I got three of these Epson scanners to compare and see which works better. I got the ES-400, ES-500W, and the DS-1630. I also have a DS-510 that's a few years old that I'm comparing to. I'm a computer tech who works with a lot of small medical offices. I prefer the Fujitsu Snapscan scanners, but a lot of offices need twain scanning to integrate with their software. The Fujitsu scanners that will do twain are pretty expensive so I tend to go Epson for the offices that need twain. I wanted to see if there's a reason to buy one or the other for the offices I work with.
The ES-400, ES-500W and my old DS-510 are all only document feeder scanners. The new ES-400 and ES-500W are 35 page per minute which is a good step up from the 26 page per minute of the DS-510. I'm sure you have to use a USB 3.0 port and the included cable to get this speed. Other than being faster than the DS-510, I don't notice too much difference between my old scanner and these new. It works about the same. The software is about the same. If you have an older Epson, this will be a speed boost, but not much else of an improvement.
The ES-500W does have wireless built in, but it's not fast enough to be really useful. Yes, you can scan directly to the cloud or to a phone. It's just too slow! And that's true for all wireless scanners I've used. The ES-400 really seems to be the same scanner minus the wifi, so we'll be buying more ES-400 scanners. It's only $50 difference so I'm sure some clients will opt for the ES-500W just because they think they might use the wifi. In past experience with previous scanners, the wifi scanning doesn't get used.
The DS-1630 has a flatbed and a document feeder. It's quite an interesting mix. I thought that some offices might want the flatbed. But after I played with this, I'm not sure this is very useful. It's slower than the other scanners at 25 pages per minute. It also has quite a big footprint since the glass is 8.5x11 so it doesn't fit as well at a desk. Most offices I work with don't need the flatbed often. Also, they have large all-in-one printers so they use the flatbed there when they need it. I work with some graphic designers who need a flatbed, but they want a better scanner than this and don't need the document feeder. (And for the graphic designers we get Epson Perfection flatbed scanners). Many offices use desktop scanners for the speed and convenience of being at a desk and you don't really satisfy either of these here. I'm sure there is an audience for this, but for me I thought it was more interesting before I used it.
The software for all of these scanners is about the same. The twain driver works great and allows it to integrate with other software that scans. The epson software is ok, but not nearly as easy as the Fujitsu Snapscan software. With the Snapscan software, I setup my default scan location and settings and then just press the button on the scanner to have the scan where I want it instantly. If I want to name the files as I go, it can do that to. Here with the Epson Software I have to go through a process of opening software and clicking more buttons than I want. It's just slower. If I don't need twain, I buy the Snapscans. If I need twain, I buy Epsons and don't use the software.
Even though these have all been perfectly reliable so far, I don't find that the Epson scanners last as long as the Snapscan scanners. I have offices that have just replaced 10 year old Snapscans just because they're really obsolete (and these were used heavily). With the Epson scanners, I find I get 2-5 years out of them. They're not as well made. The Epson scanners serve the purposes I need and I will keep buying them. I think the Epsons are the more reliable of the scanners beside Fujitsu.
In the end, I like the new scanners. I don't see a reason to upgrade from old Epson scanners unless a 25% boost in speed is enough. If you need twain scanning, I think the Epson scanners are the way to go.
This thing is freaking awesome, but some pointers on its use!!!!!!
I first set it up on usb cable, used it according to the instructions, and it worked awesome. But, I wanted to change where it sat on my desk and the cable wouldn't reach, so I went to Wi-Fi. This is where you really need to pay attention.
The instructions they provide do not apply for the Wi-Fi operation. The install and set up is the same, but you do not use the "Document Capture Pro" software. Instead, you use the "Epson 2" software. It's formatted a bit differently, but operates in essentially the same way.
This scanner is super fast, accurate, and doesn't miss pages. I love that I can set a folder and file name that I want the document scanned to before starting the scan. It ran 50 pages no problem.
