Epson GT-7000

Epson is probably better known for its superb range of inkjet printers than for its scanners, but this is an area where the company also has a big presence. In fact, in PC Pro's last scanners Labs (issue 41, p118) the company submitted two products. The GT-9500 produced respectable results, coming third in the overall performance stakes, but the cheaper GT-5500 was less impressive. The new GT-7000 is the replacement for Epson's most budget-conscious scanning option.

In an attempt to improve the results produced by the GT-5500, the GT-7000 now sports an increased optical resolution of 600 « 2,400ppi and improved 36-bit colour scanning. It also has a new look, with a case design that caters for the first-time user. On the left-hand side of the front lip of the scanner there's a small green button. Place your target in the scanner, close the lid, press the button and Epson's scan monitor software launches the bundled Presto! PageManager. Once this is launched it runs Epson's TWAIN software and performs a quick preview scan, which usually takes about nine seconds.

At this point, you get the choice of using a basic, cut-down version of the TWAIN software, which features presets for OCR and colour and black and white photo scanning. This option is useful when you don't have the time to wade through the many options presented by the full version of the TWAIN software.

If you want to spend more time perfecting your scans, there are plenty of options to choose from, although they're not as comprehensive or as easy to use as those offered by the Agfa 1200P (reviewed issue 50, p186). Grouped under the heading of Image Controls are exposure, gamma, threshold, highlight and shadow adjustments. The latter pair also has useful eyedropper tools so you can point to the lightest and darkest areas in the preview pane. There's a tone correction utility too, plus the grey balance intensity and colour saturation level can be tweaked. If this seems like too much hard work, there's an automatic setup button.

Since the GT-7000 is a SCSI scanner it's much faster than the parallel port Agfa 1200P. A 6 « 4in colour photo scanned in at a resolution of 600ppi at maximum colour depth took an impressive 45 seconds - the same as the Umax Astra 1220S (reviewed issue 47, p165). A 10 « 8in print scanned using the same settings took a fast, if slightly less impressive, one minute and 42 seconds, which is a little slower than the Astra. Either way it's fast enough for most tasks.

In terms of scan quality, the GT-7000 can't match the Umax Astra or the Agfa 1200P. Detail capture appears to be the main problem. The scanner had no problem dealing with colours competently, but on close inspection fine lines and details in the scans looked slightly blurred in a side-by-side comparison.

More importantly, however, is the price. Not only is the GT-7000 inferior to the Astra 1220S and Agfa 1200P in quality, it's also considerably more expensive. Its price of £190 may not sound like much, but when you consider that the Umax and Agfa offerings cost £129 and £120 respectively, it puts things into perspective. Despite a decent software bundle - full versions of Adobe PageMill 3, TextBridge Classic and Adobe PhotoDeluxe - the GT-7000 is too expensive. There are better-quality scanners around that will cost you a lot less.

Author: Jonathan Bray