Epson Perfection V200 Photo Flatbed Scanner

Decent scanner for the money!

Strengths: Good quality scans.

Weakness: Inconvenient location of power and USB plugs located in the front next to the power/PDF/Mail/print buttons.

I've had my Epson V200 scanner for a few weeks now and have found that it was easy to setup and is easy to use. I bought this scanner to replace another one that worked great, but would not work with my new Vista OS. The hardware has a slim design and a side-opening high-capacity lid for bound material. The software has three modes: Auto, Home and Advanced. The “Auto” mode is just that, press...
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I've had my Epson V200 scanner for a few weeks now and have found that it was easy to setup and is easy to use. I bought this scanner to replace another one that worked great, but would not work with my new Vista OS. The hardware has a slim design and a side-opening high-capacity lid for bound material. The software has three modes: Auto, Home and Advanced. The “Auto” mode is just that, press the button and it scans the image (or images) into a directory of your choice. “Home” adds more options like backlight correction, dust removal and color restoration. “Advanced” gives you full access to the software’s features. Scans are very rapid through USB 2.0 interface. The image recognition is great. Place three, 4x6 photos on the platen and it produces three separate image files. It also scans up to four slides and six frames on a negative. I've used it to scan prints, negatives and slides so far and the results have been excellent. Also, unless you chose a specific application to use all the time, it is slightly inconvenient to have to make the application selection every time you switch on and start to make scans. Lastly, this scanner does have a functional problem with its power and USB plugs located in the front next to the power/PDF/Mail/print buttons. The location of the plugs is counterintuitive and is an annoyance with the cables running to the front of their desk. If you move the scanner such that the cables are to the back, but then the buttons are further away!

Except for the few inconveniences noted above, I am very pleased with this product considering its purchase price of less than $80.

By bluemindscape - Mar 27, 2008

EPSON V200 SCANNER

Strengths: EASY SETUP & USE. LOW PRICE.

Weakness: OCR

I have had a Microtek and two HP scanners. This Epson outperforms them all with ease of setup and use. I had
a pile of prints and slides waiting to be scanned, so when this unit arrived, I immediately put it to extensive use. The results have exceeded my expectations for such a reasonable priced scanner!

By felund - Mar 20, 2008

No good for film

Strengths: inexpensive

Weakness: very poor focus; unsharp mask doesn't help

Don't be suckered in by all the glowing reviews you may read on other sites. - This scanner is designed to handle film, and it will scan in film, for sure. But, the image is so blurry you'd be better off having your film developed at the worst 1-hour lab available. - For example, I scanned some 35mm negatives of closeups of computer circuit boards (taken to show part numbers, etc.) and all but...
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Don't be suckered in by all the glowing reviews you may read on other sites.
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This scanner is designed to handle film, and it will scan in film, for sure. But, the image is so blurry you'd be better off having your film developed at the worst 1-hour lab available.
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For example, I scanned some 35mm negatives of closeups of computer circuit boards (taken to show part numbers, etc.) and all but the very largest letters are unreadable. I used special macro lenses for these photos, and, using an 8x magnifier over a fluorescent lamp, these negatives are proven to be razor sharp -- one can easily read even the smallest print on the tiny SMD resistors.
Even the prints from the "el cheapo" lab I originally used are better than these scanned images.
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As mentioned in the cons section, the unsharp mask is of little use in restoring focus. Besides, as anyone familiar with digital imagery knows, there's always a setback to "enhancing" an image, and the included software offers no exception -- use unsharp and you'll find your image bestowed with a mottled appearance. As always, the more you unsharp, the worse the mottling.
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As a comparitive example, I scanned in a microfiche on an old UMAX AstraNet 5420 at its maximum hardware resolution (1200x2400) and even that was sharper than the V200's scan at the same resolution. Edges of characters on paper documents are also blurrier on the V200. You'd think that a scanner with 4x the hardware resolution of the old UMAX would produce a superior image at the same resolution (which doesn't even tax the V200). Think again. Is Epson fudging their specs even more than competitive brands? hmm...
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I'm an electronics tech, but I haven't opened the unit up, so I don't know whether the focus is factory adjustable and I just got home with a lemon. I suspect, especially considering the price of this unit, it's probably a snap-n-go assembly, which would mean all units are likely similarly out of focus.
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The focus improves the closer the source material is to the glass. The problem is, you can't get closer THAN the glass, of course, and I suspect tweaking the focus internally -- if feasible via factory adjustment or washers, etc. -- would likely reduce the available scanning margins. So, unless you're ONLY going to scan film, refocusing probably is a bad idea, especially since it will also void all warranties.
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I can recommend this scanner as a paper document scanner only. It's cheap enough to make you happy with it for that purpose. But, if you want a scanner that will make crisp images from film, look elsewhere.

By TechTime - Mar 8, 2008

Worth the price

Strengths: Esay to use, good scans

Weakness: Poorly designed cable connections

This Epson scanner replaces my Canon CanoScan D1250U2F and I chose Epson because I was disappointed with Canon's quality. I love the fact that this scanner opens sideways which uses less space and makes it feel more like a xerox copier when you operate it from the side. But now that the lid opens ancored on the long side, the pushbuttons are at the far end. If I turn the scanner around so that...
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This Epson scanner replaces my Canon CanoScan D1250U2F and I chose Epson because I was disappointed with Canon's quality.
I love the fact that this scanner opens sideways which uses less space and makes it feel more like a xerox copier when you operate it from the side. But now that the lid opens ancored on the long side, the pushbuttons are at the far end. If I turn the scanner around so that the pushbuttons face me, the cables stick out on the right side. The small cable channel may hide the cables but the USB connector still sticks out about two inches.
The software was easy to install even though took a while. I haven't needed the manual yet and the scan results exceed my expectations.
Overall, it's a good scanner for the price.

By oberer - Mar 7, 2008

Great for the money to digitize print

Strengths: Simple to use, Single button with automatic settings. You can do a lot of photos pretty quick. Colors come out excellent in my view.

Weakness: Don't expect too much for scanning color negative.

I already had a Canon LiDE 20 which I used for scanning documents. I like the Canon for it small size and no addition power cable needed. Just an USB cable. However, scanning picture is not very good. I do some research and decided on the Epson V200 photo. It was on sale for $69.99 + tax and shipping. The scanner is very simple to hook up and the software seem to be better than the Canon one. The...
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I already had a Canon LiDE 20 which I used for scanning documents. I like the Canon for it small size and no addition power cable needed. Just an USB cable. However, scanning picture is not very good. I do some research and decided on the Epson V200 photo. It was on sale for $69.99 + tax and shipping. The scanner is very simple to hook up and the software seem to be better than the Canon one. The 1-push button actually work. You can put the photo in and push the button wait for a while it is done. You can just repeat than without touching the keyboard. I got a lot of photos I need to digitize for keepsake. This will help accelerate the process. The Epson is also faster compare to the Canon. I also play a little bit with scanning negative but the result is not as good as the print scan without any retouching. Anyway, I would recommend anyone to buy this scanner if they primary scanning prints.

By dennyyim - Jan 25, 2008