Rating: 
Summary: Stunning Scans Equaling High End Scanners
Review: The quality of the scans in both reflective and transparency mode is spectacular. I am a graphic artist and web designer, and after having problems with the transparency adapter on my HP5370C (not problems really, the damn thing just wouldn't work)I decided on the Perfection 1240U photo scanner. Epson provides a separate transparency "cover" and a variety of templates from 35mm to 4x5 which perfectly position your image for scanning.Scans are very fast, and although there is a sort of "humming" noise when the scanner is operating it really is almost negligable, contrary to some who say it is a noisy scanner. Setup is quick and easy and you're scanning in 10 minutes or less. My CD-Rom had the patch that fixes the "copy" mode so you can use it with printers other than Epson brand. Just a minute or two to install the patch. I use a variety of printers from HP Laserjets, and Epson large format to a Tektronix 1200 dpi printer. In this price range, there is no equal in my opinion, and I have used UMAX, HP, and Mustek scanners. If you want a scanner that does an outstanding job without draining your bank account, order this one!
Rating: 
Summary: Fine Hardware, Lousy Software
Review: Installation of the scanner involved some trials and tribulations. Actually I'd grade the ease of installation about normal for modern PC hardware, which is a left handed compliment. When finished, and after an hour of at least courteous and competent technical support from a nice fellow with a thick Russian accent, the machine worked flawlessly, producing fast and accurate scans. It comes with lots of bells and whistles that to me were irrelevant to the task at hand. The real rub, as it were, came with the TWAIN software interface. I bought this scanner for the purpose of replacing my UMAX 1200S in order to reap the benefits of increased speed and resolution. After reading the reviews, I had expected to be able to cut my typical scan time from 60 second per page to maybe 15 (b&w 400 dpi)I found to my dismay that the TWAIN software was not well-suited to the task of repeated scanning of documents with custom settings. My old UMAX VistaScan software, whatever else its faults, once adjusted and set for a particular scanning modality, remains at that setting until told to do otherwise. The Epson TWAIN 5 software,OTOH, resets itself to default values for each scan which is a real pain in the rear for scanning lengthy documents unless one wants to use the default settings. I gather from the support guy that most see this as an advantage. For my purposes, though, it essentially more than negated any gain in speed from the hardware. Although I can see that this would be a great scanner for a customer who didn't intend to put the scanner to hard use, the Epson Twain 5 software did not suit my needs. I returned it today. Now, if only I could have used the UMAX TWAIN software with the Epson scannner, I'd have been cooking with grass.
Rating:
Summary: I have no complaints about this scanner!
Review: This scanner replaces an old UMAX scsi scanner. From setup to first scan this scanner is a breeze. My wife uses it everyday and it hasn't given her one problem. It's fast, reliable and worth every penny.
Rating: 
Summary: Very good scanner for the money. Could use better software.
Review: I just bought this scanner after reading many helpful reviews here on Amazon. Thanks to these people, I knew what to expect and how to overcome some of the minor shortcomings of this product. This is my first scanner and I've had one weekend of satisfying experience with it. It's true that the software that comes with this scanner could be better. You should visit the Epson web site and download the update for the latest TWAIN driver and EPSON SMART PANEL software. If you don't get the SMART PANEL update, the copy function apparently only works with Epson printers. After downloading and installing this update, the scanner worked fine with my Canon BJC-600e printer. The TWAIN driver is a very good piece of work. The SMART PANEL and other bonus software is OK, not great. The OCR software is mediocre. If you need this function much, plan on investing in other software. The Presto OCR seemed to work better than TextBridge, but I haven't used either much. I was disappointed that there seems to be no way of manually adding an application (like WordPerfect) to the OCR if it doesn't detect your application automatically. (The 'scan to application' function has this capability.) Still, I'm very satisfied with my purchase. I don't expect to use OCR much. I had a hard time deciding between this scanner and a Canon (which seems to have better software), but I decided to go with the apparently better hardware quality of this scanner. (Software can be updated. Hardware can only be returned if defective.) I had no trouble setting it up (aside from the inconvenience of having to download software updates). The instructions are clear. (Take the time to read them through first.) The quality of the scans are very good.
Rating: 
Summary: Quality Problems! READ!
