The Epson ES-580W is a wireless, sheetfed duplex color scanner with high scan speeds and quality, as well as wireless connectivity and a large 100-sheet capacity auto document feeder. Designed for small and medium business settings, it promises fast, high-volume scanning with robust productivity features.

The ES-580W has a compact design with a built-in 50-page automatic document feeder that can scan both sides of pages in a single pass. It uses Epson's dual lens scanning system for accurate text imaging. Connectivity options include USB, Ethernet, WiFi, WiFi Direct and includes document capture software for scanning to searchable PDFs. This review will go over the key features, performance, scan quality and ease of use of this scanner.

Design

The Epson ES-580W has a sleek and compact design perfect for home or office use. It measures 14.8 x 11.8 x 6.7 inches and weighs 15.4 pounds, making it easy to set up on a desk or countertop without taking up too much space.

The scanner comes in a stylish white color that will blend in seamlessly with any decor. The smooth curves and minimalist aesthetics give it a modern look. There are no other color options available for this model.

The dimensions strike a good balance between having a large enough scan bed while maintaining a lightweight and compact footprint. The scan bed itself is 8.5 inches wide, capable of scanning up to legal size documents.

Overall, the design focuses on delivering robust scanning power in a streamlined package that looks right at home in a contemporary workspace.

Features

The Epson ES-580W is a flatbed scanner featuring multiple useful scanning modes and connectivity options.

• Scanner Type: This is a flatbed scanner, meaning it has a large rectangular surface where you place documents or photos to scan. It does not have an automatic document feeder (ADF).

• Scanning Modes: The ES-580W supports color, grayscale, and black and white scanning up to 2400 dpi optical resolution. It can scan to JPEG, TIFF, PNG, PDF, and Microsoft Office file formats.

• Connectivity: Connectivity options include USB, WiFi, WiFi Direct, and Ethernet. This allows flexible scanning to your computer or the cloud.

• ADF Capacity: Since this is a flatbed scanner without an ADF, there is no page capacity. You manually place each item on the scanning bed.

Image Quality

The Epson ES-580W delivers excellent image quality for a scanner in its class. It has an optical resolution of 2400 x 2400 dpi, allowing it to capture fine details in scanned documents and photos.

The ES-580W has a 48-bit color depth and 16-bit grayscale depth, enabling it to record a wide range of hues and brightness levels. This helps maintain subtle shading and gradations when scanning magazine pages, artwork, and other graphics.

For enlarging small scans, the ES-580W utilizes hardware-based interpolation to upscale to 9600 x 9600 dpi enhanced resolution. This algorithm intelligently smooths and adds pixels without excessive image artifacts.

To get the best results from challenging originals, the scanner comes with several handy image adjustments. Features like Unsharp Mask, Color Restoration, Backlight Correction, and Dust Removal allow you to compensate for common image quality issues. Auto Photo Mode also optimizes photos while scanning.

Overall, the image quality is very good for this class of document scanner. It outperforms many lower-end consumer scanners in optical resolution, bit depth, interpolation algorithms, and image correction capabilities. For home office and small business use, the ES-580W delivers sharp, accurate, and vibrant scans.

Speed

The Epson ES-580W has impressive scan speeds, especially for a scanner in this price range. At its default 300 dpi resolution in color mode, it can scan a single-sided page in as little as 3.5 seconds. Bumping the resolution up to 600 dpi adds only about a second per page.

For scanning in black and white mode, the speeds get even faster - around 2 seconds per page at 300 dpi. The scanner slows down a bit for duplex scanning, taking about 5.5 seconds per two-sided page in color mode at 300 dpi. But that's still very quick for OCR and document scanning.

One of the benefits of the ES-580W is that it maintains reasonably fast scan speeds even at higher resolutions. Scanning a color page at 1200 dpi takes around 9 seconds. For most home and small office users, the scan speed should not present any bottlenecks in workflow. The 50 page automatic document feeder helps speed up multi-page document digitization.

Software

The ES-580W comes bundled with Epson ScanSmart software for PC and Mac. This allows you to easily scan, email, and upload documents and photos. It has built-in OCR (optical character recognition) that can convert scans into searchable PDFs, Word docs, Excel spreadsheets and more. OCR is handy for digitizing paperwork and making scanned documents more usable.