Early today I wrote a review that told you not to purchase this scanner. I had repeat failures to scan and had the scanner lock-up.Talked to tech support for almost an hour. Nothing we did helped, the scanner would stop functioning and display error codes. I actually had the thing packaged to return when I decided to contact Epson's customer support a second time. The tech recommended I remove my flatbed scanner software,the flat bed scanner was a different brand, one I only used to scan slides and negatives. I was skeptical but tried as directed. I then re-installed the scanner through the Epson support website. I have spent the last two plus hours scanning old documents.Maybe 500 pages passed though without a single glitch! I could not be happier with this item. The Epson tech support call line was great. I was connected to a tech in less then 3 minutes. Never before have I had this level of success with a call center. I am very pleased with this item and would recommend it to anyone. I'm in the process of scanning 50 years worth of documents. Having a scanner that works this well even with odd sized papers sure makes my life and this project easy!
I have a Fujitsu ScanSnap iX500 and decided to test this one against it. It's significantly faster than an iX500 (35/70 ppm compared to 25/50) and costs less. However, the software that comes with it is total crap compared to the elegant and easy-to-use software that comes with the iX500. Epson should be seriously embarrassed about how bad the native software is. Stunningly bad. On the other hand, this scanner is TWAIN complaint and the iX500 is not. As a result, I could bypass the terrible Epson software and use Adobe Acrobat to run the scanner which works quite well. It's quiet, fast and doesn't jam. If I didn't have Adobe Acrobat to run the scanner, I would have returned the it (that's how bad the Epson software is).
I got three of these Epson scanners to compare and see which works better. I got the ES-400, ES-500W, and the DS-1630. I also have a DS-510 that's a few years old that I'm comparing to. edit: I also got an es-400w. I'm a computer tech who works with a lot of small medical offices. I prefer the Fujitsu Snapscan scanners, but a lot of offices need twain scanning to integrate with their software. The Fujitsu scanners that will do twain are pretty expensive so I tend to go Epson for the offices that need twain. I wanted to see if there's a reason to buy one or the other for the offices I work with.
The ES-400, ES-500W and my old DS-510 are all only document feeder scanners. The new ES-400 and ES-500W are 35 page per minute which is a good step up from the 26 page per minute of the DS-510. I'm sure you have to use a USB 3.0 port and the included cable to get this speed. Other than being faster than the DS-510, I don't notice too much difference between my old scanner and these new. It works about the same. The software is about the same. If you have an older Epson, this will be a speed boost, but not much else of an improvement.
edit: I've now tried the ES-500WR which is just the ES-500W with some extra software for extracting info from receipts and stuff. It's pretty good, but I often only need a little bit of data from each receipt and I'm a good typist so I'm not sure it made a huge impression on me. It's also supposed to get more accurate the more you use it, but it had good accuracy in just testing it. If you see the The ES-500WR receipt software exports to Quickbooks or CSV (a spreadsheet format you might open in excel). If you don't need the extra software, the ES-500WR is the same scanner as the ES-500W.
Feature Product
- Wirelessly scan to your smartphone, tablet or computer - plus online cloud storage accounts (1); PC and Mac compatible.
- Get organized in a snap - scan up to 35 ppm/70 ipm (2); Single-Step Technology captures both sides in one pass.
- Easily scan stacks of paper - robust 50-page Auto Document Feeder.
- Powerful software included - easy scanning with intuitive Epson ScanSmart Software (1); preview, email, upload and more; automatic file naming and object recognition save time.
- Compatible with most software - the included TWAIN driver allows for easy connection to most document management software.
Description
Wireless, fast and easy to use, the WorkForce ES-500W duplex document scanner cuts down on clutter. Wirelessly scan documents to a PC, Mac, smartphone, tablet or cloud storage account (1). The powerful ES-500W makes it all simple. Featuring speeds up to 35 ppm/70 ipm (2) and a 50-page Auto Document Feeder, this compact, reliable performer breezes through stacks of documents — from business and ID cards to receipts, extra-long pages, and more. Easily scan to searchable PDFs and editable Word and Excel files with included Epson ScanSmart Software (1). For added value, the scanner includes a TWAIN driver for compatibility with virtually all document management software.
