CompuServe Thread

#Epson Scanner et al

34 messages in this thread
#134400From: Brian BartlettFeb 28, 1994 10:58 PM
Earl, in the future, if you quote a message including the header, please put a space before the first #: as AutoPilot, and some other message readers, gets confused thinking that the quoted message is an error in the download of the message base. It makes the life easier for those of us with automatic message readers. "You do trust me, don't you? Of course you do." — "To Play the King" (BBC)
#134507From: Earl WarrenMar 1, 1994 7:33 PM
Hi Brian – Thanks for the pointer! Did not mean to cause anyone a problem! And did not realize that the <#> was the mark that the autopilot software used to locate headers, etc. I use TapCis regularly – so will be much more alert to this. Regards, << Earl >>
#134512From: Betty Clay/SYSOPMar 1, 1994 9:08 PM
I'd like to know more about the Epson ES600C scanner. Have some of you used it? What software (other than ADPRO) is needed to go with it? Does it need other hardware to work with it, or just the cable to the parallel port? Can one get software for an MSDOS machine so that I could also use it with my Toshiba notebook computer? Thanks. Oh yes – what would be a reasonable price for a new one, and how likely would one be to find a good used one? —Betty
#134556From: Black Belt SystemsMar 2, 1994 11:04 AM
Imagemaster R/t contains very nice, scanner drivers which work well with the ES600. You don't "need AdPro" at all. –Ben …via AutoPilot
#134572From: Betty Clay/SYSOPMar 2, 1994 3:03 PM
Ben – and I HAVE ImageMaster, too! I should have looked. Thanks for reminding me. And I apologize for my poor memory. —Betty
#134645From: Black Belt SystemsMar 2, 1994 11:28 PM
Not a problem. :^) –Ben …via AutoPilot
#134724From: Vic WagnerMar 3, 1994 5:18 PM
Betty, If you have any problems with the scanner SW, you know who to call <smmiiille>.
#134745From: Betty Clay/SYSOPMar 3, 1994 9:24 PM
You, too?? It's been too long since we had nightly CO's. I can't keep up with the players any more! —Betty
#134853From: Steve Bennett/SYSOPMar 4, 1994 1:17 PM
Betty, The scanner s/w for ImageMaster is a subset of Vic's MetaScan program (that has never seen the light of day, as far as I can tell). It's terrific stuff.
#134878From: Vic WagnerMar 4, 1994 6:47 PM
Betty, I've been pretty 'under the weather' and going to bed around 2230 for the past couple weeks…then there was this little mixup with my account (it temporarily went over it's 'limit' and when the end of the month came around (and the current balance was $45) they 'suspended' it (got that fixed, now if I could just get over this cold/flu/whatever).
#134940From: Betty Clay/SYSOPMar 5, 1994 12:49 AM
I'm sorry to hear that you aren't well, Vic. Sure hope it is over soon. And too bad about the account. Maybe it will all work out and I will be seeing you in CO again soon. —Betty
#135332From: Vic WagnerMar 8, 1994 7:20 PM
Betty, It just took one phone call, they said 'oops' and fixed it in about 15 minutes. I'm a _little_ concerned in that I still get the 'checking account status' every time I log on, but I guess nothing will happen until next month on the 1st <smmiiille>.
#135389From: Betty Clay/SYSOPMar 9, 1994 8:20 AM
I'm glad it was so easy, Vic. They often keep people waiting for quite a while when there's a mixup. Dunno about the 'checking account status' though. I wouldn't like that, either. —Betty
#134960From: Brian BartlettMar 5, 1994 3:56 AM
you too? I've had this stuff for the last two and a half weeks. To use my new swear words, fragging dreklich stuff!
#134854From: Steve Bennett/SYSOPMar 4, 1994 1:17 PM
Did you guys ever actually publish MetaScan as a standalone porduct? Is there a printed manual?
#134879From: Vic WagnerMar 4, 1994 6:48 PM
Michael, No printed manual yet…but some enhancements to the program. Do you happen to recall what version you have? Maybe I should send you the latest.
#134928From: Jim SakladMar 5, 1994 12:09 AM
Ben says that IM r/t won't work with the HP IIC scanners; will Metascan?
#135333From: Vic WagnerMar 8, 1994 7:20 PM
Jim, I haven't seen a HP IIC scanner. If I had one for a week or so, both would.
#135011From: Steve Bennett/SYSOPMar 5, 1994 10:54 AM
Vic, I'm at MetaScan v. 1.225. >>Maybe I should send you the latest.<< You just gotta love the "California Upgrade Policy" <g> Speaking of which, (well, not really, but what the hell, it came to mind and that's as good a segue as I can manage…) Has Eet ever surfaced anywhere?
#135334From: Vic WagnerMar 8, 1994 7:20 PM
Michael, Eet called me yesterday evening around 1730 my time. He's doing ok. We chatted politics for a while (he'd vote for me, but he doesn't live in my district…and I'm NOT in Chicago <g>).
#135364From: Steve Bennett/SYSOPMar 9, 1994 12:15 AM
Vic, hehe… well, I'm glad he's doing ok… do pass on my regards.
