Epson V39 Scanner: In-Depth Review and User Opinions

• An Overview of the Epson V39 Scanner

The Epson Perfection V39 is a flatbed scanner aimed at home and office users looking for an affordable option to digitize photos, documents, and other media. Released in 2022, it replaces the previous V19 model with improvements to resolution, scanning speed, and connectivity options.

Overall, the V39 provides good value for those seeking a basic scanner with decent image quality that connects to their computer over USB. While it lacks some of the more advanced features of higher-end scanners, its low price makes it accessible for casual home use or document archiving in a small office setting.

Design

The Epson Perfection V39 is compact and lightweight, making it easy to find space for and move around as needed. It measures 11.7 x 6.7 x 3.9 inches and weighs just 5.29 pounds. The scanner has a sleek and modern design, with a piano black finish that will look nice on any desk.

Epson offers the V39 in three color options: black, white and silver. So you're able to choose the model that best matches your workspace aesthetic. The subtle two-tone design, with a flatbed that's lighter than the main scanner body, gives it a streamlined and minimalist look.

The scanner has a small footprint, so it doesn't take up much desk space. Overall, the V39 is designed to be portable and fit easily into most environments.

Features

The Epson V39 scanner offers excellent features for both home and office use. Here are some of the key features:

• High scanning resolution - The V39 scanner delivers up to 4800 dpi scanning resolution. This allows you to capture fine details from documents, photos, and other materials. The higher the resolution, the sharper the scanned image will be.

• Wide range of file formats - You can scan to popular image formats like JPG, TIFF, PNG, and PDF. For documents, the scanner can directly scan to searchable PDF format using the included software. This allows your scans to be fully text searchable.

• Fast scanning speed - This Epson scanner can scan at speeds up to 3.4 msec/line in grayscale mode. In full color, it can scan at 6.4 msec/line. So you can scan multiple pages both quickly and efficiently. The scanner also supports a 30-page automatic document feeder for scanning batches of pages unattended.

• Professional image enhancement - The included Epson ScanSmart software provides image adjustment tools like color restoration, backlight correction, and dust removal. This allows you to optimize scans of faded photos or documents with creases or imperfections.

Image Quality

The Epson Perfection V39 produces high-quality scans with excellent color accuracy, wide dynamic range, and sharp details.

The CCD sensor captures intricate details and subtle tonal variations, reproducing colors true to the original. It delivers a scanning resolution up to 4800 dpi for crisp definition. The scans show outstanding sharpness and precision even when enlarging small objects or text.

The scanner has a high dynamic range to prevent loss of detail in highlights and shadows when scanning printed photos or documents. It picks up a wide spectrum of tones from bright whites to deep blacks without clipping. This ensures no fine elements get lost in very light or very dark areas of an image.

Text comes out looking sharp and legible in scans. Fine details like pencil markings are retained. The level of clarity makes this scanner well-suited for digitizing documents, drawings, magazines, and other text-heavy materials.

Overall, the color reproduction, tonal range, and sharpness of the Epson Perfection V39 allow it to produce scans comparable in quality to flatbed photo scanners. It captures the nuances in both color and black and white originals.

Software

The Epson V39 comes bundled with Epson Scan 2 software for Windows and Mac. The software provides an easy to use interface for scanning photos, documents, and films.

Some key features of the software include:

• Intuitive menu system that is straightforward to navigate. The different scan modes like Full Auto Mode, Home Mode, Office Mode, and Professional Mode allow you to optimize scans with one click based on the content type.

• Built-in image adjustment tools like color restoration, backlight correction, and dust removal to automatically enhance scanned images.

• Ability to scan directly to cloud services like Dropbox and Google Drive.

• Scan to PDF option that allows creating searchable multi-page PDFs easily.

• Auto Document Fix that automatically straightens and crops photos of documents taken with a mobile device. Very handy for scanning receipts and notes on the go.

Overall, the software offers an efficient way to get high quality scans without having to manually adjust a lot of settings. Both novice and professional users should find it easy to use.

Connectivity

The Epson Perfection V39 offers both wired and wireless connectivity options for scanning and transferring images and documents to your computer or mobile devices.

For wired connections, the scanner comes with a USB 2.0 cable that you can plug directly into your computer. The USB connection provides a fast and reliable way to scan images and documents. One nice thing about the USB cable is that it is backwards compatible, meaning you can use it even if your computer only has older USB 1.1 ports.

In addition to USB, the V39 also supports wireless networking via Wi-Fi. To use the Wi-Fi, you'll need to download Epson's Wi-Fi Setup Utility software on a computer connected to the scanner via USB. From there you can configure and connect the scanner to your local Wi-Fi network. This allows you to scan wirelessly from anywhere in your home without moving your computer next to the scanner. The scanner supports the latest wireless standards up to 802.11n for fast transfer speeds.

