Railfan Technology > Epson scanners?

I'm considering an Epson scanner and have read about the Epson 4490 and 4990. Is the 4990 a newer model or a better model of the 4490? I've seen 4490's for $150-225 range and 4990 in the $400 range. Does the 4990 do that much more or better or is the 4490 "older technology". I realize being a flatbed scanner it can do more than just slides and film but it's almost getting into the range of a dedicated slide/film scanner. Thanks for information and experiences with these scanners.
Mike

The 4990 is an update to the 4875 of a few years ago, and is one of the best scanners I've had the pleasure of using. I can get clean 4800 dpi scans form 35mm, and regularly use it to scan 4x5 negatives and transparencies. It has increadible dynamic range. I've been able to scan very dense film with it and pull detail out that was hard to see with the slide on a light table under a loupe. I paid $375 for mine at a Compuserve clearance sale and consider it money very well spent.

Everything displayed on this page was scanned with my 4990 (none of it is rail related)
http://home.earthlink.net/~lunarlightphoto2/moonlight3a.htm

And here is an example of a very dense underexposed image that turned out pretty good when scanned with my 4990. Previous attempts at scanning this image on other scanners produced junk.
http://home.earthlink.net/~kitathome/LunarLight/moonlight_gallery/pages/2004-06-01-12_72a.htm

- Kit

I think part of it is your use. If you are going to scan a limited amount of well exposed dayalight shots then a less expensive scanner makes sense. Especially if you just want to post on the Web.

If you intend to do lots of scanning espcially of challenging slides with lots of shadow detail, late shots, night shots then do your self a favor and get the upgraded equipment.

bob