Epson Stylus Scan 2500 review

The Epson Stylus Scan 2500 is a multi-function peripheral.

It features a scanner and printer mechanism in one box and can operate connected to a Mac or as a standalone copier.

The integral printer is based on the same engine as Epson's Stylus Color 740 inkjets, and the scanner engine is based on the one in the Epson GT-7000 scanner. As such, the Stylus Scan 2500 has an impressive specification - 1440dpi maximum printing resolution and 600 x 2400 pixel optical scanning resolution - with the ability to produce some very good results right out of the box.

As a standalone device, it can be used as an inkjet photocopier, producing grey-scale or colour copies between 50% and 200%, at a range of qualities and print speeds. It's quite fast, churning out a copy of an A4 photo at the highest quality in about three minutes, and produces reasonably good output even on the cheapest paper. It's also very easy to use in this mode. In a small office or in the home, it's a usable alternative to a standard photocopier.

For printing, the Stylus Scan 2500 is selected in the Chooser in the standard Mac way, and this is printer-driving almost at its best. You can opt to share the printer across other Macs on the network, for example, and the Print dialog box allows access to several utilities and tools, including an ink level check. On the other hand, no desktop printer facility is provided, which means that if you have two or more printers, a trip to the Chooser is compulsory every time you want to return to the Stylus Scan 2500 from another printer. This is a pity, because it spoils an otherwise flawless Mac implementation.

For scanning, a TWAIN driver is supplied, which allows any application that supports TWAIN to acquire images directly. For professional users, that's probably all that's required, as it's a well-endowed tool that lets you take full control of scanning features. But others will want to take advantage of another included utility, which launches a pre-selected application when you press the Scan button on the Stylus Scan's front panel.

The utility launches the supplementary software supplied for controlling scanning, copying and printing functions on a more integrated basis, but you can set it to launch any application. You could, for example, simply set it to Photoshop and do all scanning from there. Initial shipments of the Stylus Scan 2500 have Presto! PageManager bundled as the controlling software, but this is being changed to Epson Smart Panel. Users who have Presto! can download Smart Panel from Epson's Web site.

Smart Panel features seven main utility functions: Copy, Scan to fax, Scan to e-mail, Scan to OCR, Scan to application, Scan for creativity, and Print fun. You can launch these individually from the Finder, but Smart Panel works as a central controlling program, firing up utilities as required.

Functions are fairly self-explanatory as you use them, and you're guided through the steps needed to complete each task, but some functions rely on other software being installed. Scan to email works with cc:Mail, Eudora, QuickMail, PowerTalk and Outlook Express (but not with Claris Emailer); Scan for creativity relies on the bundled PhotoDeluxe software being installed; while Scan to fax needs FaxSTF.

Similar multi-function devices have been around for a while for Windows users, and some have even been adapted for Mac use (see PowerPrint 5.0, Reviews, Vol 16 No 2, p26), but the Stylus Scan 2500 is the first device available in the UK to feature integral USB connection and full native support for the Mac.