My scanner is one of the most important pieces of equipment in my mobile digitization kit. When I was selecting one to purchase, my requirements were something lightweight that could scan a variety of mediums and create high resolution TIFF files. Weighing only 9 pounds, the Epson Perfection V600 Color Photo, Image, Film, Negative and Document scanner seemed like the perfect solution. The V600 was released in 2009 to good reviews at a price point that made it a reasonable option for any budget.

Epson Perfection V600

Example of the vertical green line appearing on our images

When my V600 arrived I ran some tests with the SilverFast scanning software installed on my laptop. Everything seemed to be in order so I packed it up and shipped it to the Leonard library for our first community scanning event. After the event, Maggie was reviewing our scans when she noticed a small green line running though many of the master TIFF files! This was a disturbing discovery, and more research revealed that this is actually an ongoing problem with the V600 scanners. There are reports of users experiencing this problem dating back to scanner’s release in 2009.

Example of the discoloration appearing on our images

I called Epson’s customer service for an exchange and their helpful representative guided me through a trouble shooting process to make sure it wasn’t an issue with the scanning software or laptop. Because my scanner was still under warranty there was no problem arranging an exchange. Epson shipped me a new V600 within 3 business days and I mailed back the old machine. The whole process was very easy and I found their customer service representative very friendly.

My new scanner seems to be working fine; after an afternoon of testing there have been no lines or discoloration in any of my images. Although I was happy with Epson’s quick response it’s disappointing to know that this has been happening to customers for 6 years with no official response from Epson. My colleague Caroline also selected a V600 and hasn’t had any problems, but it’s something that should be seriously considered by anyone interested in purchasing this scanner.

Boxing up my old V600 to ship back to Epson