Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I bought a 4490 Photo Scanner from Best Buy in Abilene, Texas last month (November 2006) in order to transfer some of my 3,000 plus slides to my computers. I paid about $200 with tax included. I read several reviews of this scanner before deciding what to buy, and I was nearly scared away. Please don't let the nay-sayers steer you away from this scanner! As far as the people who say the scanner makes a " grinding noise..." well, these people have not read the instructions and they did not UNLOCK the scanner safety feature after taking it out of the box after their purchase. The scanner is shipped from the factory to the store LOCKED so the internal mechanisms won't be sliding back and forth during shipment. UNLOCK the scanner and it WON"T MAKE THE GRINDING NOISE! I originally tried to purchase a Nikon V Coolscan because I have been using Nikon products since 1976 and I LOVE NIKON (I MEAN I AM A NIKON FANATIC) but the Nikon Coolscan V wasn't available anywhere. I had to get some slides scanned in the next 48 hours for a website I needed some slides on. I was very desperate and in a big hurry so I decided on trying the 4490 Epson. I figured if I had problems, Best Buy would take it back and give me a refund. I told the sales clerk about the "bad" reviews I had seen in regard to this scanner and he advised, a full refund could be made if I wasn't happy. Well, long story made short, I have had no problems and I am totally blown away at what this scanner was able to do with my slides, some dating back to 1961, but most taken in the late 1970s and in the 1980s. With the built-in software (dust removal, color correction and Digital ICE) the control I have is extraordinary. In fact, I have been able to make scans that look better than the original slides (for old slides needing "tweaking.") I HIGHLY recommend this scanner if you need to preserve your slides like I do. I am a professional photographer and my old slides (from around the world) needed to be preserved and this scanner has done a WONDERFUL job of getting them into a high-quality digital format. As far as all the people who have complained that this scanner is slow, GIVE ME A BREAK! Scanning a slide at high resolution on any scanner takes time. Go do something else while the machine is busy. NO SCANNER CAN COPY YOUR SLIDE IN A SPLIT-SECOND... be patient! I've scanned about 300 slides so far with this scanner and I have a few hundred more to go and I am VERY HAPPY with the end results. In fact, I am glad I didn't buy the Nikon V Coolscan because I save a bundle by purchasing the Epson. I have every reason to believe the Epson 4490 makes as good of scans as the Nikon (and I am a Nikon Loyalist using only Nikon cameras in my aerial photography business...) The Epson 4490 Photo Scanner allows you to scan up to 6 slides at time, and if you scan all 6 at ultra high resolution using the software enhancments, it can take an hour or so. But if you simply want a standard scan of a slide, it only takes a moment, and even in the "fast-mode" the scan looks good. This scanner is durable, attractive and takes up no more room on a desk than a regular scanner. Is it noisy? Well, does your microwave oven drive you nuts? If so, then go get some ear plugs. This scanner is much quieter than my microwave and for those people who complain of noise, I suspect they are being a little too finiky. I love this scanner and I bet you will too. I am VERY HAPPY with my purchase and I suspect this scanner will provide years of service. (UPDATE... January 2008) I used this scanner on an Apple Mac Powerbook running OSX... And I recently purchased a Pentax 645N camera. This scanner doesn't have a provision to accept the film for a Pentax 645. It can take a 2 inch by 2 inch as in a Hasselblad and the larger image size of a Mamiya RB67, but not the odd size of a Pentax 645... I have not tried using this scanner with a Windows computer. It scans documents as good as any I have ever seen, and I am still blown away at how good the scans are of my 35mm slides, both Ektachrome and Kodachrome... Software is great and this scanner MAKES NO NOISE like other complain about... If they would unlock it, the darned thing would be quiet, but if they don't unlock it upon taking it out of the box and prior to first use, it will most likely damage the plastic gears on the slide tray and damage the unit and it will ALWAYS be noisy... Good luck