#135385From: Brian BartlettMar 9, 1994 3:54 AM
Vic, tell the Furry one that my mom still worries about him, as do I. Thanks for the update. "You do trust me, don't you? Of course you do." — "To Play the King" (BBC)
#135390From: Betty Clay/SYSOPMar 9, 1994 8:20 AM
Is Eet in Chicago? Tell him that he really should come visit us sometimes. We miss him. —Betty
#134591From: Betty Clay/SYSOPMar 2, 1994 5:33 PM
Ben, I know that the Epson ES600 can work with both Amiga and MSDOS machines. What I need to know is this: If I bought one that comes with cables, software, etc., for MSDOS, would it work with Imagemaster using those same cables? If not, how would I go about getting cables that would? I'd really like to be able to use the scanner with both platforms. —Betty
#134646From: Black Belt SystemsMar 2, 1994 11:28 PM
Probably you'd need two cables – the EPSON uses a rather peculiar electrical protocol, so you'd need a specific cable for the Amiga, and (probably) another for the MSDOS machine. We explain in the scanner porytion of the R/t docs how to modify a standard vanilla parallel cable to do the job – so you can get a fiarly inexpensive one from any cable shop or even radio shack or the like if you're willing to move two wires and cut two others. We can provide them too, but you pay a lot of overhead to have Dave wire the cable. :^) The PC side I'd guess would be a similar job, although the scanner _may_ come with a PC cable… but I'm guessing. –Ben …via AutoPilot
#134663From: Betty Clay/SYSOPMar 3, 1994 1:22 AM
Thanks, Ben. That's exactly what I needed to know. —Betty
#134670From: Steve Bennett/SYSOPMar 3, 1994 3:20 AM
Betty, To use the Epson scanner on an MSDOS machine you're going to need an interface of some kind… my Epson ES300C came with a CARD interface… that means you might have a problem using it on a laptop/notebook.
#134704From: Betty Clay/SYSOPMar 3, 1994 12:24 PM
That's what I was afraid of, Michael. Every description I was finding came with a card. Thanks. They are making hand-scanners now that work from the parallel port of notebooks. But I don't think I can find Amiga drivers for those. If there is a solution to using the same scanner for both computers, I haven't found it yet. —Betty
#134899From: Mark SterlingMar 4, 1994 9:02 PM
Betty, I too have an Epson ES-600, Amiga and a Toshiba laptop (T1950). I haven't tried too hard to get it working on the Toshiba although I have the necessary Twain driver and some fax software that should support the scanner. I modified a parallel cable to use with Imagemaster. It was easy and the scanner works GREAT with Vic's program supplied with IM/RT. I'm not sure if the wierd cable or a standard cable should be used with the Toshiba or whether the parallel port on notebook would be OK for this application. You might try the Epson forum here on good ol' CI$. If I get it working I'll let you know. Goin' AP …..Mark Sterling
#134943From: Betty Clay/SYSOPMar 5, 1994 12:49 AM
When I have read about the Epson ES-600 in the advertisements, they always specify that there is a card interface for MSDOS machines. Since the Toshiba cannot accept a card, I guess it couldn't work on the Toshiba. Sure would be nice if it would work with both! Let me know if you get it to work. I'm looking longingly at the T1950 these days!
#135245From: Mark SterlingMar 7, 1994 8:18 PM
Betty, The Epson scanner comes in SCSI and parallel versions. The SCSI version is pretty standard but the parallel version is not. The connector is standard but uses strange pinouts. A bi-directional parallel port on the computer is mandatory and the Toshiba has this. I'll check on the Epson forum to see what cable is needed and if a regular parallel port on an MS-Dos type machine will work. Right now I do all my scanning with the Amiga and Imagemaster. It would be nice to use the scanner as the input for the fax software on the Toshiba. Goin' AP …..Mark Sterling
#135251From: Betty Clay/SYSOPMar 7, 1994 10:03 PM
It would be lovely to be able to use the scanner on the Toshiba for several things! However, the Epson scanner seems to always come with a card interface, requiring a slot, and the cable – but the notebooks just don't have any slots. If you find a way to make it work with the Toshiba, I'd most pleased to know. Of course, I can always scan things into the Amiga and then transfer them to the Toshiba, if I must. Thanks, —Betty
#134892From: Earl WarrenMar 4, 1994 8:07 PM
Hi Betty – Thanks for your note. Sorry that I really don't know too much about the Epson scanner. My brother, Bob, has the Amiga 2000 and now has the Epson Scanner. And he's not very familiar with either the scanner or the Art Dept Pro software. I do know that his Amiga 2000 has an MSDOS board. We made sure he did so he could run TapCis to access CompuServe. But I'm not sure if the scanner runs on the Amiga (Workbench operating system) side or on the MSDOS side. My guess is that it should be compatible on either side, depending on the driver. We use an HP Scan Jet II at our office. It's used with a Wang 386 PC. It's an MSDOS machine. And we use it primarily for scanning documents to fax. Although we also scan occassionally for our OCR program to reduce the need to key-in WP documents. But both of these programs run in Windows rather than in the DOS. The scanner has its own board though and its own installation software. I'm sure the software is written to test for the user's operating system as well as hardware configurations. Can't say how likely it might be to locate a used scanner. They are offered though. I've seen ads in the Boston Computer Society publications from time to time. My latest Wang catalog shows the HP ScanJet IIP at $875. and the HP ScanJet IIC at $1,579. But then we've noticed this supplier does discount frequently to compete with the mail order discount suppliers. So this price might be higher than you could negotiate.
#134941From: Betty Clay/SYSOPMar 5, 1994 12:49 AM
Earl, Thanks for all the information. I wonder which of those scanners is best. I guess I have considerably more investigation to do before I can buy one. I'd like to have one that is not too large, but I want it to do good work, too. Anyway, thank you for your most informative message. I appreciate your taking the time. Betty —Betty