Epson Perfection 30 Scanner

The Epson Perfection 30 scanner is a very fast, environmentally friendly scanner. Its zero warm-up time is a nice benefit as well. A minimalist unit yet stocked with all the features that scanners need (scan to e-mail and PDF, for example), it's a good buy--and it's well under a hundred bucks.

The Epson Perfection 30 is an excellent, if basic, flatbed color scanner. Retailing under $80, it's hard to go wrong.

The scanner needed no warm-up time in my tests; that's because it uses LED light, which also provides a strong, sharp light that helps scans look good. It was even able to scan clearly and sharply using colored paper, something that is often a challenge for scanners. Pages scanned quickly, taking only a few seconds to pass over a letter-sized page.

I liked being able to scan a dozen pages to PDF without having to change settings each time. The unit's flexible top swings all the way open so that if you're scanning a large book, you don't have to keep flipping it around; simply slide the book across the scanner and rest half of it on the top.

In terms of photo editing, the Perfection 30 performed admirably and with no surprises, good or bad. The included photo-editing software is basic but easy to use, and with image scanning up to 4800 dpi and with 48-bit color, there's a great deal of flexibility in working with photos.

If there are any quibbles at all, it's that the unit is rather large. Full-blown photo scanners with a lot more features and higher dpi are available for the mid $100s (even the Epson Perfection V500 Photo Scanner is getting close to $150), so if you need to do anything more--scan negatives or slides, for example--you might want to go with the higher-end units. Otherwise, no complaints.