Taking a closer look at an Epson GT-S50 Scanner
By +Dax Radder
Epson is one of those grand old companies dating back to its inception in 1942. Epson (founded as “Daiwa Kogyo”) originally began as a manufacturer of watch parts for Seiko Instruments and eventually merged with Seiko to become the forerunner of the Seiko-Epson Corporation. In 1968, Seiko manufactured the world’s first mini-printer called the EP-101 (EP means electronic printer), which became a standard printer for many calculators. In 1975, a second generation of mini-printers were released under the name Epson-why?-remember EP stands for electronic printer, this is the next generation of printers, therefore it became the SON of the EP. Get it? Ep-Son.
Epson is now recognized as one of the world’s largest and most influential manufacturers of computer printers, document scanners, projectors, paper and media and professional imaging products.
Epson GT-S50 Document Scanner
But, today, we are here to review the Epson WorkForce Pro GT-S50 Document Scanner.
As with most Epson built products, this one is built like a tank. It’s built to last. Unlike a tank, though, the GT-S50 is easy to fold up, put away and forget until the next day’s scanning.
For those businesses or people who have to scan daily and scan in quantity, then this Epson is for you. The automatic document feeder can handle a stack of 75 pages at one time-very nice-when compared to other leading scanners that can only handle 50 pages in their feeder. As with other scanners in its class, the Epson GT-S50 is a one pass, duplex color scanner, which means that it is able to scan both sides of your document at one time in color or black and white.
The scanning speed is quite snappy, clocking in at 25ppm (pages per minute). Although, quite frankly, in reviewing scanners, I have come to the conclusion that speed is really in the eye of the beholder. One person considers speed to be the actual scanning and another person considers the speed to be the combination of scanning and the saving of the file. C’est la vie!
An advantage for the Epson GT-S50 over some of the other scanners in its class is that it is a hybrid. It can work out of the box with a PC or a Mac.
TWAIN and ISIS drivers are included with the Epson GT-S50 which allows it to be compatible with just about any other scan program. Some buyers have remarked that this was the tipping point for them to buy the Epson as opposed to a scanner that doesn’t have TWAIN and relies on its proprietary drivers.
With that being said, one of the drawbacks of this scanner is the software (other than the TWAIN and ISIS), especially for users who are not, for lack of a better phrase, computer literate. The software bundled within the Epson GT-S50 does tend to be confusing at times and will slow your overall processing of files to a snail’s pace unless you really put your nose to the grindstone and study how to use it.
Overall, the Epson GT-S50 will get the job done for you and at almost $100 less than other scanners on the market.
Check out the Epson GT-S50′s price versus the competition’s price on my website and see for yourself. If you’re money is tight or your office is on a budget, this scanner just might be the one for you.
My Rating
The Epson GT-S50 Scanner receives a rating of
3 and 3/4 stars out of 5
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Click here to try the Epson GT-S50 Document Scanner now.
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Epson GT-S50 Specifications
Scanner Type: Sheet-fed, one-pass duplex color scanner
Optical Sensor: Color Epson MatrixCCD™ line sensor
Optical Resolution: 600 dpi
Effective Pixels: 5,100 x 21,600 pixels
Color Bit Depth: 48-bit internal / 24-bit external
Grayscale Bit Depth: 16-bit internal / 8-bit external
Monochrome Bit Depth: 1-bit
Light Source: ReadyScan LED technology
Scanning Speed:
- Color: 1.230 msec / line
- Grayscale: 1.230 msec / line
- Monochrome (A4, 300 dpi): 1.230 msec / line
Epson GT-S50 Document Scanner
Automatic Document Feeder
Capacity: 75 sheets
Speed:
- Simplex: 25 ppm (pages per minute)
- Duplex: 50 ipm (impressions per minute)
- A4 size, 200 dpi (dots per inch), with Speed Priority scanning mode
Document Sizes:
- Minimum: 2.1″ x 2.9″
- Maximum: 8.5″ x 36″
- Rigid plastic ID card scanning (including embossed cards)
- Business card scanning
Paper Weight: 45 to 200 g/m
Daily Duty Cycle: 1200 sheets
Double Feed Detection: Roller assembly kit — 100,000 cycles
Epson GT-S50 Document Scanner
Features
Buttons: 5 buttons: Start, Up-arrow, Down-arrow, Mechanical power switch and Cancel
Panel Display:
- 2 line x 16 character LCD
- 10 user-definable one-button scan job settings with personalized job descriptions
Security Lock: Kensington® type
Software:
- Epson Scan
- EMC Captiva ISIS
- ABBYY® FineReader® Sprint Plus OCR
- Nuance ScanSoft® PaperPort® SE
- NewSoft™ Presto!® BizCard 5
- TWAIN and ISIS drivers
Epson GT-S50 Document Scanner
Connectivity
Operating Systems:
Windows Requirements
- Intel® Pentium® II 450 Mhz with 128MB of RAM (512MB of RAM for XP Professional x64 and Windows Vista®) and 215MB of free hard disk space
- Microsoft® Windows 2000 Professional, XP Home Edition, XP Professional, XP Professional x64, Windows Vista (32/64-bit)2, USB 2.03
Macintosh Requirements
- PowerPC® G3 400 Mhz or Intel-based CPU with 128MB of RAM or higher and 200MB of free hard disk space
- Mac OS® X 10.3.9 – 10.5.x
- USB 2.0
Epson GT-S50 Document Scanner
General
Operating Temperature: 50° to 95° F (10° to 35° C)
Operating Humidity: 10 – 80% (no condensation)
Rated Voltage: AC 100 – 240 V
Frequency: 50 – 60 Hz
Power Consumption:
- Normal mode: 40 W
- Ready mode: 13 W
- Sleep mode: 5.5 W
- Off: 1 W
Dimensions: 11.9″ x 8.0″ x 8.4″ (W x D x H)
Weight: 11 lb
Epson GT-S50 Document Scanner
Price Comparisons
While I make every effort to keep these price comparisons up-to-date, retailers do change their pricing frequently. Please use this comparison as a guide only!
Amazon.com……………………………………………………………………….$354.63 (free shipping with no tax)*
Walmart.com……………………………………………………………………..$399.98 (plus shipping plus tax)
OfficeMax.com……………………………………………………………………$399.99 (free shipping plus tax)
Staples.com………………………………………………………………………..$399.99 (plus shipping plus tax)
*no tax is dependent upon your state residency.
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Click here to try the Epson GT-S50 Document Scanner now.
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