Epson Perfection 1260 Photo Scanner

One Saturday morning my old scanner bit the dust. I needed a scanner that weekend, so some research, store visits and reading were required. I finally narrowed my choice to this model and a Canon that didnt do photo negatives. The rebate on this model swayed me along with the capability (although will I use it?) of doing negatives. Well, lets sum it up by saying that after 10 frustrating days, I took it back and got the Canon. Functionally, the 1260 worked fine...quiet and quick. But the software was [horrible]. The Epson Control Panel had text that showed up in different fonts if it showed up at all (I had to constantly open the help file to see what a panel should look like and to figure out what the buttons and text boxes should say). Also, although some functions worked fine, I was unable to save a scanned file as a TIF or BMP and have it import with any quality into PageMaker. My old ...scanner did this just fine at 200 dpi for the size I needed. Anyway, I contacted the help sites for the scanner and a separate site for the software (even though its got Canons name all over it, they dont support it), and after 9 days had heard nothing from either of them. Think twice before you purchase this dog. In fact with that type of customer service, maybe Canon isnt a good choice at all.

Well ive read the reviews here and i here what youre saying. I agree its not the fastest on the bloc nor is it absolute satate of the art, and the Software could have been better, but it does do everything its supposed to do , and the features are pretty good espically the ability to scan a mix of images on the glass and put them in individual files. May i say that most of the negative comments here relate to setting up and installing the scanner correctly, all those wierd colours and stripes are most often caused by wrong proceedures and plugging & unplugging usb hardware , switching off everything & restarting the Computer will in most cases get things on an even keel. The Twain software in the Manual mode works better in some applications than others, Ulead PhotoImpact did a good job as did Paint Shop Pro also,and even Arcsoft Impression which is on the installation CD .Photoshop CS2 worked though in my opinion not as well as i would have expected. Also how many people have downloaded the latest Twain driver from Epson, its easy to find and download. The other bit of info,this is one of the few Scanners that will work in a Linux Operating system (Debian based distros in particular) but you have to download & install Sane to get it working.A few last tips try installing the software first,then close down the PC & connect the Scanner ,then start the PC, chances are it will be fine. Make sure the Scanner is powered up first then switch on your PC, not the other way round,even though XP is plug & play compliant it works better with the first option ,Messages like Scanner could not be found or Scanner could not be initalised is because Windows is not seeing it you can check this by right clicking on EPSON in C Drive and see if Properties are available,in some cases EPSON may not even be there at all,in which case you know that the PC hasnt found it!, Have a second look at this Scanner and you may be happy yet. Good Luck.

I have never had so much difficulty with an Epson product. It arrived in good condition, but the Twain software would Not install from the supplied CD. I tried it both on a windows and a Mac, with the same result. The Epson support site is a maze of screens that continually loops and returns you to the first Screen. It’s pretty frustrating by the fifth time you enter your serial number. Phone calls were not answered and an emails to Epson support were ignored.

I still have this scanner and it still works.. purchased in 2003. I dont use it as much now that scanners are pretty much standard with printers. However, Ive got through a few printers and when I needed to scan, this was ready. I miss these days when products just worked without hassle. Didnt even need to install the driver now Windows searches for drivers automatically. So, it works right out of the bag (that I keep it in, in the closet).

I purchased a 1260 about 9 months ago after my first-generation scanner (from UMAX) died. The scanner and software were quite easy to set up (on a PC running Windows XP), Ive had no hardware problems, and Ive found the picture quality to be very acceptable. Its a bit slow to warm up and scan, but both were as expected in this price range. The bundled EPSON SmartPanel software is a disappointment; it gets the job done but is far from user-friendly (and my low-tech wife still hasnt figured out how to use it).

I installed this scanner onto my system and I use a HP printer. Everything seemed to work until I began trying to make a copy. The scanner would not let me make a copy. I tried every technique imaginable. I read the help files, read the manual and still nothing. I thought there was something wrong with the scanner so I decided to phone epson tech support as my last resort. I couldnt believe what I was told. I was told in order for my printer to work I had to install a ghost printer driver for an Epson printer so the software would work and let me have the option of copying a document. Why on Gods earth would I have to install an Epson Driver when I had a HP printer. To make this frustrating story short Epson has pulled a fast one and made their scanner proprietary meaning it will only work if their printer is set as the default printer. Doesnt seem like a big deal does it? Try printing a document using your printer and you will find it wont print because the default printer is a ghost printer. So what you have to do each and everytime you print you have to go to the device manager and switch between your printer and the epson ghost printer as your default. Tech support told me they dont have a fix for this problem. Wow what a pain. If I am scanning the default printer is the Epson ghost. But to print this I have to change in the program to my printer so I can get my copy as requested from the scanner. But you cant forget to switch the default printer in the device manager when you are printing from any windows program or the internet. I took it back!! I dont have the time or the patience to deal with Epsons way of doing business. Think about it, you would think a scanner is to work on its own merits but Epson has made it only able to work without grief if you own one of their printers. Thanks but no thanks. Back to HP for me.

The quality of the picture is great. Unfortunately, the people that wrote the software for this scanner had created a great deal of glitches; the interaction (if you get any) between the software and the scanner is user unfriendly.

I just unpacked the product a short time ago and found all the parts missing I need to scan slides. I notified Apex and they said it would take a day or 2 to resolve the problem. After a week, they say they are still working with the warehouse to solve the problem. I cant review the product, but I wanted to complain to Amazon - how could they associate with such a sloppy outfit?

Please do yourself a favor and dont purchase this scanner. It is by far the WORST scanner Ive ever owned. I think my scsi scanner from the early 90s was better, at least it worked. Epson also is notorius for providing terrible support for their products and as far as I can tell no longer provides an updated driver for the 1260 model on their site. You need the full driver to scan slides.

I almost did not buy the 1260 Photo Scanner based upon a couple of other reviews. After using it for a few days, I sure am happy I did. 1. Since I run Windows XP with the Service Pack, I was very concerned after reading the problems a couple of other buyers experienced. I can now say this is not an issue with the Epson. When you open the box, there are instructions on how to download a patch from Microsoft to ensure that the scanner runs perfectly. 2. I was also concerned with another reviewers comments about having to set up a phantom printer. I use a HP Laserjet printer and I printed to that device without any problems. 3. Finally, one of the other concerns was ease of use. Again, not a problem from my perspective. The scanner was set up and running perfectly within ten minutes (from box to perfect picture). The quality of the photos and documents is very good from my perspective. I tested the scanner using the printer, sending a picture to an email, saving a scanned picture to a file, and including a scanned picture in a Word document. All functions worked flawlessly. What more could I ask? Well, maybe one thing. The scanner could be a little faster. It is not actually slow - just not real fast. Conclusion: All things considered, I do not think you can go wrong with this scanner.