QUOTE(yordan @ Sep 8 2005, 07:57 AM)
Please help me choosing. I need to change my hardware. I have to decide between two scanners :
- Epson Perfection 2580 PHOTO
- Epson Perfection 2480 PHOTO
Does somebody know both of them ? They look rather similar, but there is a significant difference in price : 20 dollars. I would like to know if the difference between them is worth the 20% increase of price.
I want to scan photos and print them on photo paper, that's why I want this kind of scanners.
If you knowe these models, please tell me.
Regards
Yordan
Hi Yordan,
Physically they look very similar, if not near identical, but there are some big differences, actually.
The 2580's auto film loader (similar to auto sheet-feeders in photocopiers .. very handy for saving time potentially wasted) that's built into the lid .. trivial but may be less annoying when dealing with loads of photos to scan.
This is in addition to the manual 35mm film slider scanner that both have.
PCW said "People with large film archives will like this scanner, which is the first flatbed model we've tested with an automatic film loader" (http://www.pcworld.com/reviews/article/0,aid,119449,00.asp) .. and it came number1 in their top-10 scanners list (http://www.pcworld.com/reviews/article/0,aid,119276,00.asp), with the 2480 coming in 3rd.
I think this is the main reason for the extra cost .. if you do a lot of 35mm scanning, then it's well worth it (most people keep their original 35mm films with the photos so it's worth it in this case).
What it means is that you can place a stack of films in the scanner, press the button, go away and make a coffee, and then come back and it's all been scanned to a bunch of predetermined or incrementally increasing numbered digital files .. all automatically!
On the 2480, you'd have to take each set of 3 films and scan them in, then get another 3 and scan those in etc .. you have to be at the scanner feeding them in manually, which gets to be a real pain after a few days!
The optical resolution of the CCD of both are 2400x4800 (which should be good enough for pretty much all non-pro/archival tasks .. 300dpi horizontally & 400dpi vertically). Ignore the other figure (12800x12800) because this is just an interpolation value that's done in software.
The 2580's CCD has a colour depth of 48-bit (281,474,976,710,656 = 281 trillion colours), vs the 2480's 42-bit. Its sensors can "see" (distinguish) more colours/shades in the photo you scan, which may be important if you want to scan high-quality colourful photos .. specifically ones with many shades (e.g. human faces that are in sunlight and shade simultaneously .. i.e. varying shade across the face).
Again that PCW page states "In our standard image-quality tests, the 2580 won first place among all small-office scanners".
Both have a USB2.0 interface (upto 480Mbps), but the 2480 is still a lot slower at scanning.
In
http://www.pcworld.com/reviews/chart_test_...id,24474,00.asp &
http://www.pcworld.com/reviews/chart_test_...id,21903,00.asp PCW states that:
- the 2580 has better greyscale bit-depth (the number of shades it can distinguish as I mentioned above),
- the 2580 has "outstanding" vs "very good" performance regarding time per scan
2580:
Average 1200-dpi color scan speed 28 seconds per document
Average 300-dpi monochrome scan speed 21 seconds per document
2480:
Average 1200-dpi color scan speed 31 seconds per document
Average 300-dpi monochrome scan speed 23 seconds per document
It doesn't sound like much of a difference for the full-scan times .. but it all adds up if you are doing many scans regularly.
- but it has a smaller transparency adapter (1x1.5in vs 4x1.5in) .. which is weird .. but like I said I don't think it's that important, at least, not to me!
Also note that along with the actual scan, there is a time need to send the image over USB2 to the PC. Don't ever get a USB1 scanner (they still sell them .. not the ones you list BTW).
I have used a USB1.0 scanner before, and when scanning at high-res, the scanner had to pause whilst the PC grabbed that part of the image .. very very frustrating!
The PCW reviews state "The 2580's impressive performance earned it the second-highest ranking in our March 2005 issue among small-office scanners for overall speed. It pumped out a 2-by-2-inch color photo at 1200 dpi in just under 28 seconds--the fastest score of all our currently tested scanners."
and the 2480 "scanned a 4-by-5-inch black-and-white photo at 600 dpi in just under 26 seconds; most other SOHO scanners took from about 28 to 41 seconds to complete the same scan"
The only other difference is that the 2480 comes with a transparency adaptor (along with the common 35mm film adaptor) but that's not really that important (I just cover a transparency with a white background sheet and they scan fine on my scanner .. also an Epson!).
They both officially support Win98/ME/2k/XP and MacOSX, but only the 2580 supports MacOS9 officially.
Dimensions are the same, but for weight, the 2580 is 0.6lbs heavier at 6.6lbs.
Both come with a 1 year warranty.
In summary, get the 2580 if you want the faster scanner with ADF-like auto film feeder and better colour (greyscale shades) depth! Otherwise save your money and get the 2480. Personally I'd go with the 2580 from your brief description, esp if you're going to do scan on a daily/weekly basis.
Hope this helps you choose the right one for you. Feel free to ask me to explain in more detail if you need it (I've been a little terse & used a few too many acronyms .. sorry!),
Kam.
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