Fantastic quality and convenience for so little money. (Epson Stylus Scan 2500)

Member Name: TominDC

Product:	Epson Stylus Scan 2500
Date:	15/02/01 (78 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Replaces three peripherals

Disadvantages: Too few drivers

I decided to treat my new P-III 850 to a peripheral makeover. The Epson Stylus Scan offered convenience, high quality functions, at a unit price far below machines with comparable quality features. The multifunctionality let met discard a three-way switch and 3 fat parallel cables along with an inferior scanner and two old printers. Like all inkjets, the cost per page is higher than lasers if you are a high-volume user, but you will pay three to five times as much for a laser unit. I always take big jobs to a quick-print place.

UPSIDES: Price for the unit (under $250 USD delivered), high quality flatbed scanner (600 x 2400 dpi, 36-bit colour), high quality colour prints (1440 x720 dpi), simple paper path for less jamming problems, copy machine functionality (BW or colour), and fax (using your PC and modem) all hooked up with a single USB cable into an attractive, ruggedly-constructed shell with the same footprint as my old scanner alone.

DOWNSIDES: Too few drivers (pretty much Win’95/’98/2000); complex software driver installation process; hard-to-read LED on control panel; high per-page ink cost (not economical for heavy use).

When I plugged in the Stylus Scan, my new Windows ME OS was clueless. I had to call Epson technical support to be walked through an ME installation (no ME drivers available). Even the technician had to use trial and error to get my system working using Win’98 drivers – but he succeeded. Now everything works fine. The only nagging nuisance is that the LED readout on the control panel is not lighted. Even with a small torch it is hard to read. Fortunately, the machine is smart enough to do most functions without need to check the LED.

Summary: