Rating: 
Summary: Software can really confuse you
Review: Most of the time all works well if you operate in "full auto" mode. It does get confusing at times because the software that comes with the scanner constantly opens and closes windows, sometimes with a long delay in between. The scanner has big trouble with washed out pictures. Then things can get really confusing!
Rating: 
Summary: 3170 problems
Review: My new Epson 3170 scanner works intermittently. I purchased the scanner primarily to scan 35mm slides. In that mode, when I insert four slides into the adapter, I do a preview, and all slides show perfectly. When i click on "SCAN" sometimes I get four good scans, sometimes I don't. On one occasion, with a perfect preview, the scan indicated five slides, and gave me one good slide and four portions of the other three. When it works properly the quality is excellent. I have had no problems with scanning prints.
Rating: 
Summary: Really Scans 3200 dpi with 512MB memory
Review: Not sure what problems "A PC Hardware Fan from Fort Collins" had, but I did a test.I scanned a 4x6 color photo at 3200 dpi on a Dell computer running XP Pro. The machine has 512MB of memory and an 80GB hard drive. I started the scan with about 256MB of free memory. The actual scan took 4 minutes and 20 seconds. Saving the HUGE 629MB file to disk and loading it into PhotoShop Elements took about another 15 minutes. Not sure how long as I had a cup of tea. FYI, that single image is so large it nearly fills up an entire CD-ROM! Anyway, the scanner works as advertised. Make sure to download the latest version of the scanning software (v1.25A) from Epson's website :) Killer scanner!!!
Rating:
Summary: Can't Beat this $200 Scanner
Review: Quick setup with XP Professional with great scans out of the box. Have scanned Photos, 35mm negatives, and documents. Negatives scanned surprisingly well :) Dust removal software ... does it really work? I can't say that it does, but touch ups are a breeze using PhotoShop Elements (included). I like the Home and Professional modes for more control, but fully automatic is fine for the average Joe. Bottom Line: A Bargain at $200!!!
Rating:
Summary: not 10.3 friendly
Review: scanner is just barely compatible with panther. Useless software. All the updates available won't make it run on Epson software. Be prepared. Only scans to Photoshop. Many hours spent setting up. Three calls to Epson. At one point I was told I didn't have enough memory and I have 1.25 Gigs! Stupid scanner - real hog. Dissappointed. Gonna try the PS solution - let you all know.
Rating:
Summary: Macintosh OSX 10.3.2 and the Epson 3170
Review: The Epson 3170 is my second Epson scanner; the Epson 1250 PHOTO was my previous scanner. I like the software interface that Epson provides with the 1250, but the scanner is too slow and cumbersome in processing slides and negatives. I purchased the 3170 because it can process 12 negatives or 4 slides in an automatic sequential manner. I have not been disappointed. The 3170 in conjunction with Adobe Photoshop Elements, which is included with the 3170, work very well together. The scanner is a good value for the money, and it is an excellent choice for those people who have the need or desire to process slides or negatives/positives into a digital image. A few caveats: The Epson Smart Panel software which shipped with the scanner is not compatable with OSX 10.3.x. I contacted the developer, and they provided me with a URL to download the latest version. The Epson Copy Utility software also needs to be updated. I downloaded the latest version from the Epson web site.
Rating:
Summary: The best scanner I've used
Review: The Epson 3170 is not the first scanner I've owned, but it is definately the best. Setup on Windows XP was very quick and easy (following the easy, included instructions). Scans are fast and clear. It recognizes several different images at once and has scanned as many as six different photos at one time, storing each image in a separate file. It copies documents (and routes them to my printer) so quickly and easily that I no longer need a copying machine. The automatic image enhancement also works extremely well. This scanner has been well worth the purchase price.
Rating:
Summary: Not so good w/ Mac OS 10.3 ("Panther")
Review: The scanner is great, quick, high quality, with USB cable in box. I'm retuning it because the included software is really published from some no name company with lousy tech support. The software simply likes to crash Macintosh OS 10.3 helper applications, specifically Apple's "Smart Controller" program which runs in the background with Panther.
Rating:
Summary: Anthony D.
Review: This is a great scanner for the money. Installed quickly with no problems into Windows XP Home. Just make sure you install software first and then plug in the scanner. So for I have scanned black/white & color negatives with exceptional quality. I have had the same results with black/white & color photos. I usually import my older photos needing restoration into Adobe 7 for touchup. I have read all of the input relative to this scanner and have not encounter any problems; such as dirt under the glass or high pitched squeal during scanning. The biggest drawback I see to this product is Epsons lack of a good reference manual. Overall this is an excellent product and I dont think that you can find a better unit in this price range.
Rating: 
Summary: Wonderful scanner, so-so software
Review: This scanner is a pretty solid piece of hardware. It's downright snappy (fast using USB 1.1, blazing using USB 2.0) and yields very high-quality images. It's not a suitable replacement for a dedicated negative/slide scanner if you do that sort of work often, but the included adapters can do the job in a pinch.
I knocked off a star because of the included software. If all you want to do is acquire images for use in Photoshop (or your image editor of choice), the Epson Scan software works well enough. Outside of that, it's a mixed bag. The third-party apps work well enough, but they have this "tossed in" feel about them since they don't look or feel anything like the stuff that Epson provides directly. But that might not be such a bad thing, since Epson's stuff is a little flaky. The copy utility could use a bit of work. For example, instead of giving me an alert politely reminding me to turn on my printer, it locked up my scanner until I restarted my computer. And when I finally remembered to turn on my printer the next time around, the output was garbage, completely useless. Of course I'm on Windows. Maybe the story would be different on the Mac side of the fence, but I wouldn't know (though I'd like to eventually).
While we're on the subject of operating system support, I should mention that if you are a Linux user (or the user of any UNIX-like OS, except Mac OS X), you're likely going to have compatibility problems. It's not natively supported by the SANE backend. There's a driver made by EPSON KOWA (search on Google for more information), but good luck getting it to compile.
In a nutshell...
Pros: fast, good-looking, well-built piece of hardware that can handle almost anything you throw at it.
Cons: the software is not worthy of the scanner that it supports.
| 
