Epson B071031F Perfection 636 SCSI Scanner (PC/Mac)

by Epson

Product Details

Product Manual [1.79mb PDF]

• Product Dimensions: 11.3 x 16.8 x 3.5 inches ; 9.9 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 14 pounds
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S. and to APO/FPO addresses. For APO/FPO shipments, please check with the manufacturer regarding warranty and support issues.
• ASIN: B00000JFM4
• Item model number: B071031F
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Discontinued by manufacturer: Yes
• Date first available at Amazon.com: September 4, 1999

Product Description

From Winmag®

Epson is sticking its neck out with the Perfection 636, since this 36-bit scanner with a 600x1200-dot-per-inch resolution doesn't live up to the name. It's reasonably fast and delivers good output, but it's overpriced and suffers from an inferior software interface.

The scanner's design is pretty basic: a detachable hood hinged the short way, with power and action buttons on the front panel. The Perfection 636 comes with a PCI SCSI adapter rather than the usual cheap ISA model. What's annoying is that both the SCSI interface and the PCI controller don't accelerate performance that much.

The Perfection 636 turned in middling results in our tests. Our Ronchi test target scans at 300dpi returned an average score of 0.62 (on a scale of 0 to 1), but 600dpi scans rated an abysmal 0.17. To be fair, the Perfection 636 did a good job reproducing a broad range of tones and subtleties in scanned material, including darker details that often don't show up. Previewing a letter-size page in 36-bit color took a mere 7 seconds, but a 300dpi scan of the same page in color took 1 minute, 5 seconds-a poor performance when compared to the 45 seconds required by the parallel-port AcerScan Prisa 610P on our WinList (see Reviews, September 1998).

Then there's the driver itself. It covers the basics, but that's about it. The descreening function, for instance, does not even let you specify the number of lines per inch to handle! It's a disappointingly underpowered interface. Epson's selection of software is good, though. You get Xerox TextBridge Classic, Adobe PhotoDeluxe Business Edition, NewSoft Presto PageManager and Broderbund Print Shop PressWriter.

The Epson Perfection 636 isn't a bad scanner, but it's undone by its high price and gold-plated features, such as the needless PCI SCSI card. The AcerScan Prisa 610P remains on the WinList because it's better than the Perfection 636-at less than half the price.

From the Manufacturer

Epson Perfection 636 Scanner: 600 X 2400 dpi, 36- bit, PC & Macintosh.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

84 of 85 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Quality comparable to commercial, high end, scanners., September 1, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Epson B071031F Perfection 636 SCSI Scanner (PC/Mac) (Office Product)

I have other scanners that cost under $500, and they do not compare to the Epson Pefrection 636. It is quiet, fast, and provides high quality scanned images. I have invested a lot of money on the commercial scanning of pictures, slides and prints, and I cannot tell the difference between Epson's work and that of a commercial scanner. It is not only easy to use, it is fun. I recommend it over more expensive scanners.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Fast scanning and great pictures scanning, January 13, 2001

By 

Terry Tran (Rosemead, CA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Epson B071031F Perfection 636 SCSI Scanner (PC/Mac) (Office Product)

This was my first major purchase online. I had done quite a bit of research on the scanners, reading reviews, and talking to people at the computer stores. Once I saw the image quality, and the speed that it delivers the images in, I was hooked and stopped my search. I was also pleasantly surprised at the lack of errors when scanning text for OCR. Look for this product online, you will be able to find it MUCH cheaper than you could in a retail store.The only problem I have with it is scanning light remains on while power is on. Everything else is PERFECT! Now I am very happy with the scanner and would have no problem recommending it to anyone.