Epson - Perfection V19 II Color Photo and Document Flatbed Scanner - Black

BUILD QUALITY: The first thing I noticed with this is how light it is. The build quality if so-so. It is made almost completely of plastic. The plastic does feel a bit cheap and doesn’t appear to be high quality, but I could be wrong about that as it is the typical feel of a product like this. It doesn’t have a power button and is powered by the device it is connected to. It connects via Micro USB. Which is gross and I highly dislike. As that standard needs to disappear and be fully replaced with USB-C. Additionally, the fitting is very loose and recessed. I don’t like it. The hinge itself is fine. But again, feels cheap. Doesn’t wobble much which is good, but I think with any type of impact it would break. It has a kickstand which is great all around and works well but isn’t super useful. Buttons themselves feel good. Require a lot of force to actuate but it has good rubber stoppers, so it doesn’t move when you press them. PERFORMANCE: Despite the so-so build quality, it performs great. I tried a plethora of different items (photos, cutouts, papers, ads) and it captured all of them with great detail and the process itself is easy, straightforward, and quick even for those who aren’t tech savvy. The device itself isn’t very loud. Software is excellent. Is easy to download off their website (which also installs the drivers you need to make the device work). The software is intuitive and easy to navigate. The first time you plug in the device for the session you need to open the software, so it turns on and connects. From then on if you close out of the program you just have to press the button on the device itself where it will open the software and initiate the copy. So from a performance/software standpoint I have no complaints. Which is the most important part. You can also set it so you can scan multiple items and put them in same file. Also, can choose what file type you want (jpg, pdf, etc.). Overall, if you are looking for a good scanner for documents or transferring photos to digital this is a great product. As the software and operation is top notch. Just don’t drop it.

The Epson V19 II is a highly portable, light, and convenient scanner. I had some time to use it and become acquainted, and after some minor nuances during installation of the driver's, I can say it is a handy machine, as well as portable and space saving in design. Personally, I enjoy that it has the kickstand on the back, to have it sit upright like a picture frame and able to scan that way. The build quality is nothing special, as it does feel very light, and with that feeling comes a slight feeling of cheapness. But generally, since it is portable and able to be powered from your laptop, lightness is a desirable feature. It makes scanning in expense reports for work from the couch a breeze, as well as making copies of family photos that we don't have in digital format from years ago! Overall, I'm very pleased with this device and it's functionality. Once you download the driver's and utilities from Epson's support site, the install process is pretty quick and seamless. I had minor hangups telling me the server wasn't available when installing, but I clicked ok and retry, and it worked. The software itself is fairly basic, you won't be doing any high end editing, but it does at least incorporate red eye removal, auto editing and enhancement, which is sometimes good and bad, as those enhancements tend to oversaturate certain colors. There are also 4 buttons on the front, one to scan as PDF, another to email, another to copy, and the main standard scan button. Pushing any one of these will launch the scan utility and begin scanning whatever you have inside, with then the option to document or photo edit, allowing to crop/rotate/stitch images and docs. If you have multiple pages to scan, simple hit the +Scan button and it will continue to scan. This isn't as efficient for PDF and document scanning as an actual doc scanner that can take and roll through many pages per minute, but it is a much higher DPI than you will find in any of those at 4,800. So this is mainly intended for pictures and drawings that you want the utmost clarity in. I worry it will stand the test of time and porting it around, but only time will tell from that perspective. I'm also slightly annoyed they decided to use an antiquated Micro USB connector. Should have went with USB C due to widespread adoption, but I'm sure it was a cost saving initiative that didn't have any real upside to do otherwise. Overall, a great device that should serve it's market well.

Scanners have been around for ages. They are a byproduct of Fax technology and have been refined over the decades. Today, it's hard to imagine a printer that would lack a scanner. Yet, Epson still makes flatbed scanners for a particular and specific group of users. You might or might not know this, but the scanners that come built into your printer are far from being great. As a matter of fact, the resolution they are able to capture the source at hovers around 600 to 1200 DPI at the max setting and at a sub-par quality. This makes them rather inadequate if you're looking to back up your fading photos or hand-drawn sketches, paintings or any other media. Dedicated flatbed scanners such as the Epson V19 are actually made for this very purpose in mind, with very high resolutions and a higher quality scanner module. Here's the good and the bad: Pros: + The maximum resolution is 4800 DPI which captures every detail + The source material is captured so well that there is barely a difference between the original and the scanned image (colors are true to source) + It is about the size of a 15.6" laptop and only about an inch thick + It comes with a "kickstand", which saves room on your desk when you don't need it + It's powered and connected to your computer using a single USB to Micro USB cable + Very light and easy to carry around + It's easy to set up and use Cons: - The plastic material used for the body feels a bit flimsy and cheap - The buttons recessed partially under the lid can be a bit hard to reach - It's rather slow, but this depends on the resolution you choose Overall, this is a very capable scanner which will allow you to save those family pictures that are fading away or any other media you might require at higher resolutions. Scanners such as this Epson flatbed are hard to find and really appeal to a specific user base. If you are such one user, get this scanner, you won't regret it. Recommended!

