB interface? No - I had already decided that I didn't want the hassle of a scanner connected to my SCSI port and that I was going to use a USB scanner. So what was the deciding factor that made me spend an extra $$? It seems silly, but it's true - the 1640SU has a power switch. Yes, I was tired of a scanner with no power switch and no way to turn it off. The 1240U is supposed to go into "sleep mode" after some time of not being used, but then again my 1220S was supposed to do that, and you know how that turned out. Also, I had read that there were issues with scanning wide material on the 1240U (supposedly reflections from the ribbon cable inside can leave a bright band across the scan), plus the 1640SU had generally better reviews. So I bought it.

I can say that this scanner does everything I expected and more. The Windows scanning software works fine (I made sure to follow the instructions when I installed it), and then I tested on Linux. My first test was a disaster - the preview looked awful, and the scan was completely green. Then I compiled the latest version of sane (www.mostang.com/sane) and xsane (same site) and tried again. This time it worked perfectly! For grins I tried a 1600x1600 scan of a magazine cover (combined text and picture). The borders of the text were sharp with no chromatic distortion, and I could see all of the halftone dots in the scan. Perfect! As an added bonus, the scanner is *much* quieter than my previous one. The 1640SU makes a low whine when scanning, while the 1220S made a loud rumble. In my opinion, the quietness shows just how much better constructed this scanner is. Also, it has a smaller footprint than the 1220S (although it is somewhat taller).

All in all, I am *very* satisfied with this scanner.