[Buck_W]

I'm thinking about purchasing a Epson Perfection 3590 scanner. Has anyone here used it? I've read through the forums and it appears that most lean toward either Epson or Canon. For those who have used either (or both - Canon or Epson), does one seem to have an edge over the other?

Any opinions (based on your experience) would be appreciated - thanks.

[Scandalous Ion Cannon]

Overall I say the epson scanners are better.

[mduell]

In May 2005 Consumer Reports rated Canon better than Epson.
For scanners from each in 3 price ranges, the Canon won in each price range.

[Buck_W]

Originally Posted by mduell

In May 2005 Consumer Reports rated Canon better than Epson.
For scanners from each in 3 price ranges, the Canon won in each price range.

Thanks for the feedback. When comparing the Epson 3590 with the Canon 8400, the Canon only has 8-bit grayscale. Is that a big deal? Would someone explain the concept of "grayscale" and the difference between 8-bit and 16-bit?

[Brian McHale]

Would someone explain the concept of "grayscale" and the difference between 8-bit and 16-bit?

Grayscale defines how many shades of gray you can have between black and white. One bit grayscale would equate to each pixel can be either black or white, but not any shade of gray. 8-bit grayscale can handle 128 shades of gray, while 16-bit can handle over 32000.

My only experience is with Epson and Umax scanners. While I was happy with Umax back in my OS 9 days, I was very unhappy with the fact that they never offered OS X compatible drivers for most os their scanners.

I've been very happy with my Epson (not sure what model I've got).

I would suggest going to places like the Macworld site and look for some reviews. While you may find people here who have experience with both Canon and Epson, most users latch onto a brand and stick with it until it displeases them. In other words, most Canon users are likely to be people who bought a Canon and have happy with it, so they will gladly recommend it. Unfortunately, they are likely to have limited experience with other brands. the same goes for Epson users (like myself). I can recommend Epson, but I have no idea to how it compares with the Canon.

*** I just wanted to add a little correction. I was off by a factor of two in my description of how many shades of gray 8 and 16 bits represent. Eight bits can represent 256 shades of gray, while 16 bits can display 65536.

[Buck_W]

Originally Posted by Brian McHale

I would suggest going to places like the Macworld site and look for some reviews.

Thanks for the explanation, Brian. Macworld has reviewed both of the scanners that I am considering and both received pretty high reviews. Macworld gave the Canon 8400 the edge in color and clarity, but as I posted earlier, the Epson 3590 offers 16-bit grayscale while the Canon 8400 is still at 8-bit. Is that a big deal in the overall use of a scanner?

[Scandalous Ion Cannon]

Can't you just scan it in colour and use photoshop to make it grayscale?