The cool thing about this 1660 is that it has a built-in transparency adapater, but that makes the unit pretty tall and bulky looking. Funny thing - it looks big next to the units on the shelf but when I got home and measured my Umax, the Epson was actually 2" smaller all around and about the same height! Just goes to show how much scanners have shrunk since I bought my Umax! I don't know how much scanning I'll do of slides and negatives though. Which leads me to another question. When you scan negatives, do they come out positive or negative? Is it like making contact prints of the negatives? Of course, with the photo editing software, I can always make them positive if they're negative and enlarge them. What about color negatives? Will those "reverse" to true colors ok? Sherry >-----Original Message----- >From: RaynLois [mailto:[email protected]] >Sent: Thursday, January 16, 2003 8:54 AM >To: [email protected] >Subject: Re: [SP] New scanner > > >Sherry, > >We've had an Epson 1240U for over a year now and love it. >After a couple >months we sprung the $80 or so to get the transparency unit >(had to order >it directly from Epson, since most stores don't carry them). Have had >absolulely no problems with it - running Windows 98SE and >Windows XP Pro in >a dual boot configuration. > >Ray > > > >At 1/16/2003 07:24 AM, you wrote: >>Hi all, >> >>I currently have a Umax Astra 2100U which I've not been happy with. >>Scans never look close to the original (it takes a lot of color >>adjustment to make it look halfway decent) and the software crashes >>after a couple of passes. The scanner I have my eye on is >more than I >>want to spend, but it's gotten rave reviews - the Epson Perfection >>1660. Any comments? Is there a similar one that doesn't cost >as much? >>(I can get it for $172.00). >> >>Umax support is non-existant..... >> >>I have Windows 2000, 384 MB of RAM and an Athlon 900 mHz processor. >> >>Thanks, >> >>Sherry > > > >

Scanning slides/negatives provides much greater resolution than scanning from prints. Also, once you start scanning slides/negatives and find how easy it is, you'll be digging into closets and old boxes looking for things to scan. I found some slides my Dad took back in the 40's and 50's. When the transparency unit is turned on the Epson Twain driver gives three option's - flatbed, negative TPU or positive TPU (TPU being for transparency unit). Select positive for slides and negative for negatives. I found the color translation to be fantastic. Ray At 1/16/2003 09:17 AM, you wrote: >The cool thing about this 1660 is that it has a built-in transparency >adapater, but that makes the unit pretty tall and bulky looking. Funny >thing - it looks big next to the units on the shelf but when I got home >and measured my Umax, the Epson was actually 2" smaller all around and >about the same height! Just goes to show how much scanners have shrunk >since I bought my Umax! > >I don't know how much scanning I'll do of slides and negatives though. >Which leads me to another question. When you scan negatives, do they >come out positive or negative? Is it like making contact prints of the >negatives? Of course, with the photo editing software, I can always >make them positive if they're negative and enlarge them. What about >color negatives? Will those "reverse" to true colors ok? > > >Sherry > > > >-----Original Message----- > >From: RaynLois [mailto:[email protected]] > >Sent: Thursday, January 16, 2003 8:54 AM > >To: [email protected] > >Subject: Re: [SP] New scanner > > > > > >Sherry, > > > >We've had an Epson 1240U for over a year now and love it. > >After a couple > >months we sprung the $80 or so to get the transparency unit > >(had to order > >it directly from Epson, since most stores don't carry them). Have had > >absolulely no problems with it - running Windows 98SE and > >Windows XP Pro in > >a dual boot configuration. > > > >Ray > > > > > > > >At 1/16/2003 07:24 AM, you wrote: > >>Hi all, > >> > >>I currently have a Umax Astra 2100U which I've not been happy with. > >>Scans never look close to the original (it takes a lot of color > >>adjustment to make it look halfway decent) and the software crashes > >>after a couple of passes. The scanner I have my eye on is > >more than I > >>want to spend, but it's gotten rave reviews - the Epson Perfection > >>1660. Any comments? Is there a similar one that doesn't cost > >as much? > >>(I can get it for $172.00). > >> > >>Umax support is non-existant..... > >> > >>I have Windows 2000, 384 MB of RAM and an Athlon 900 mHz processor. > >> > >>Thanks, > >> > >>Sherry > > > > > > > >