Review: I bought this scanner after doing a very large amount of research. Time and again, this scanner popped up among the best. Upon throroughly testing the scanner, I'd say the reviews were right. Great color scans, fast, and works well with my Windows 98 computer. ONLY ONE SERIOUS, SERIOUS PROBLEM: When I bought this scanner, the glass had particles UNDERNEATH. That means that every scan of a photo you take appears with dust, etc. ON the photo. Sure, you can take software & clean this mess up, but do you know how much of a PAIN it is after only 2 photos?! I returned the scanner & replaced with the same model. Maybe it was just that first scanner, right? WRONG AGAIN. Again, the same issues arose with particles underneath the glass! Worse yet, the bottom side of the glass had "WINDOW SMEARS", such as when you clean your glass windows at home! Ok...maybe it was the store? Right? So I went to another store (online) and bought the 3rd one of these. AGAIN, SAME PROBLEM! THUS: 3 Epson 1240U scanners came ALL with dust & other unknown particles! In all, I wasted about 6 weeks between, returns and credit card crediting for 3 scanners. Don't get me wrong, this a fantastic scanner, yet these quality problems of having particles underneath the glass is unacceptable! I'm not being hard on this product either. Out of all the brands I've used, this particular model (perhaps even the entire line?) has some serious issues. If you do get this scanner, make sure that you don't have this problem--the ODDS will definitely be against you. Good Luck! ...
Rating:
Summary: Best buy for your money....
Review: I bought the Epson after returning the Canon D660U at Best Buy. I was very disappointed in the Canon because it had a lot of dust under the flatbed glass. I exchanged it and the next one had the same problem. After all the reviews I read in computer magazines I decided to give this Epson a try. (Cheapest price I could find was here on Amazon.) I primarily bought it because of the flexibility it offers, scanning negatives (you can do 4 in one scan) + regular scans. Personally I can only tell you good things about this scanner, especially the smart panel software. The problems I had with the Canon turned out to be the best thing for me. This scanner is much quicker and produces much better quality scans. I don’t use it to copy or do “ocr” work with it, but the function where you can launch an application after doing several scans is a great feature. ---By the way that the way to create scans (almost) directly on your harddrive, just set it up so it will launch a new application you specify, then use the save as feature to specify the fileformat (read manual).--- I always use the manual scan option which lets you pick the twain driver. And whatever you say about the rest of the software package, the Twain driver is great. I scan negatives from 2 different cameras and you can save settings that are optimized for each individual one. Even the position(s) where to scan are saved. The twain driver is also where you would adjust the scan colors or the brightness + contrast if you don’t like the defaults. If after all the adjusting you still don’t like the result just use the Photoshop 5 LE that is included, one of the best photo editing software packages out there (I found it to be a nice bonus, it’ll cost you [price] in stores)… Granted I might have an easier time with the software + options because I’m a programmer and use computers all day long, but a novice can get up and running in no time. Don’t forget that you always have learn how to use new software!!! One advice I can give you is to install the smart panel software right away and read the manual. I can’t tell you what customer service is like, I haven’t needed them yet.
Rating:
Summary: Fast, sharp...DUSTY
Review: An excellent scanner worthy of 5 stars if not for an inordinate amount of dust on the underside of the platen. I had been warned about this by previous customer reviews but decided to purchase one anyway with the hopes that mine would be different. Wrong. Thank goodness for Photoshop's Dust & Scatches filter which corrects the problem, though obviously does not solve it. Methinks another scanner is warranted...
Rating:
Summary: Fast, crisp . . . DUSTY
Review: A great scanner with excellent features that would have rated 5 stars if not for and excessive amount of dust on the *inside* of the scanner glass. I read about this problem from previous customer reviews, but decided to purchase it anyway, hoping perhaps my scanner would be dust-free. Nope. Thank goodness for Photoshop's Dust & Scratches filter which puts a band-aid on the problem, but obviously does not cure it. Methinks a replacement scanner is warranted...
Rating:
Summary: Epson Perfection 1240U
Review: The scanner is very easy to use. Produces great scans. I have had no problems with it thus far. Before I ordered this scanner I did some extensive research and frankly I was a little concerned about all the hoopla about dust getting under the glass. I have not had this problem. The scanner has NOT disappointed me. A great buy for the money.
Rating: 
Summary: Didn't work! No Support!
Review: The Epson scanner was easy to hook up, had straight forward directions for use, and it easily scanned a document to be printed. It would not scan a document into a program so that it could be edited. Having sent several e-mail requests for help to Epson, and not receiving one response, I returned the scanner.
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