My scanner died today, with a sound that sent my cats flying in 5 ..

[Princess Turandot]

directions. I even jumped a bit. The moving part is now jammed against the near end of the scanner and will not move. The bulb does not come on.

Does anyone have a thought on whether it's worth bringing it to a service place to be looked at, given that they'll charge $35 to $50 just for that? It's about 3 1/2 years old. I've done a lot of scanning with it in recent months, of old family photos, in hi-res. It's an Epson Perfection 1650 Photo.

Does anyone have a scanner they would particularly recommend?
I want one with a built in negative/slide scanner.

[dogday]

1. I would price the new scanners

they are a lot cheaper today. See what you can get. We decided to buy a new one when ours bit the dust and got a good deal...

[jayfish]

2. 2nd. -NT-

Jay

[Prisoner_Number_Six]

3. Junk it

Scanners and desktop printers aren't really designed to be repaired- they're put together with cheap components, and aren't expected to last for years anymore. A new scanner will end up costing less than a repair job-- that is assuming you can actually find a repair service for a 3.5 year old scanner.

[alfredo]

4. Did make a bang bang bang bang noise like gears gnashing?

My Epson does that some times. I just unplug it and restart Photoshop. It works fine after that.

[Princess Turandot]

5. I tried that...

I unplugged it from the power source, unplugged and reinserted the USB cable from both the PC & the scanner. The light 'bar' is stuck at the near end of the scanner. When I plug it in, it turns green for a split second trying to charge, then the status light turns red.
I tried it tonight with the same result.

It made a rather impressive shrieking noise when it conked out. When I tried to use it after doing the above, it made the usual charging sound, but then the indicator turned red and it stopped functioning. The twain import in photoshop thinks that the scanner is not connected.

[alfredo]

6. How old is it? Is it under warranty?

If it is, get a new one or make them fix it. If not, trash it and buy a new one.

[karlrschneider]

7. Sounds like a stepper motor either failed or over-ran a limit switch...

or it might have stripped a gear. Like most electronics these days, it would cost more to fix (unless you can do it yourself) than replacing.
You're probably noticed there are hardly any more TV repair shops...there's a good reason for that. ;-)