Epson B071031F Perfection 636 SCSI Scanner (PC/Mac)

From Winmag®
Epson is sticking its neck out with the Perfection 636, since this 36-bit scanner with a 600x1200-dot-per-inch resolution doesn't live up to the name. It's reasonably fast and delivers good output, but it's overpriced and suffers from an inferior software interface.

The scanner's design is pretty basic: a detachable hood hinged the short way, with power and action buttons on the front panel. The Perfection 636 comes with a PCI SCSI adapter rather than the usual cheap ISA model. What's annoying is that both the SCSI interface and the PCI controller don't accelerate performance that much.

The Perfection 636 turned in middling results in our tests. Our Ronchi test target scans at 300dpi returned an average score of 0.62 (on a scale of 0 to 1), but 600dpi scans rated an abysmal 0.17. To be fair, the Perfection 636 did a good job reproducing a broad range of tones and subtleties in scanned material, including darker details that often don't show up. Previewing a letter-size page in 36-bit color took a mere 7 seconds, but a 300dpi scan of the same page in color took 1 minute, 5 seconds-a poor performance when compared to the 45 seconds required by the parallel-port AcerScan Prisa 610P on our WinList (see Reviews, September 1998).

Then there's the driver itself. It covers the basics, but that's about it. The descreening function, for instance, does not even let you specify the number of lines per inch to handle! It's a disappointingly underpowered interface. Epson's selection of software is good, though. You get Xerox TextBridge Classic, Adobe PhotoDeluxe Business Edition, NewSoft Presto PageManager and Broderbund Print Shop PressWriter.

The Epson Perfection 636 isn't a bad scanner, but it's undone by its high price and gold-plated features, such as the needless PCI SCSI card. The AcerScan Prisa 610P remains on the WinList because it's better than the Perfection 636-at less than half the price.

Product Description:
The Perfection 636 is a color flatbed scanner for your PC or Macintosh from Epson. Whether you are scanning documents, pictures or three-dimensional objects, the Perfection 636 offers you the best possible image quality for any job. Micro Step Drive technology and built-in ColorTrue advanced imaging system yields 600 x 2400 dpi resolution and gives you over 68 billion colors for brilliant, razor-sharp images previously only found in high-end graphic scanners. The 8-bit grayscale recognizes over 4,000 shades of gray for improved continuous tones. Its high resolution (up to 9600 dpi interpolated resolution) allows you to catch fine detail in larger images, or to magnify small images while maintaining clarity. Text Enhancement Technology (TET) removes color for more accurate OCR applications. Auto Area Segmentation automatically separates the graphics from the text while scanning your document for more accurate text scans. Scan with either one-pass or three-pass for different media. You may also scan multiple images at the same time, each resulting in a separate image file.

Epson B071031F Perfection 636 SCSI Scanner (PC/Mac)

Average customer rating:

Fast scanning and great pictures scanning

Quality comparable to commercial, high end, scanners.

Epson B071031F Perfection 636 SCSI Scanner (PC/Mac)

Manufacturer: Epson
ProductGroup: CE
Binding: Electronics

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Monster Cable MP AV600 Power Protector

Monster PC700 Computer PowerCenter¿ with Surge Protection

Canon 1029A004 Photo Paper Pro for BJC-8200 (8.5"x11", 15 Sheets )

Acoustic Research AR-8V 8-Outlet, 1284 Joule, $50,000 CEW Surge Protector

Product Features:

32-bit/68 billion colors, with ColorTrue for accuracy

600 x 2,400 dpi Micro Step Drive technology

9,600 x 9,600 dpi with software interpolation

Text enhancement for OCR accuracy

Easy-to-learn award-winning scanner software

ASIN: B00000JFM4

Product Description

The Perfection 636 is a color flatbed scanner for your PC or Macintosh from Epson. Whether you are scanning documents, pictures or three-dimensional objects, the Perfection 636 offers you the best possible image quality for any job. Micro Step Drive technology and built-in ColorTrue advanced imaging system yields 600 x 2400 dpi resolution and gives you over 68 billion colors for brilliant, razor-sharp images previously only found in high-end graphic scanners. The 8-bit grayscale recognizes over 4,000 shades of gray for improved continuous tones. Its high resolution (up to 9600 dpi interpolated resolution) allows you to catch fine detail in larger images, or to magnify small images while maintaining clarity. Text Enhancement Technology (TET) removes color for more accurate OCR applications. Auto Area Segmentation automatically separates the graphics from the text while scanning your document for more accurate text scans. Scan with either one-pass or three-pass for different media. You may also scan multiple images at the same time, each resulting in a separate image file.

Customer Reviews:

Fast scanning and great pictures scanning.......2001-01-13

This was my first major purchase online. I had done quite a bit of research on the scanners, reading reviews, and talking to people at the computer stores. Once I saw the image quality, and the speed that it delivers the images in, I was hooked and stopped my search. I was also pleasantly surprised at the lack of errors when scanning text for OCR. Look for this product online, you will be able to find it MUCH cheaper than you could in a retail store.The only problem I have with it is scanning light remains on while power is on. Everything else is PERFECT! Now I am very happy with the scanner and would have no problem recommending it to anyone.

Quality comparable to commercial, high end, scanners........1999-09-02

I have other scanners that cost under $500, and they do not compare to the Epson Pefrection 636. It is quiet, fast, and provides high quality scanned images. I have invested a lot of money on the commercial scanning of pictures, slides and prints, and I cannot tell the difference between Epson's work and that of a commercial scanner. It is not only easy to use, it is fun. I recommend it over more expensive scanners.

Electronics:

Electronics

Electronics