Customer Reviews

Epson Perfection 1650 Photo Flatbed Scanner

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(9)

 

 

I haven't had this scanner for very long, but I have already made more than 500 scans with it, and it's is awesome. The preview scan is ridiculously quick: I can get a good idea of what my scan will look like in less than a couple of seconds. The software bundle is very nice for a beginner, wherein you can make automatic scans for email, web, file outputs with the push of the respective button on the scanner body. I tried the software out a few times and I was impressed with the results, but if you're using Photoshop you don't need to install the whole package. It only took a few minutes to set the thing up and do my first scan, which was pretty cool.

Once you gain more confidence with the different elements in a scan (namely the relationship image size and resolution have with file size) you can use TWAIN for a more manual approach. This allows you to adjust your settings based on what your requirements for your final project are. For example, I could scan a postage stamp-sized picture at a high resolution and enlarge it into an 8" x 10" photo or larger and the quality would still look pretty good. Your final scan speed will depend on the resolution you've selected , but it's still fast at higher resolutions. The lower the resolution, the faster the scan time.

I love using TWAIN, especially since it only took a few trial runs to figure it out. It's calculations for file size, resolution, and image size are all right there, so there's no guess work needed from you. Epson also provides pretty good documentation for doing things manually for your first time (like a reference table for your final output on projects for web, negatives, photos, text, etc.). The color has been consistently sharp and the resolution very crisp, on both the flatbed and the transparency unit.

Notice, however, that this is not a portable scanner. It's bigger than some on the market and it is powered by an external power supply. But it is perhaps the best model on the market for projects that require excellent quality whether your project is personal or semi-profesional.

I haven't printed anything out with the images I've scanned (yet) so I can't comment on that. All I know is that I needed a decent slide scanner, for an inexpensive price. This one satisfies that need.

I find that all scans are on the "warm" side - there's a slight yellowish cast to the pictures. This is easy to get out quickly, using the bundled Photoshop Elements (or in my case, I used Photoshop 6). By the way, do you realize that Photoshop Elements is just thrown in with this scanner? And that it is a well-reviewed graphics software program that retails on its own for a respectable price? And that there is also a coupon (limited time offer - until 6/02) that allows you to buy the FULL version of Photoshop at a fantastic discount? (Half off, or thereabouts.) WHAT a deal! Something to think about if you want to get into Photoshop!

Anyway, I found my slide scans to be of decent quality. Bear in mind, I am not exceedingly picky, because I have gone through several "consumer level" scanners with a slide attachment, and they all were pretty bad. So the fact that this one wasn't awful like all the others delighted me. But to be brutally honest, the slide scans are not all that sharp at higher resolutions (I scanned at 720 PPI). And sometimes the color needs extra tweaking. But I have been able to fix up and size down (and sharpen) my slide scans just fine. They look great for web images (even large wallpaper-sized web pictures), and I am guessing, are fine for printing on an ink-jet printer. (However, I found that my some of my darker and more underexposed slide scans didn't look that great, and required more Photoshop adjustments. But I need to expect limits to this scanner's abilities, I guess.) All-in-all, slide scans are perfectly adequate, and I am sure, quite good considering that this is NOT a "professional" level slide scanner. My own guess is that you will be hard-pressed to find another scanner (at this price range) that will make better slide scans.

Scanning negatives is pretty good (though, once again, a bit soft at higher resolutions). Some of my negative scans have been a bit "washed out", and needed some extra Photoshop adjusting. Scanning prints is excellent. Almost all image scans needed the quick Photoshop tweak to take out a bit of yellow, though. But that doesn't take much time, and I got used to it quickly. (EVERY image needs to be tweaked, after all, no matter how good the scanner is!)

I am using an iMac running OS 9.2.1, and the scanner's software is very stable. I don't use any of the bundled software, just Epson's TWAIN, in Photoshop. Works wonderfully. There is supposed to be an OS X update CD coming out in January 2002 (a coupon is with the scanner's paperwork, so you can order the CD).

If you are scanning more than one file at a time into Photoshop (scanning 4 negs at one time, or whatever) you need to give Photoshop plenty of RAM. (Always good advice anyway!)

