Customer Reviews

Epson Perfection 3170 Photo Scanner

5 star:		(25)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(12)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

I bought this scanner mostly for restoring old photos and scanning old negatives. The scanner was a breeze to install and set up with my system running Windows XP with 512 mb of RAM. Image scanning is very quick at the default setting (300 dpi) and with excellent image quality. The photo restore works fairly well, but on some photos, it actually changes the color of the dust and scratches on the photo. Overall, this is an excellent scanner, but there are two issues that annoy me that I think I need to share.

First of all, it doesn't come with a manual. Yes, it does come with a quick setup pamphlet with a basic "get started" guide, but if you're like me and absolutely HATE sitting there at the computer reading the operating manual, you'll be just as ticked off as I am about this. I'm one of the few who actually likes to get the manual for whatever I buy and sit down and read it first before setting the thing up. You have to wait till the software is installed and the scanner is set up before you can actually see how the complete system and software work.
The other problem I've found with this scanner is that when you scan a negative in the "thumbnail" mode (which is supposed to recognize the negative and preview it in a full page format), the negatives almost always get severely cropped. I scanned a picture of my parents wedding day and both the top of their heads were chopped off. After going into the annoying help file, I found that Epson says that it's normal for some negatives to get cropped severely if the background is very light. Just this alone almost made me pack this back up and ship it back to Amazon ... but then after digging around the help files endlessly, I found that you can scan the negative in a "full preview" mode (which actually will scan the negative, template, and anything else on the glass), and draw a marquee around the negative which will give you the full image. After finally figuring this out, I've found that the scanning quality of the negative is outstanding! I can't believe the quality of the pictures I can print from a negative that was taken over 60 years ago!

If those few negatives are minor to you, I think you'll find this to be an excellent all around scanner. Picture quality is fantastic and the software that comes with it works well. I'm very happy (now that I've figured it out) that I made this purchase and would highly recommend it.

I bought this with a common expectation to have real good scans of my 4x6 photo prints. I was initially not fully happy with it's shadow-area performance, but after a bit of tinkering with settings I got the results I wanted.The scans are coming very good now.
My 2c advice for people who scrutinise scans deeply: decrease contrast 10-20%,increase brightness 5-15% for better shadow performance
It is very speedy and quiet.
The OCR s/w is really good.
The help system is only text-based(which is bad) and there is no toll-free # for tech support.
One of the things that I found after spending some time on net and with this scanner is, you may not need these 3200dpi etc resolution for scanning 4x6 photos.
12/18/03 - I tested Canon 5000F(2400dpi) and compared.
By default the epson scan has a higher contrast than Canon. This causes the scanner not to perform ably in dark areas,but the colors look punchy on first look.
On the other hand although the Canon captures greater detail under shadows by factory setting default, it adds a slight warm(reddish) tinge by default. The Canon build & s/w are worse(It's a much less sophisticated beast).It's much much slower & horribly Noisy.
Per my evaluation,this scanner is much more sophisticated and better value-for-money.

I would have given this four stars because of software conflicts, but their phone technical support was so above average that they deserve at least five stars. The bottom line is the scanner is terrific and works fine with XP. I had a problem with SMART PANEL not launching. After two hours on the phone with some very patient tech support people, it was determined that the TWAIN_32 folder in my C:drive had a folder for my digital camera AND one for the new scanner. They conflict with each other. Windows recognizes them as the same thing. All we had to do was put the camera folder on my desktop instead of the TWAIN_32 folder, and the Smart Panel finally worked 4.0. Unfortunately, if I want to use my camera, I have to switch the TWAIN_32 folder contents. Which is not Epson's fault. Either way, the scanner and software is terrific and incredibly easy to use. I highly recommend this scanner.

