Advantages: colour quality, can scan negatives
Disadvantages: Epson expensive

...There are a vast array of A4 flad bed scanners on the market today. Even some of the basic ones from 600 dpi offer superb results. I decided to look for one in the 600dpi+ range that not only scans photos and objects but also allows you to scan in negatives (very useful for old photos etc) The HP products are renounced for reliabilty, quality and reproducibilty and are not always cheap. However when I found the HP scanner of my choice HP5370 it appeared to have the same technical sppecification and features as a similarly priced EPSON 1240U Photo, BUT the HP is at least £55 cheaper!! This is strange! If anyone can give a true comparison between these 2 scanners: HP5370C v's EPSON Perfection 1240U Photo They are both 1200 x 2400 dpi optical Both are 42bit colour Both have film./slide adapter to scan negatives too! Both have OCR, 4... Read review

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Advantages: Excellent quality when scanning slides and negatives
Disadvantages: Professional mode could cause problems for the novice used

...I bought a 4490 specifically to use for scanning slides and negatives. There is no doubt that this scanner is an excellent item for those people that want a professional looking job at a very good price. Previously I had the Epson 2480 and although this was good, it is no match for the 4490,expected really with the time elasped between the release of the models. With the resolution set at least 2400dpi and with only unsharp mask and colour restoration selected the faded slides and neagatives were nearly as new. There are a few points that should be noted. If you are a novice and just want to scan something quickly without having to set different functions this may not be a scanner for you. By selecting colour restoration and Background correction when they are not needed, you can have a negative effect on what would have been... Read review

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Advantages: Best quality and colour-accuracy, Very fast
Disadvantages: Poor graphics software included

...The Epson Perfection 1240U sure does have a suggestive name. But its suggestion is not too far from the truth. The scanner is capable of scanning at up to 2400x1200dpi (dots per inch) at 42 bit colours. This resolution is its maximum optical resolution, whereas many other scanners that claim to achieve this resolution only have an optical resolution of 600x1200 and receive the 2400x1200 through software interpolation. Be wary of these scanners, such include the Umax Astra 5400. The scanner also is extremely fast due to a double read array, which allows the scanner to read twice as fast. This is unique to Epson and highly worth it. The scanner is also very quiet. And can preview in just five seconds! The scanner also has an excellent Twain driver, which has three modes – one which will determine the size and type of document... Read review

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Advantages: speed colour, pages per inkwell
Disadvantages: price age

...This epson printer is bordering on the windows workgroup highend user market and it shows, with reliable parts and a larger ink tank than most epsons. the print quality is very good and little banding is in effect on the colour printing, the print quality on coated paper is very good only slightly as good as the epson photo printer. The print speed on the epson 850 is very good and this beauty just streams pages out almost as fast as a lazer printer. A good quality printer that is perfect for that little extra work.... Read review

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Advantages: Amazing Quality, 35mm film scanner
Disadvantages: Software

...When I was picking a scanner i thought long and hard about it. This scanner is the one that I decided on. I bought it about 6 mouths ago for about £90. The reason I chose this was because of the specs: 2400 dpi with Micro Step Drive, Dynamic Range Control and Simultaneous RGB scanning produces smooth, clear images with high colour consistency and depth. With the optional Transparency Unit, scanning 35-mm film negatives and slides is an absolute breeze When it arrived I plugged it in, placed the CD in the drive and it did the rest. it took about 5 mins. The only problem with it is the software, it crashes not just occasionally but a lot and I have tried so hard to fix it but you can use other software such as Photoshop. My favourite feature is the 35-mm film scanner which you can use with black and white and colour film to excellent... Read review

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Advantages: high quality, superb copies
Disadvantages: expensive but worth it

...This scanner is a replacement for a HP Scanjet 4890 and is everything I expected the Scanjet to be but wasn’t. Admittedly the Scanjet was two years old and technology can advance a long way in that time but even so the Scanjet didn’t meet my expectations whereas the Epson Perfection 4490 Photo Scanner has exceeded them. I require a scanner which can quickly scan photos, slides and negatives and gives high quality results. I also require it to be a good all rounder including scanning text and converting it to PDF. The Epson Perfection 4490 Office is aimed at the small or home office and is basically the Epson Perfection 4490 Photo with added automatic document scanning capabilities. Because this scanner is essentially a photo scanner it has a superb resolution of 4800 x 9600 dpi and an impressive 3.4 Dmax (this is the most dense area... Read review

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Advantages: Fast, Excellent reproduction of colour, High quality
Disadvantages: Can't think of any

...The stylus 860 is near perfect. Colour results are flawless, with printing at 1440dpi on glossy paper virtually indistinguishable from a photo. And this thing is fast too, it prints text and graphics at incredible speeds, and a particularly nice thing is that the printer is very quiet. I paid just £180 for this printer and it was an absolute bargain. I would highly recommend this printer to anyone that is involvd in design or graphics as a great printer to check colour reproduction and for general printing as well. Excellent.... Read review

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Advantages: Good quality scans
Disadvantages: A bit heavy and large

...shades of grey. Black and white also. The maximum optical resolution is 600dpi (dots per inch), but for step scanning it can be 2400 dpi, at 36 bit input and 24bit output. Trouble with using the high resolution is it would take a very long time to scan anything. The software that comes bundled with the scanner is easy to install. The twain software (for tranfering images) is easy to use and can be set to fully automatic or manual. You can crop (cut out the edges) the scanned image before doing the transfer, which can be helpfull. You do get photo software included but its only average quaility. The connection to the p.c. is via USB cable. There is no On/Off button only a scan button. The scanner is Energy Star compliant so goes into sleep mode when not in use. THE OUTPUT I have never used high resolution scanning as its not needed. I... Read review

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Advantages: Great quality!
Disadvantages: erm... takes up room on the desk?!? no good for anything much bigger than A4

...I have owned the epson 2480 scanner now for quite a while, and its brilliant! It has loads of features and good software, making it very versatile and it is now available for around £60 if you shop around a little - a great adition to your PC. This really is a great scanner, and for those who have an out-dated scanner that really isn't up to much it might be time to make an upgrade. This scanner provides the user with the capabilities of restoring photographs to their original glory. When used properly, you can take your old tattered and battered photographs that have been ruined by scratches and smudges and people's inconsiderate greasy fingers and make them good as new! It can take some time however to get them lookng spic and span. This scanner is also good for producing multiple copies of photographs. This is not only beacuse... Read review

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Advantages: Super print quality, super high density inks and improved durability
Disadvantages: Very expensive, does not print well on normal paper and has no memory card slots.

...The Epson Stylus Photo R2400, has changed the world of printing forever. This printer was built to replace the Stylus Photo 2200 and is an A3 sized printer. I firmly believe that this must be one of the best quality consumer inkjet printers that has ever been manufactured. It uses a new type of ink technology, called the Ultrachrome K3 system. The printer makes full use of three different colour levels of black ink and some superb driver facilities. All this enables the Stylus Photo R2400 to produce some super-professional quality prints, in both black-and-white and colour, and upon some highly impressive printing media. I think this printer would be extremely useful, particularly for photographers or those with a keen interest in printed graphics. The Epson Stylus Photo R2400 uses 8 colour Ultrachrome K3 technology to produce some... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful