EPSON GT-1500 B11B190011 48 bit CCD 4800 dpi Sheet Fed Scanner EPSON GT-1500 B11B190011 48 bit CCD 4800 dpi Sheet Fed Scanner

Pros: I really like this scanner. I previously had a 2480 for home use and now the GT 1500 with ADF is great for the office. The scan speed is pretty good and scan quality is great. The bundled software works very well. Using the OCR scan to PDF so you have searchable PDFs is a great function.

Cons: None so far

Pros: Easy setup, and it works on a MAC which is what I needed. The drivers were not on the disk included in the box, but were easy to find on the Epson site.

Scan time is fast and quality is good

Cons: None so far.

Pros: ADF scanner with flatbed option for things that won't go through an ADF. For most documents, I use "office mode," PDF output with high compression, 300dpi (200 is only slightly faster, slightly smaller file size, but noticeably worse image quality), skew correction on (config>other). There is a little skew still present on some scans, not enough to be a problem for document scanning. For photos and applications where skew is unacceptable, I use the flatbed instead of the ADF (skew seems to be the result of running the paper through the ADF). With these settings, a 10 page stack scans in one minute. The ADF takes single pages and stacks of paper without any trouble, although I have not tried odd sizes or super thin/thick paper.

Cons: I have absolutely no complaints about the scanner, but the documentation is terrible (hence 4 not 5 eggs). The on-line help has no index or TOC, although it does have a search function. The information it gives is sometimes wrong, or at least seems to be written for some other product (makes references to menus my package does not have). Luckily the user interface is reasonably straightforward. I'd recommend this scanner to anyone who is looking for a good, fast flatbed/ADF scanner, and prefers to figure things out on his own rather than reading a manual.

Other Thoughts: A common complaint is this is not a duplex scanner. Actually, for a $200 scanner, duplex scans are quick and easy, but the documentation does not tell you how to do them. Here's the trick. When you click "scan" the "file save settings" dialog box pops up. Make sure "show addpage dialog" is checked. After you've scanned your stack of papers through the ADF (1st page up, so you've scanned your odd-numbered pages), click "add pages." Flip your stack over, and scan the back sides (don't reorder the pages). Then click "edit page." In the editing window, click "sort by page number," then "OK." That's it. The resulting PDF will have all the pages, in the correct order.

Pros: While it worked, it seemed to work well. I used the scanner periodically for about 2-3 years mostly for multi-page text documents and the images were good.

Cons: Now, 2-3 years of relatively light and sporadic use (I think I can say that I used the scanner less than a dozen times per year), the scanner suddenly won't even turn on. I called tech support and was given (1) info about a repair center, (2) a "loyalty" link to buy a new scanner at a price $30 less than the lowest posted web price. I don't know if I'm supposed to be grateful for the prospect of buying a $200+ replacement for a product that only lasted for about 2-3 years.

Pros: mostly does what you expect it to do as a basic scanner. I'm not going to go into details about all the things it does satisfactorily. Most of the stuff is true

Cons: The automatic document feeder only takes 12-15 pages (standard copier paper), which is not my definition of "High Capacity". It seems like for an extra $0.50 they could have gotten to 50 sheets, which would have been awesome.

The software didn't work easily with my Linux system (OK, lets blame Linux for that) and the software that controls the buttons for "automatic" work is confusing. However, this isn't much of a drawback, as the applications I use (e.g. Adobe) handles everything appropriately, and I like to make sure the application has things well in hand.

While true it doesn't do duplex, both Adobe Acrobat and IrfanView (which I strongly recommend) have hooks to overcome this. If you needed a full duplex printer, you'd also want something that handled more than 15 sheets of standard thickness paper anyway.
Also, the driver software works fine, though the (C) 2002 doesn't inspire me that they are working hard innovating all the time.

Other Thoughts: Still looks like the best one out there for the money today, but there are a couple of annoyances about it.

(I'm not big on 5-Star ratings).

Pros: It works with macs!! Per instructions on the installation CD, download the drivers off of the website.

