Rating: 
Summary: Excellent Slide Scans, Surprisingly Easy Setup
Review: 1. Setup was sooooo simple that even a small kid could set it up. Not much manuals to read over anxiously. Cuz Epson seemed to had only one thing in mind while making this 'piece of art'. Simplicity.2. Scanning Slides. The BEST ! I compared this with other scanners like the Micrktek 4900 (UGGGGGHHHHHhh !!!). Cant even talk about that scanner any more. Read my review there in case ur interested. But talkin abt this Epson, it sure know its job v-e-r-y W-e-L-L !
The good news was that I was finally able to scan my dark slides and some pretty contrast slides of the Times Square in a jiffy. 3. Very simple attachment for scanning slides and negatives. A no brainer actually. It comes with a kind of a mould that fits only in one position on the flatbed and has perfect holders for slides/negatives - as against the Scan-Lid that comes with the Microtek Scanner for Slides/Negatives... real messy stuff. In short, this scanner just saved me a couple hundred bucks by not going in for those expensive Dedicated Slide Scanners.
Rating: 
Summary: Don't use this for scanning diapositives!
Review: A few months ago I finally made the decision to digitalise alle the travel pictures I'd ever made (mostly on diapostive film) and bought this Epson Perfection 1660 Photo with diapostiive layer (6 at a time), which looked very good and had a good reputation. But the Twain software doesn't do its job properly on scanning diapositives. It cuts borders, decides on its own where to cut a darker zone in a picture (shadows, contrasting colors) with the result that it sometimes splits pictures in half, or cuts away a part of it. Especially pictures taken in the evening or at night are a nightmare to scan.
And then, after I reinstalled the software for a third time, it suddenly cancelled the install procedure, and now for some reason it's impossible to install the Twain software again. The helpdesk hasn't been very helpfull (motto: help yourself), so after three months' use, I find myself with an unusable scanner. Thank you, Epson!
Rating:
Summary: Running XP / Install Issues / Ease of Use
Review: A lot has been written here. I have to agree that this is probably the best scanner for the price. Look at, and consider other scanners, but always keep this one in the back of your mind. I looked very seriously at the HP line. Their "look" is superb ... Very stylish. Don't be misled. Definitely not a bad product, but stay focused on why you're buying a scanner in the first place. Stick to the specifications and you'll agree the Epson is the best for the money. In my case, I have 3 young children, and I have recently become very concerned about keeping their pictures and other mementos safe. Also, I recently unearthed a ton of slides of my childhood, and quite frankly, who has a projector these days? So I wanted to get all this stuff in to a format that I could easily store, duplicate, and distribute. Not knowing too much about scanners, at first pass the HP seemed better suited for what I needed a scanner for. The slides and negatives have a type of holder that is self contained and looks like it would be easier to use than the Epson's "slides and negative holder" in the lid. In actual practice, the Epson system for this works quite well, and since all you have to do to is lift the lid, ultimately it's less cumbersome than the HP system if you have a lot of slides & negatives to scan. Installation: This had me a bit nervous based on reviews, but quite honestly it was a cake walk. The scanner package has a disc and a short to-the-point printed document that walks you through installing the scanner. In XP, several error messages came up during the install, and that concerned me until I really read the messages and came to understand that all the messages were really saying were things like, and I'm paraphrasing here, "You don't have a handheld organizer attached or associated with this computer, so I am not going to install the Organizer software". I just kept clicking "OK" and "Continue" until the software was completely installed. I probably got at least 10 of these types of messages. The printed page that comes in the box along with the scanner walks you through your first scan. . . Very easy. The quality is superb! This isn't your momma's scanner. The technology has advanced amazingly in the past few years, and using a scanner has never been easier. Just be patient and take your time learning. I have scanned in well over 300 negatives since I got the Epson yesterday, and it has completely exceeded all my expectations. Sharp, detailed, and the whole concept is pretty amazing, frankly. You're taking 35mm negatives and turning them in to archiveable, sendable pictures. The digital images I'm getting from the negatives far exceed the resolution of the best digital cameras, and for much much less. Other stuff: I have a ton of old records in printed format. Things like bank statements and stuff that I want to retain like pre-Turbo Tax Tax Returns. I tried scanning a few and for items like this, there's a "Full Auto Mode" setting you choose (For slides and negatives you have to use "manual mode"). This setting makes everything easy. Slap the document down on the glass, hit the scan button, and the software does the rest. Presto! Digital archive. OCR works, and seems to work well. For the uninitiated OCR converts a printed document, such as the page of a book in to editable text, like a word document. I scanned a couple of printed membership lists and there were only a couple of very minor recognition errors. Using a scanner isn't as intuitive as many other types of computer hardware. This one's pretty easy to master once you've done it a few times. Happy scanning!
