I just got this and have been trying it out. As I surmised, it is identical to the V300 except there is no negative holder in the box. The driver CDROM and all documentation lists both models. I'm using this with Photoshop and Indesign to make personal studies for portrait drawing practice, using art book and magazine images for source material. I was holding my breath to make sure the TIFF file type is included with this version, and it is (in the professional scan mode.) Fabulously smooth images made from ordinary newspaper color ad inserts using only 800 dpi. You can select various destination image types, including up to 48-bit color and up to 12,800 dpi (in professional mode). TIFF files are rather large, but I plan to dump them as soon as I print the cropped images. (After I draw, I no longer need the images.) Of course, also does jpeg format (default) and has a tremendous range of custom formatting before saving, as well as ultra simple 'point and shoot' scanning. Also has customizable presets for home mode (email scanning, etc.) and office mode (RGB value settings, for example). I haven't tried this yet, but it makes PDF files in all but full auto mode, without purchasing Adobe Acrobat, unbelievable. (I have a Fujitsu document scanner that outputs to PDF, but it cost several times more.)
There is the same user selection option for film as a document type as on the V300 so I don't see why you can't scan slides and negatives, using a homemade holder or even just guessing where to position film in the center strip of the scanner bed. I don't plan to scan many film images or I would have gotten the V300, but it was not available for prime shipping. I do have some favorite Velvia slides I will eventually try to scan and see what happens. Will let you know how it goes when I get a chance. Superb scanner, incredible price, and arguably unbeatable Epson reliability, per my previous experience with color inkjets going back to windows 3.1 that just never stopped working well. I based my purchase on all the high praise for the V300/V200 and the assumption that this one uses the same scan engine and software, which it does, the only difference I can tell being the missing film holder. If anything, the V30 is more recent and probably has higher specs than the V300. If you don't need a film holder, or if you just need to update your flatbed scanner, this is a total no brainer. Forgot to mention, top is hinged and lifts/flips back out of the way. Epson Perfection V30 Color Scanner
...the placement of the usb and power ports is such a glaring design flaw. If you don't use the buttons, or you expect to have this only on the right side of your desk and against the wall, it might not be a big deal. Maybe that's being picky, but it bugged the heck out of me.
Image quality was solid for this type of slimline (CIS) scanner, I'd say a touch better color rendition than a Canon Lide 30 I tried. Also seemed a bit faster, probably due to needing it's wall wart (power brick), vs the Canon which is USB powered. Software installation no problem (Mac OS 10.5), and I think Epson's drivers are much better than Canons on the Mac.
Ultimately though, these simple standalone scanners need be be priced less. After all, one can routinely find refurb or even new Epson All-in-one devices for not much more. Hence, value for money isn't quite there, in my opinion.
received package in 3 days, free shipping. box was light, since scanner was light. hooked up scanner to power outlet and connected USB cable to laptop running linux ubuntu 8.04 Hardy.
download drivers for the Epson Perfection V30: Google for "epson linux driver", find the site "Linux driver | Avasys Corporation"; go to Download Epson scanner; select "Perfection V30"; Distribution Ubuntu; Distribution version 8.04; Country/region; Connection environment for using printer: Scan with local scanner; Location for the product; click Next. found 2 debian 32-bit packages: iscan_2.20.1-1_i386.deb (362,624 bytes) and esci-interpreter-gt-f720_0.0.1-2_i386.deb (156,404 bytes).
UPDATE, 3 May 2010: The iscan program had a newer version iscan_2.24.0-4_i386.deb; the esci-interpreter-gt program remained the same, i.e., esci-interpreter-gt-f720_0.0.1-2_i386.deb.
installed these 2 .deb packages on laptop. no problem.
launched command iscan to start the scanner; worked. tested by scanning a hardcopy color photo with the default 300 dpi; the scan (in .png format) looked great; file size about 5 MB. tried higher resolution 1200 dpi; file size was much larger, but not better quality at regular photo size. scanned write-on transparencies written with color marker pens (black, green, red, blue) as color documents; results (in .png format) were great. even at 50 dpi, the scans of these transparencies were nice. the file size was small, about 300 KB, allowing for quick upload to mediawiki.
it appears that there is no option to scan into pdf under linux; a work-around approach would be to use openoffice, import the .png files of the scans, then export the resulting openoffice file into pdf format.
UPDATE, 3 May 2010: Actually, you can scan in 5 different formats: Run iscan, place document on scanner, click Preview, click Scan, another window pops up, then you can select the "File Type", i.e., file format; there are 5 different formats: PNM, PNG, JPEG, TIFF, PDF. The difference between iscan and the Epson scanning software under Windows is that you need to concatenate the separate pdf files into a single document later, using pdftk for example. You can write a script to do that. You can also scan into PNM format, then convert to DJVU format, which is more compact than the PDF format for the same resolution.
painless and relatively quick installation even under linux.
there were more choices of resolution (under linux) than with the CanoScan 8600F (which was used under Windows XP, not linux compatible). an annoying problem with the CanoScan 8600F was that the scans were often skewed (rotated) by a few degrees, i.e., not straight up and parallel to the margins; the problem had to be corrected by skewing (rotating) the original in the opposite direction to straighten up the scans. did not encounter any such problem with the Epson Perfection V30; all scans were perfectly straight up.
have not tried to install and use this scanner under Windows XP in dual boot with linux ubuntu yet; will do in the future. expect no difficulty (should be even easier than under linux); scan into pdf format should be possible under Windows XP.
UPDATE, perhaps Oct-Nov 2009: i also installed the scanner software under Windows XP; real easy, no problem.
when not in use, scanner can be disconnected from laptop to place on a shelf to save space.
was torn between the Canon LiDE100 scanner (a little less expensive, NOT linux compatible) and this Epson (a little more expensive, but linux compatible); now i know i made the right decision. the scan quality of the Epson was also better, with more choices of resolution.
excellent product; painless installation; easy to use; excellent quality. - Linux Compatible - Scanner - Epson - V30'
Detail Products
Detail Reviews
Click here for more information
