Rating: 
Summary: My favorite computer accessory
Review: This scanner is perfect for what you might call a "power home user." I scan a lot of stuff, and it's fast and easy with this machine. There also are modes for different kinds of documents - newspapers, magazines, photos, text documents, etc. - that make it easy to get the best image from the scanner.
You can't beat the resolution. It's a lot of bang for your buck in that respect. There are other scanners for about the same price that aren't nearly as good.
It's also fast. Older scanners I have used take forever to get an image. This really is just a matter of seconds.
And the bundle I bought came with a free edition of PhotoShop CE - I didn't need it because I use regular PhotoShop, but it was a nice touch.
If you think you will be using your scanner a lot, and with lots of different materials, this is the one to get.
Rating: 
Summary: A lot of potential, if you know what you are doing
Review: This scanner was bought as a gift for me, and I've had it at over half a year, long enough to get a feel for it.
I don't do a lot of heavy duty scanning, so it has taken me a while to learn this machine. My family's first reaction was "It looks like a Jedi Knight of a scanner." (I honestly didn't believe them to be that much of a Star Wars fan.) However, be warned, this is not a small machine. It is about 1 2/3 the length of a regular sheet of paper. Looking at it, I wouldn't say that they have wasted space inside it, just that it requires the space. Some scanners can be set on their side, this one cannot.
Pros:
Looks Good... Not that important, but it is nice, as I'm looking at this machine whenever I'm at my desk, whether I like it or not.
Nice Goodies... I liked that it came with the film and slide adapters. I wish I had it when I was given a single slide instead of a print out that somebody had taken. Since my family doesn't do the whole slide thing, I never could really look at the photo, and the slide was since then lost (or more likely, thrown out). The film, on the other hand, has been used, and seems to be able to the job.
Software Interface... Fairly easy to learn. If you don't want to mess with it, just set it to Full Auto Mode (sounds like a machine gun), and off it goes.
Comes with cables... If you've bought a newer printer, you'll know what I mean. I just bought a new printer, and now have to check that I have the cables. It is nice to know that some hardware is still packaged properly. There's nothing worse than having to wait a couple of days before you can use your brand new toy.
Speed... Only when XP SP 2 came out did I discover that I didn't have USB 2.0 on my computer (the motherboard's manual says it does IF you have a certain chipset, which I don't). This certainly explained why, at most resolutions, the scanner had to start and stop very frequently. Now that I'm running on USB 2.0, 1200 dpi has a few stops, very short, but other than that, it scans very nicely, and at a respectable speed. I haven't done any time trials, but I am satisfied.
Cons:
RAM... You'll need tons of it to scan at higher resolutions (which is probably why you are looking at this scanner). I have 512MB, and while it usually isn't so much a problem scanning (it still can be sometimes), when you try to edit your stuff (why you scanned it), you may find yourself running out. I tried upgrading my RAM, but found out that it's not stocked, and has no ETA. Also, CPU resources are used a fair bit.
Quality... I'm not sure who's fault this is. I am trying to figure out how to get the colours to better agree. There is also a loss of image sharpness, along with the vividness of colours, when scanning photos. I may be able to eventually correct this, but it will require a fair bit of experimentation. Black and white documents seem to scan a lot better, although when copying them, somewhere between scanner and printer, the lines get thickened just slightly, and get a shadow. When using default settings on the copy center program, I get a blue background that is printed onto my document. I have solved that by switching to text, black and white input.
All in all, one star off for the scanning problems described above. I would have taken two (or more) off if I had been unable to solve the copy center problem, and couldn't get anything else fixed, but I am still optimistic.
Revision - 25 October, 2004 - I have been searching around for scanner tips, with some moderate success. Armed with these tips, I retackled the professional mode, and was pleased with what I saw. Although not perfect, I was able to use the colour corrections with good success, and came up with some good scans of pictures I was planning to edit. I'm still leaving the fifth star off because I feel that some of this should have been in the scanner manual. I am still fairly new to the scanner/photography world, just in case somebody was wondering.
Rating:
Summary: Great With Windows XP!
Review: This scanner works perfectly in every single possible way with Windows XP!Setup is easy. Just take it out of the box, install the software, plug it in, and you're all ready to go. The resolution can't be beat and the speed of the scanner is remarkable. It's well worth the price if you are looking for a professional grade scanner at a very reasonable price.
Rating: 
Summary: Had to return my first 3170
Review: Upon receiving and unpacking a 3170 from Amazon, I immediately inspected the scanner glass, since any imperfection will show up on hi-res image, photo, or film scans. I found a piece of dirt or lint adhering to the underside of the glass and also a small linear scratch or stress fracture, so I repacked the scanner without ever having plugged it in. I shipped the product back to Amazon as defective and am now awaiting shipment of a replacement. I'll post a follow-up review when I've received the replacement and used it awhile. Meanwhile, if you buy a 3170 and intend to use it for hi-res image and film scanning, you might want to inspect the glass carefully when you first unpack it
Rating:
Summary: Mac 10.2 User Happy
Review: Was a little nervous that I would encounter software problems after reading reviews, and, at first, I was experiencing difficulties--scanner would often stall on preview. Sent an email to Epson, received back a very prompt and detailed response. My mistake was running Classic (OS 9) simultaneous to OSX. That was confusing things. Once I made sure OS 9 was off, everything since has been smooth sailing. I haven't really used the Smart Panel, so I can't comment on that, but the scanner works well with Adobe Photoshop. It feels fast, even on hi-rez scans. The quality looks great to me. Really like that I can do multiple scans at once. Someone above advised going to Epson website to download drivers. A good idea, which I also recommend. I give it two thumbs up.
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