Epson Perfection V19 II Color Photo and Document Flatbed Scanner

This is an impressive flat-bed scanner. Easy hook up with just one usb cord, no power cord. scans photos and documents very well and I’m overall pleased with it except for one quirk. There is no on/off switch! The scanner “boots up” when I turn on the computer and it stays on for ready use. If I don’t use it for a time period then it turns off by itself. After it turns itself off – if I need to use it – there is no way to turn it on. It’s off! I finally resorted to rebooting the computer and then the scanner “boots up” by itself, ready for use, and stays on until it decides to turn itself off again. Kind of a pain, but a minor inconvenience.

This works great. The edit option doesn’t always pop up, but when it does, it is a nice feature. If you have issues getting the black and while ones to come out, I recommend using a piece of paper or the back of a photo, so there is a sort of frame around the picture that you are trying to scan. My black and white pictures were not coming out at all, too dark, then I tried this and I haven’t had an issue since.
Was really surprised how easy it all was. It is not fast, but it gets the job done and you can set up a nice rhythm to get the scans done quicker.

Took it out of the box. Plugged it in. Installed its drivers. And it just worked. For what I do, it’s just fine. Most of what I scan are just documents, with no special needs or required quality. But once in a while, I want to scan in a photo and I want a good, high res result. This is so much better than my last scanner (that was well over a decade old when it finally died) that I kind of wish it had failed earlier.

I was searching for a budget friendly scanner that wouldn’t take up too much space and found this item! It’s not too expensive, and scanning my timesheets for work has never been so much easier! Plus with options to file as pdf, email, etc. if you’re looking for a basic scanner that will scan most documents (bar special papers like legal or anything bigger than standard 8.5 X 11), then this is a good scanner to grab. It’s USB connected and can be disconnected when not in use. It’s light in weight as well.

Does the job with no muss nor fuss and seems built for volume workflows. Only very minor criticism is reserved for the USB plug-in cord supplied as the machine end of the cord is a bit on the dodgy doesn’t-quite-fit side: for me, I do not like the scanner cycling all the time on standby so I unplug the thing on the scanner side of the cord when not using it but that is me.

This scanner was easy to set up and use, however after the first use it completely quit working. I called Epson and not only did the rep yell at me (even though I was completely kind and calm) she kept telling me that it was user error.

It would not power up at all, even though I tried it on two different computers and tried four different cords. I’ve been a tech girl a long time, and I’ve never had such issues as I did with this scanner.

DEFINITELY do NOT recommend this. And I won’t be buying an Epson to replace it. The only upside is that it was inexpensive, so the fact that Amazon would not let me return it and Epson would do nothing to fix it the situation made it easier to just chuck it in the garbage and buy a better quality one to replace it.

The Epson Perfection V19 II Flatbed Scanner is a great consumer choice!

I got this for our household to use for whatever when needed. My wife is Lt. at a major fire department, my daughter is a talented artist and I’m… Well I’m a Nerd who likes Geeky stuff, so when I got the chance to get this flatbed scanner, I jumped! I know my wife can use it to scan photos from Incident Comand scenes for presentations and my daughter can use it to scan her cool art… And I can use it for, well, Nerdy Geeky stuff!

Inside the box you’ll find the scanner, a USB cable and the ubiquotoous user guides. One cool feature, is no power chord! It is powered by the USB cable. Score!

Setup was almost too easy, especially with the included quick start guide… Un-box, remove all the plastic and tape and stuff, download the SW, install SW and plug it in. From unbox to operational was maybe 10 minutes at most.

Another thoughtful feature is the “kickstand” on the back (see pics) that allows for the scanner to be placed in a more vertical attitude, freeing up much needed desk space. Nice addition.

In all, this a great consumer grade choice if you have the need. Quality is good and price is right!

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 (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 4×6” pictures or three 2×3” 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

Thin and lightweight. Around 3-pounds, Epson put all the scanning power into the V19. The USB port provides both communication between the unit and the PC and no additional power plug needed. When scanning photos and placing the photo into the lower left corner of the scanner, I notice it cuts off around 1/4-inch of the picture. That’s why I couldn’t give five stars. This small issue aside, the 4800 x 4800 resolution is amazing.

The software is easy to download from the Epson site. The front buttons provide direct scanning to emails or download the file to your PC. PDFs are my most used document format. The V19 performs PERFECTLY. A full sheet 8 x 11 letter sized document scans in around 10 to 15 seconds. Removing the lid allows the flatbed to accept books and magazines to be scanned without a problem. The software can scan multiple pages one at a time. The unit is very quiet. When not in use a built in kickstand on the bottom allows one to store it on edge taking up less desk space. It makes the perfect portable scanner for use with laptop users on the go.