The wireless networking opens up some nice additional features, like being able to scan directly to smartphones or tablets using the Epson iPrint app. You can also scan to supported image services like Dropbox, Evernote, Google Drive and more. The scanner's networking features make it easy and convenient to get your scans where you want them.

Overall, the wired USB and wireless networking options on the Epson Perfection V39 give you flexibility on how you want to connect and transfer scans based on your needs. The scanner has you covered whether you need quick scans over USB or want the freedom to scan wirelessly from anywhere in your home network.

Scanning Experience

Setting up and using the Epson V39 scanner is straightforward and easy. It can scan a variety of documents and objects effectively.

The scanner comes ready to use out of the box. Simply plug it into your computer using the included USB cable and install the software from the included CD. The setup process is quick and intuitive.

Scanning documents like photos, receipts, or pages from books and magazines is a breeze. The scanner can easily handle sheets up to 8.5 x 11.7 inches in size. Place your document or photo face-down on the scanner glass, select your settings in the Epson Scan 2 software, and press scan.

You'll find the Epson V39 can scan thicker objects as well. Books up to 1.5 inches thick can be scanned when the lid is lifted. The scanner scans directly down onto the material, eliminating issues with page curvature and producing nice flat results.

The intuitive buttons on the scanner make basic scanning in one step with no need to go through software. Just place your document or photo, press the button for the scan type you want like PDF or JPEG, and you'll get your file. It's that easy.

Overall, the Epson V39 offers smooth, straightforward scanning whether you utilize the software for enhanced control or the one-touch buttons for speed. It's a versatile scanner ready for anything you need to digitize.

Additional Features

The Epson Perfection V39 offers several handy additional features that improve the overall scanning experience.

One nice feature is the auto document feeder, which allows you to load a stack of pages and scan them continuously. The auto document feeder can hold up to 20 pages at once, making it easy to digitize large multi-page documents without having to load each page individually.

In addition, the V39 has a removable plastic document mat that creates a smooth scanning surface and protects original photos and documents during the scanning process. The scanner lid also has special padded edges that prevent damage to delicate originals when closed.

For scanning thick books or bound materials, the V39 has an integrated book cradle that holds items in place at an optimum angle to get clear scans without any black edges or distortion. This makes it easy to digitize books, magazines, photo albums, and more.

The V39 also comes with a suite of document editing and organization software to enhance your scans. This includes built-in OCR for converting scanned text into editable documents, as well as document management and search tools. These programs provide a lot of value on top of the scanner itself.

Overall, the additional productivity features of the auto document feeder, removable mat, book cradle, and bundled software make the Epson Perfection V39 a versatile and user-friendly scanner for handling all kinds of original materials.

Pros and Cons

The Epson Perfection V39 offers a good balance of image quality, features, and value. Here's a quick rundown of the main pros and cons:

Pros

• Good image quality for the price - Scans at up to 4800 dpi optical resolution for detailed scans even of small objects like film negatives.

• Versatile connectivity - Can connect via USB 2.0 or WiFi for flexibility. WiFi lets you scan wirelessly from a phone or tablet.

• Useful software included - Comes with Epson Scan 2 software with various settings for improving scans. Also includes Document Capture Pro for scanning and organizing documents.

• Fast scans - Scans at approx 12 seconds for a full color A4 photo at 300dpi. Good speed for casual home use.

• Compact, portable size - Small footprint saves desk space and light weight makes it easy to move around or take with you.

Cons

• No automatic document feeder - It's a flatbed scanner so you have to scan pages one at a time. An ADF would be useful for multipage documents.

• Mediocre scan-to-cloud integration - Doesn't natively integrate with cloud storage services like Google Drive or Dropbox.

• Lack of HDMI connection - Cannot display scans directly to an external monitor. Need to view scans on your computer instead.

• No built-in battery - Must be powered by USB or outlet. A battery would have allowed more portable scanning.

Conclusion

The Epson Perfection V39 is a solid entry-level scanner that offers good performance for document and photo scanning at an affordable price point.

Overall, the V39 delivers good image quality, versatile connectivity options, and useful scanning software in a compact and easy-to-use package. The scanner can handle documents up to 8.5" x 118" and produces scans at resolutions up to 4800 dpi. The built-in transparency unit also enables scanning slides and film negatives.

For general home office and personal use, the Epson V39 gets the job done. It's a good choice for anyone looking for an affordable photo and document scanner. However, the lack of an automatic document feeder may be limiting for business or high volume scanning needs.

Comparable alternatives to consider are the Canon CanoScan LiDE 300 (more focused on documents) or the Epson Perfection V600 (higher resolution scans and film adapter), although these cost more. Overall, the V39 hits a sweet spot of price and performance that makes it one of the better values for a home photo scanner.