Rating: 
Summary: Excellent Scanner for the Price
Review: After having read some of the spooky comments on driver issues, I was a bit hesitant to install the supplied software, but in the end decided to anyway. Everything installed in a snap on my XP Home system. (VPR Matrix - Best Buy's brand computer). The only thing I'm having a problem with is the Presto Pix!Express software that converts pictures to be used on a PDA. It doesn't seem to convert them correctly and when trying to run the program on my PDA , it won't run, giving me a soft reset error. I tried a repair install, but that didn't work. May try to uninstall and reinstall. Other than that minor glitch, everything else works extremely well. Scans are sharp, in particular I am impressed with the slide scanning. Much better than a dedicated Minolta Dimage Scan Dual that I used to have. Do wish the glass was removable however, so that one could clean both sides. That isn't an issue now, but could become one at some point. Smart panel is slick and easy to use - manual controls are nice. The documentation is a bit cumbersome but nothing that would kill the deal. Works on my USB 2.0 hub just fine (it has its own power adapter). In my limited experience (1 week), I'd say it's well worth the price.
Rating: 
Summary: Remorseful buyer here!
Review: Bought the so-called Mac compatible scanner last year and it worked with OS 9. I went to do this years batch of scans using OS X and no go. Image Capture doesn't see it connected via USB. An Apple Support document indicates that the 1660 Photo driver is NOT a built-in driver in Mac OS X. I downloaded most the recent software (epson11208.sea) from Epson website, installed it...the scanner app won't even startup!
Rating:
Summary: First scanner.
Review: Did a lot of research on scanners. Originally I was going to go for the Epson 2450. Financial considerations kept me to the 1660 range. No regrets. This unit more than meets requirements. Have scanned in more than 500 pictures and slides.
Machine works fast, accurate and easy to use. There is apparently better software out there but the included Twain & Photoshop are more than I would ever need.
Rating:
Summary: Great, especially for the price
Review: First of all, I have a Mac, so that plays into any computer equipment purchases. You'd be surprised how many peripherals still don't work with Macs. That said, Epson has always had excellent Mac support. They provide updated drivers soon after Apple releases new versions of OS X. This is definitely not true of other scanner manufacturers (like Microtek).
Anyway, this is a great scanner. It offers plenty of resolution (1600 dpi optical) and does a good job with slides and negatives. Slides scanned at 1600 dpi come out with slightly more resolution than a two-megapixel digital camera. If you need more detail than that, you'd be better off buying a dedicated film scanner. But for the price this one does an excellent job.
I really like Epson's TWAIN software. it has three levels of complexity: Home, Office, and Professional. The first two give simple options and make all the choices for you. Professional provides a surprising amount of control and dispenses with all of the assistants and helpers (which I find maddening).
Rating:
Summary: I will never ever buy EPSON again
Review: First, I'm computer professional and I've been doing this stuff for years and years. The Epson software for this scanner is flaky. I've used it under Windows 2000 and Windows XP and it is not reliable. Sure, when it works it's ok. But, quite often it pops up modal or non-modal but very non-standard Windows windows that you can't get to with Alt-TAB and they are not in the Task Manager. Basically, you're hosed and you need to reboot. If you've scanned a bunch of images in and they have not yet been saved to file, they are gone. You've just wasted a little bit of your life. And installing the drivers is another time that Epson gets to steal from your life. Epson used to make the ONLY printer in the old days, but I don't know what they are doing now. But I do know that I will never buy an Epson product for the rest of my life.
Rating:
Summary: A Real Workhorse!
Review: I am 65 and after 40+ years of marriage, my wife and I had accumulated about 5,000 pictures and slides in albums, boxes, envelopes, etc. I have now finished scanning them all and have PhotoShopped, date-labeled, filed them in folders in "My Documents" and created CDs for the relatives. The Epson 1660 performed flawlessly! My conscience no longer nags me! Based on my satisfaction, I looked to Epson for a combination printer/scanner/copier. (I left my scanner and printer at our Florida home) I bought the Epson Stylus CX5400 based on the very favorable user reviews and the remarkably low price. It too is a great product.
Rating:
Summary: Fantastic for the common user
Review: I am not a scanner buff by any stretch of the imagination, and have only owned one other scanner before this one, but I know what I like. I like the Epson Perfection 1660. From its crisp scanned images to its sleek design, this scanner is a winner. But, setting aside how it looks, or how well it scans, leaves you with software. Epson SmartPanel is superb. Push a button on the scanner, and the software launches automatically (you can run it by normal methods, too), giving you many options for the upcoming scan; whether you want to scan to a file, to an e-mail, to the web, to an application, or perform OCR on a document, this scanner/software combo can do it all. I was very impressed, and I think you will be, too. One minor addition; for those who have had trouble with XP and the 1660, I just don't get it. I use XP Pro and had the most effortless and simple install imagineable. The scanner works flawlessly with XP's own scanner/camera wizard, and Smartpanel works perfectly. You folks are doing something wrong.
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