I purchased the 1650 Photo to scan my 30year old collection of color 35mm slides; and I could not be more pleased. I can't believe the quality...you would never guess they were slides. The scanner does 4 slides at a time. I hooked it up and right out of the box to my Dell Computer/Windows 98 with no problems. The software is easy to use - no need to study the manual. I scanned a few 4x6 photos at first just to try it out and then switched to the slides. It also has a holder for black and white 35mm film strips. If the quality is as good as the color you could eliminate a B&W dark room and just scan the negatives and print from your computer. As I said, I have not spent much time looking at the instructions or doing other scanning, so I may not be as familiar with all the features as some. The one thing I don't understand is why no `off/on' switch. I would gladly paid a few dollars more for one. The bottom-line...it you want a reasonably priced scanner for 35mm slide the 1650 is what you want.

We have been buying Epson products for years and this scanner
has excellent quality. We are going through 30 years of fading
and faded photos to archive onto a CD. This scanner, together
with a simple photo editing program, has brought these pictures
back to life, and will be a great keepsake for our children.
For the unsatisfied people out there - "dust flecks & spots" are
common with any scanner and can easily be removed with photo
programs. AND some scanners sometimes are not compatible with
certain computer manufacturers.

This is not a bad scanner at all. The quality of the scans is good (although I have seen better). I had no problem setting the scanner up to my laptop running win2000. Like the other reviewers, some of the photo scans are crocked even when the images were lined up correctly. Also, the color of the scans tends to be on the magenta side. I easily corrected it with Photoshop. The ArcSoft software that came with the scanner is poor. Running the scanner via Photoshop Elements is ideal. No problems so far. I spent five hours the day that I got the scanner and scanned at least two dozen pictures and half a dozen slides.

Before I purchased, I researched. First I read magazine reviews which I found online via my favorite Mac magazines websites...then came here, among other places to price the one I wanted. The Epson Perfection 1650 Photo Flatbed scanner. I read ALL the reviews here and though I found a few people who seemed to have problems (mostly Windows users) I found the rest to be fair to great. So I decided to take a chance and it was a chance worth taking. This scanner, scans in clean, clear and sweet. No shadows, no problems. And though I am a photoshop Queen, I also enjoyed the software which comes with the scanner. I haven't tried scanning in a strip of film yet, but I expect no problems from this dream machine.

If you want a scanner to copy photographs with high quality, this is the one. If you want to use the copy utility to make a copy to print, it takes 1 minute 30 seconds. It automatically defaults to color which is slow. Defaults are impossible to change. Copy to Email only works with Office XP or Outlook Express but will not work with Outlook 2000. The inability to change defaults makes the software cumbersome. Try to find the Email support site, it is there but hidden and then the responses are canned because the support person didn't read the real problem. Just read comments about the HP scanners and they apparently have the same problems. They are making scanners for idiots, not thinking customers.

I don't know about XP but it works great with Win98. Installation was a snap. I bought it for archiving my old photo negatives and slides. I debated getting their next higher model for increased resolution based on a techie review, but I'm glad I didn't. The resolution is very adequate for the average home user, and then some - if you use the max resolution you should have a relatively new computer to handle it. Anything more would be overkill unless you have a commercial graphics shop and a high-end computer.
I tested mine on negatives - color was OK but processing time was long - probably my 366 computer. I tested a color slide and was very impressed - color wasn't perfect but easily fixed in my graphics program - resolution was excellent. I tried a full-page scan and noticed no edge shadows as someone else had reported. The scanner is also much quieter than my previous Canon scanner.
The software interface is nice. It has a full-auto mode which is very effective and useful for most applications, but it is also flexible enough to do most anything you would want to manually. I can't talk about service -no problems yet.
Bottom line is this is a great scanner for the price!

This is one scanner that will work with xp, me, 98..
Works great, I had no problem installing it. Just make sure you install the driver BEFORE you plug the scanner into your computer. The included software isn't the greatest, that's why I only gave it a 4.. But I already have Microsoft picture it installed and that works a little better than some of the Epson's included software. I have a HP printer and it works fine with that. (I am using winXP drivers for the printer though.)
It is very nice scanner. But is noisy compared to the HP I had, but hey this works with XP and the HP wouldn't, so I'm happy.

Epson has produced an excellent and fast imaging scanner that includes easy setup and easy utilization. The results are crisp and do not require PhotoShop enhancements (unless, of course, the original image was impoverished).

Makes me look at my old Umax SCSI scanner with absolute disgust.