Scanner Recommendations Wanted

drdane

I'm thinking of buying an Epson Perfection 4490 scanner for under $200.

It seems to have good reviews/ratings for this price range (about my max), and is supposed to give a 4800dpi (or is it ppi?) output for film & slides.

Can anyone share personal experience with this scanner? I know little about which specs really matter.

Thanks!
Dane

largelylivin

Got one!
Excellent scanner - I've gone through 3 in the last 4 years. I have a couple complaints: I have tried using the ICE feature on B&W and it is worthless. I wish that I had bought the 4990 instead because I have 4x5 negatives that I would like to scan, but I got a great deal on the 4490. Depending on your needs, they have just come out with a V700 for about $550. Example: the 4490 scans 4 slides at a time whereas the v700 scans 12 at a time. Generally, it scans 2-3 times as many at once compared to the 4490. The v700 gets up to 6400 dpi.

drdane

largelylivin wrote:

Excellent scanner - I've gone through 3 in the last 4 years. I have a couple complaints: I have tried using the ICE feature on B&W and it is worthless. I wish that I had bought the 4990 instead because I have 4x5 negatives that I would like to scan, but I got a great deal on the 4490. Depending on your needs, they have just come out with a V700 for about $550. Example: the 4490 scans 4 slides at a time whereas the v700 scans 12 at a time. Generally, it scans 2-3 times as many at once compared to the 4490. The v700 gets up to 6400 dpi.

Thanks for the input. The only B&W I'd be likely to do these days is scanning old prints for restoration. I only have a few slides from my "former life" that are worth scanning. $500 is out of my price range for now, so sounds like we have answered the question.

Muchas Gracias!
Dane