It is fast, less than 10 sec a page - compared with the 30 seconds I was averaging with the CanoScan Lide 200, this operates like a dream. Also, the Lide 200 was constantly crashing on me every 20 or so pages - this hasn't crashed, not even once!

Cons: If I had to complain about something, I guess it is heavy and more expensive than my prior scanner (Canon CanoScan Lide 200)?

Other Thoughts: Comparing the Epson GT 1500 to the Canon Lide is like comparing a Mazda hatchback to a Mercedes G wagon - the Epson is 3x the price & the weight of the Lide. However, when it comes to reliability & speed, this Epson is every bit like a Mercedes but the Lide is nothing like a Mazda. In fact, the Lide 200 is probably more like your Uncle Jonas' 1963 Volkswagon Super Beetle - nice to look at but kind of a piece of c**p (slow, doesn't work, crashes all the time).

I'm a researcher by profession, & in the past month or so, I've brought this thing with me across 3 continents & scanned ~300 books with it. It fits perfectly in a standard-carry on suitcase. It does exactly what it says it does & hasn't crashed once. I've never used the ADF so I can't say how well it works. I chose this over the Plusteks because Plustek don't have native mac support & their customer service is just horrendous. HP's don't always work well with macs either.

Pros: Really fast scans, reasonably small footprint for a flatbed/sheetfed scanner. Worked first time I tried it--Just now got it set up and ran my first scan:
I scanned 10 pages of documents from the sheet feeder to a pdf file in B&W in *30 seconds*. File size of the finished product was 188 Kb.

Cons: Lots of software, lots of installation files-- this is the most time-consuming part of setting it up. After that it was quick, shut down my computer, hook up the scanner to AC power supply and USB cable to computer, booted the computer, turned the scanner on, placed documents in the sheet feeder and started the software.

Other Thoughts: I'm using a Mac Mini Power PC 1.25 GHz with 512 megs RAM, OS 10.4.11 installed.
I had been using a Canon Lido 100, which took about 35 seconds per page for a document scan to pdf in B&W.
Right now I feel like I'm "walkin' in tall cotton" with this new scanner. If it keeps on working like it does now, I'll definitely be one happy camper.

Pros: Way better than the HP 5590 I replaced. Software is easy to use. ADF is less complex and is less prone to jamming than the ADF on my older HP. The top cover is lighter than my older HP--since the ADF is lighter--and this makes single page scans using the document table much easier.

Cons: The ADF is a bit of a disappoinment as pages tend to scan crooked. My old HP was the same way. I found if I use the "Office Mode" of the software and scan B&W pages using the "grayscale" setting, pages go through the ADF slower, and will scan straighter. I also find myself putting slight finger pressure on the paper guide to help guide pages go through the ADF straighter. Bottom line: if you need perfect scans, do each page one at a time from the document table.

Other Thoughts: Overall, it is a good quality scanner for the price. Of course, New Egg delivered my scanner quickly and efficiently. I also got it on sale, which was a plus!

Pros: Relatively inexpensive.

Cons: Stopped scanning pages thr' ADF into the PDF format within the first 45 days of use. Called tech support. First time, the usual spiel - uninstall, reinstall drivers etc. Did not work, elevated to Advanced Support. Called 4 times and never got any response. Finally returned the unit to Newegg. Lousy Tech Service from Epson. Cust service people call and ask if the problem is solved, but the Tech Service people never call you back to actually solve the problem !! Spend little extra money and buy anything other than Epson.

Pros: Price, combo flatbed and ADF, small size

Cons: Value is poor because it will not work out-of-the box (at all?) with Vista 64-bit Home Premium even though the CD says Vista support

Other Thoughts: Just Google the Epson Scan Vista and read all the problems with virtually all Epson scanners on Vista. Tech support read the manual to me and that wasted 45 minutes, then second level support was not much better. Now, six hours invested and no scanning, no Epson Scan software. Even tried latest download from Epson. No reply to email request in 24 hours.
The 1-star is for the poor Vista support and Epson support.