1. Wirelessly scan to smartphones or tablets (Android/iOS devices) via the Epson DocumentScan App; wirelessly scan to the cloud, PCs or Macs with Epson ScanSmart Software installed on the connected Windows PC or Mac. ScanSmart supports Windows 10 (32-bit, 64-bit), Windows 8/8.1 (32-bit, 64-bit), Windows 7 (32-bit, 64-bit) SP1 and Mac OS X 10.11.x to macOS 10.13.x.
2. Based on letter-sized scans at 300 dpi in Black-and-White, Grayscale or Color Mode, using the USB interface.
3. For convenient and reasonable recycling options, visit our official site.
4. SmartWay is an innovative partnership of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency that reduces greenhouse gases and other air pollutants and improves fuel efficiency.
I reviewed this scanner favorably shortly after buying it. Two months of use later, I find it even greater. I found today that the TWAIN driver has the sophistication to (reasonably) accurately rotate pages to the correct orientation for reading. Custom Paper sizes can be set and reused for non-standard documents. Its speed and auto-duplexing surpass the professional Fujitsu SCSI scanner it replaced, at 1/8 of what the Fujitsu scanner cost.This scanner continues to impress me.
This is a terrific little scanner.
For years I used the similar Fujitsu model. I lived in fear that it would decide to misfeed and hopelessly chew up my valuable papers. This happened about once in every 20 pages scanned. I was running out of four-letter words to yell at it.
In contrast, the Epson has literally never jammed or misfed. I love it. At first I was put off by its unusual method of file assignment, but now that I'm used to it it doesn't bother me.
I bought this scanner to replace my Neat Desk Scanner that broke and Neat stop making scanners. I did some research and found the Epson ES-500W and it works FANTASTIC! I can scan documents, business cards, receipts, and much more. The software is easy to use, save various configurations to quickly select BW Single Sided, Color Single Sided, Color Double Sided, receipts, business cards, etc. If you have a small business or just want to get rid of the mountain of paper that comes with personal or business records management then get the Epson ES-500W and you will see how it performs as I did.
I just got tired of piles of paper that are sitting around "in case," things like years-old car service records and all that 'gubmint' stuff. I was scanning with my ancient but beloved flatbed Perfection 2400 scanner; great resolution for photos, slides and such but paper page-by-page, not so much.
Setup of the ES-400 is not magic but it's not rocket science either. The Quick Start guide is sufficient to get the scanner up and running in a reasonable time and, sure, you have to experiment a little to get the output you want. The ES-400 took me about an hour to set up with the downloads / updates of firmware and all the drivers and utilities, but once I got it tweaked to the settings I wanted for copying invoices and the like (600 dpi, black & white, PDF/A) I started cranking through stuff like crazy. I got more done in an hour or so than I did one Saturday afternoon on the flatbed. I'm quite impressed.
The software does PDF/A so archival documents are legit for legal purposes, and there is a bunch of options for where and how to store your documents. At first blush, this is an excellent choice for home or SOHO document scanning.
I've only had this for a few weeks but I like it so far. One of the reasons I chose this one over an HP ScanJet Pro 3000 s2. Both work with macs but this Epson software software seemed to be just as robust using a mac instead of windows (I know fellow mac users can relate). It scans much faster than the HP ScanJet Pro 3000 s2. It does exactly what I want when I want. It took a little bit to set up the mobile nfc to the scanner but this isn't a deal breaker as I can see myself very rarely use this option. The wifi set up was flawless and I've not had any problems. The only downside I see for wi-fi is that you cannot use the quickset button to scan unless it is plugged into usb, however in my case, my mac is near my scanner most of the time to where plugging into usb isn't a problem. It doesn't make sense for me to put documents in the scanner and walk away to another room to actually scan anyway, so for me this wasn't an issue.
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