The Epson Perfection V19 II Flatbed Scanner is another solid offering in its price category even with some odd choices and hindered software. Setting up the Epson Perfection V19 II was super simple and well 'guided'. Being a USB powered device, there's no power brick to be concerned with if you plan using this in a portable way. How well the internal mechanism will stand up to being carted around is sort of an unknown but if one is careful, I would expect it would fine. The printed instructions direct the user to go to the Epson website and download the 'Combo' software package which essentially installs all drivers, utilities and software-update tools. That process was a snap to do and the installation process was just as easy - without issue. The scanner provides resolution up to a whopping 4800 dpi which should be plenty for just about anyone. All the essential buttons are located up-front and the software can also be used to initiate the scanning functions. The 'smart' features of the Epson Perfection V19 II are a touch overblown as all you really get is some 'document type' autodetection and photo enhancement capability. If you try to scan a few photos on the flatbed at the same time, you still need to do manual cropping and rescanning - so the automation part of the deal isn't super fancy or big on "value add". All in all, the quality, speed and handling of scans is pretty much standard faire and most people should be satisfied with the functionality of this scanner. The few older, faded photos I scanned that brightened up nicely and came back to life. I like the fact that you can remove the flatbed cover to place large books and magazines. The "kick stand" is a nice feature too. The Epson Perfection V19 II isn't all that complicated to use and is priced right. But I was hoping the software would be a bit more powerful - especially when it came to scanning a 'glass full' set of photos at the same time. What prompted me to demote the review by one star was the fact that Epson chose to use a microUSB port arrangement. That's one of my biggest pet peeves these days. There really isn't any excuse for it anymore. USB-C is far too common and easy to work with without the risk of damaging the port. It's simply a more robust & fool-proof connection. Pros: Epson quality Fast, clear beautiful results Very light weight No power brick to fuss around with or have to carry around Super easy setup Reliable software but... Cons: The software is mediocre for photo processing in batches MicroUSB! I would still recommend the Epson Perfection V19 II Flatbed Scanner for anyone on a tight budget and Ok with the small oddities that come with it.

The Epson Perfection (Model V19 II) is a single-sheet flatbed scanner. Powered by a micro USB port, this is one of the lightest scanners I’ve ever used. The box that it ships in is very well padded, and there are plenty of blue plastic tape straps holding bits and pieces together. The scanner includes some reading material and a USB cable to power the scanner. This is not the world's fastest scanner, especially since it is a single-page scanner and not one with an automatic document feeder. That means, on average, it scans about one page every 25 seconds at the lowest scan settings. So let's hope you don't make the same mistake I did. First off, this scanner is not detected by Windows 11 by default. Complacency got me to skip reading the manual and head straight to google. Had I read the instructions, the manual asks you to download the software from a particular section of the Epson support website. Because I googled the software drivers, I ended up downloading the wrong drivers. It must be noted that Epson has two scanners, the older V19 and the newer model V19 II. If you download the wrong software, the scanner will not work. So after a few frustrating moments of trying to figure out why my scanner would not be recognized, I realized I had the wrong driver. In their infinite wisdom, Epson has not differentiated the two products very well other than marking it as ‘discontinued.’ As of when writing this review, the V19 drivers come up before the V19 II drivers. Even Google tends to link to the older V19 drivers. The scanner does well as a sheet bed scanner. The overall scan speed is rapid at lower dots per inch (100-200 dpi), resulting in 10 seconds for a full letter-sized sheet scan, but it takes forever for the scanner head to return to the start point, ending up with a scan time closer to 22 seconds. The native resolution of this scanner is likely about 200 DPI, but it can interpolate an optical resolution at 4800 DPI. The scan speed will drop to a very slow crawl at higher resolutions. For text documents, 100-200 DPI is plenty, / 300+ DPI if you need that crisp archival resolution. For archiving pictures, a minimum of 300 DPI is recommended, but I tend to use 600 DPI will allow for large enough files with enough detail that may be photoshopped later. Software features included with the combined scanner driver and utility combo include the Epson Smartscan and Epson OCR. If you install the Epson Smart Scan software, it allows you to scan directly to PDF and searchable PDF, email, or send it to a printer (to act like a copier) or to a document folder. The four one-touch buttons on the front allow for that feature. By default, the software automatically picks the best mode. Still, if you want to change it up, the Epson Smart Scan software settings allow you to change it to photo mode, bringing about additional features, including restoring fade. As a desktop scanner, it is a beautiful device. I love the convenience and lightness of it. I have been scanning childhood photos straight from the albums having taken over my dining table. While the software can break the images automatically, it does not seem to work all that well. You need about an inch gap between images, and you need to keep it away from the sidewalls. That means you can realistically do two 4x6” pictures or three 2x3” pictures at a time if you want to have it automatically save them as individual pictures. If the pictures are already in an album and cannot be removed, the scanner cover makes it easy to put larger books to allow for scanning. This feature is highly underrated when dealing with older photo albums that go back 30-40 years and are fragile. I found it easier to use Adobe Photoshop to scan the images directly into the environment and break it apart manually. That said, the convenience of automatically doing it is well worth the casual user's archival requirements. If you are looking for a scanner to scan old photographs, this Epson Perfection V19 II will meet that requirement well. What we like: Lightweight scanner with single cable connection Good clean scan quality and the hood is adjustable for thicker scanner documents Ability to align the scanner on an angle with the built-in stand Built-in one-touch scanning and OCR features What we dislike: Software driver needs to be identified better on Epson’s website Scan speeds are slow Cheap build quality, noisy stepper motor