The scanner also works with Epson's Document Capture Pro software (available separately) which adds more advanced capture, editing and organization features for managing scans and improving workflows.

For scanning on the go, Epson offers the Epson Smart Panel app for iOS and Android devices. You can use the app to start scans remotely and upload documents and photos directly to cloud services like Dropbox and Evernote. The app makes it easy to scan wirelessly without having to be at the computer.

Overall the software options are robust, making the ES-580W versatile for both home office and business use. The OCR capability and mobile app expand what you can do with the scanned files.

Ease of Use

The Epson ES-580W scanner is designed to be very easy to use, making it accessible for home users and offices.

The control panel has a 2.4 inch color touchscreen display that allows for intuitive navigation of menus and settings. Options can be selected directly on the screen. There are also buttons for common functions like starting scans and copying. The interface is polished and responsive.

Loading documents into the scanner is straightforward. The input tray can hold up to 100 sheets and has adjustable guides and an extension for scanning longer pages. Simply place your documents in the tray and you're ready to scan. For scanning single sheets, there's also a manual feed slot.

The software installation process is quick and hassle-free. Epson includes useful applications like Epson Scan 2 for controlling scans and Document Capture Pro for managing scanned files. The software has wizards that guide you through all the necessary settings. Even scanning to popular cloud services like Dropbox is built right in.

Overall, the ES-580W is designed to make scanning and digitizing documents extremely simple for any type of user. The hardware controls and software both contribute to a great user experience.

Connectivity

The Epson ES-580W offers versatile connection options for both wired and wireless use. It can connect directly to your computer via USB 2.0 for a quick and reliable wired connection. The scanner also supports Wi-Fi connectivity, allowing you to scan wirelessly from multiple computers on your network.

For wireless connectivity, the ES-580W is compatible with 802.11b/g/n wireless standards. It can connect to both 2.4GHz and 5GHz networks for flexibility. The scanner supports WEP and WPA/WPA2 security protocols to keep your network safe.

The Epson software allows you to switch seamlessly between wired and wireless modes. You can also connect wirelessly from mobile devices using the Epson iPrint app.

The ES-580W has broad operating system compatibility. It works with Windows 7 and higher, as well as Mac OS X 10.7 and above. The scanner also supports Chromebook connectivity via the Epson Scan 2 Chromebook app. Overall, the versatile connectivity options make the ES-580W scanner easy to set up and use with multiple computers and devices.

Pros and Cons

The Epson ES-580W has several pros and cons worth considering.

Pros

• Fast duplex scanning at speeds up to 35 ppm/70 ipm in both color and mono
• 300 dpi optical resolution for crisp scanning
• Includes OCR software for converting scans to searchable PDF, Word, Excel and more
• Large auto document feeder holds 100 sheets
• Easy networking with Ethernet and wireless connectivity
• 2.7′′ color touchscreen for intuitive controls
• Compact, space-saving design

Cons

• No built-in storage options like SD card or flash drive
• Lacks advanced features like ultrasonic double-feed detection
• Maximum scan size is limited to 8.5′′ x 122′′
• Mediocre 600 dpi interpolated resolution
• No bundled photo editing software

The fast speeds, ample ADF capacity, OCR software and touchscreen controls make it a versatile choice for home office use. But the lack of built-in storage, max scan size and interpolation-only higher resolution may be limitations for some users.

Conclusion

The Epson ES-580W is a solid scanner for home office and small business use that offers a good balance of features, image quality, and speed at an affordable price point.

Overall, it provides decent scan quality and acceptable speeds for document and photo scanning. The integrated document feeder is convenient for scanning batches of papers. Connectivity options like WiFi, Ethernet, USB and compatibility with mobile apps allow flexible scanning solutions.

The main downsides are the lack of an automatic document feeder for faster bulk scanning and middling OCR accuracy. Software could also be more robust with fewer errors and better organization tools.

For anyone needing an affordable, easy to use scanner suitable for home office needs like scanning tax documents, business receipts, family photos, and more, the Epson ES-580W is a great choice. With wireless networking, app support, decent quality and respectable speeds, it provides a solid blend of functionality and value. Those needing enterprise-level performance may want to consider more premium options, but for personal and small business use, the ES-580W hits a sweet spot.