Bought a 3170 in 12/04. Hardware works as advertized. However, could Not scan pictures larger than 4" x 5" at dpi greater than 1200. Sent E-mails to Epson, used their hard to find E-mail/Tech support form. After a detailed series of questions that should discourage most, found their system clocked out after 5 minutes of air time. Second time thru was successful in submitting a E-mail request. Results, no return from Epson. Tried 3 more times over a month. And YES they don't give a phone call in number!! No return ever!
Found a young sales rep in our area. He thought my questions were good enough for further investigation. He got the run around by higher ups for a month. Final his persistance paid off. Epson scanning software has a memory management problem. The recommended 512 Meg requirement is NOT enough. Their software does not do disk cache. As a result, you can have many gigs of hard disk space, but RAM will severely limit high resolution scans. For lower resolution scans or smaller areas, the system is fine. With the advent of scanners greater than 2000 dpi I suggest you verify that the system (HP, Epson, or whoever) will meet your needs for higher resolution scans and for the size area you want to scan.

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.

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.

Having used Microtek and HP in the past, both are of so-so quality, especially Microtek as I exchanged 3 of their model of the time and had 3 unique problems. And doubly-especially HP because of the ridiculous prices that hinge on their petty namesake (and the problems that developed were pretty bad too)... but before I digress...

Epson's 3170 scanner is of solid build, has a head lock so it can be transported with reasonable assurance it won't become misaligned.

Just be sure to install the software, shut down, connect the scanner, reboot. That's all.

I often scan negatives because (a) the photo developers can't alter their appearance and (b) negatives are going to be sharper than prints. At 3200DPI, I can easily make 13x19" prints that look astounding, especially after using 3rd party noise removing software (it was made for digital camera images, but it works great for film as well!) Can't say the name, but if you searched google for a neat image noise removal software, you'll find the product(s). I'd also mention the printer I use, but then I'd sound like a ringer for Epson, which I'm not. But it is a very high end printer... :-)

I will say this: HP's TMA device for scanning negatives made it easier to put in negatives (though not remove), and extra care is needed to remove negs from the Epson module because the shutter-like edges have a wavy appearance. (WHY?!) That aside, one should always take good care of handling negatives so I won't take away a point. Maybe 1/2 point.

Quality counts. And it's not called "perfection" for nothing. This is worth every penny.

I bought this after returning an HP 4670 and I'm really impressed. It gave good quality scans with the out of the box settings, and with a little tweaking started giving really high quality results. I mainly scan photos, negatives and transparencies. The HP 4670 showed granularity and banding. The Epson has none of these problems. The software installed with no problems. I like that you can easily use the predefined settings, or change to the more advanced settings. My only minor quibble is that it is noisy and a little slow at high resolutions. But this is a small price to pay. Operating tip for hi-res scans: change the file format to JPEG before you start the scan unless you have a lot of RAM.

I am very satisfied with this scanner. I just upgraded it from a 4 year old Canon which doesn't compare with this one in any way
(I just got a new printer from Canon too, which I hate).

I had absolutely no problem hooking this up, installing the software and getting it to work, and using this to scan slides, photos and make photo copies. I haven't found the Epson software buggy at all, as some other people have commented. After you scan something in you have to close the scanner and then wait a few seconds for the next screen to pop up. This isn't intuitive at all and may make people feel like it's buggy, but I don't see any problem with the functionality at all. It also comes with Adobe Photoshop Elements, which has a great reputation. I am not so thrilled with that, however, since it's very cumbersome and takes up a lot of RAM (even though I have 512 megs, it still is slow). This isn't Epson's fault, and you can do cool things with the program anyway.

I just got finished with the first experience as a copier. Essentially, you get a color copier here, since this scans right to your printer. Love it. I also loved that I could save the documents onto the computer as PDF files. So, without paying for the program you get to save things in a great format.

I scanned several slides, and am happy with the results. Make sure you save them as high resolution. That goes for the photos too. This does make the scanner slow down, especially for the slides, but I don't think you'll get anything faster in this price range.

Again, this scanner is relatively low-priced for all that it does, and what it does it does WELL.

I would really recommend this scanner.

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.