Epson Launches Most Advanced Line of Four-Color Ink Jet Printers

Epson has announced its most advanced line of four-color ink jet printers for business, small office and home users, starting at only $99. The EPSON Stylus Color 777, Stylus Color 880, Stylus Color 980 and Stylus Color 980N all offer faster speeds, unmatched photo-quality images and greater ease of use over their predecessor models, at prices designed to meet the budgets of any consumer. "This collection of printers represents our best line of consumer-level ink jet printers to date," said Steve Semos, product manager, consumer ink jet printers, Epson. "The fact that we were able to once again enhance our successful lineup of printers - resulting in faster speeds, outstanding print quality and even lower prices - truly makes this a winning combination that benefits our customers."

Enhancements include up to 2880 x 720 dots per inch (dpi) hardware resolution, twice that of Epson's previous award-winning models. With Epson's Advanced Micro Piezo technology, these printers also boast the industry's smallest droplets, which are necessary for extremely accurate dot placements and the ultimate print quality. All models in this line feature significantly faster output speeds on both color and black text printing for increased productivity. Epson also has improved the printer software for greater saturation and better shadow and highlight detail to give the best print quality, and printing photo quality images is a standard feature out of the box with no other ink cartridges to buy. The new double-sided/booklet printing feature enables easy printing on both sides of the paper, and animated "Fix-It Flix" help users troubleshoot without referring to a manual.


EPSON Stylus Color 777 - For the Value-Conscious Customer
The EPSON Stylus Color 777 is tailored to meet the needs of consumers who want the most value for the lowest price. Priced at only $99, this printer features not only class-leading 2880 dpi resolution and four-picoliter droplets, but also up to eight pages per minute (ppm) in black text printing and up to six ppm for text and color graphics. The printer also features a new modern rounded industrial design.

The Stylus Color 777 uses Epson's new "Intelligent Ink" cartridge technology that enables users to remove and replace a cartridge that may be low on ink in order to complete larger print jobs. The original cartridge can be reinstalled later for smaller print jobs.


EPSON Stylus Color 880 - For the Power User
The EPSON Stylus Color 880 is designed to meet the needs of today's more demanding consumers who require business-level performance at an incredible price. At $149, the Stylus Color 880 delivers up to 12 ppm black text output and up to nine ppm text and color graphics for the fastest color printing in its class. It also combines 2880 dpi and four-picoliter droplets to deliver the most outstanding print quality in its class. The Stylus Color 880 uses a printer mechanism that delivers ultra-quiet operation to minimize impact on the user's working environment. An optional external Ethernet interface is also available.


EPSON Stylus Color 980 - For the Pro Performance Customer
For the user who demands the ultimate combination of outstanding print quality with blazing-fast output, Epson introduces the Stylus Color 980. Priced at $199 (after a $50 rebate), this printer offers the industry's smallest droplet at three picoliters and 2880 dpi resolution. The Stylus Color 980 delivers up to 13 ppm in its default normal mode. Users can also print color Microsoft PowerPoint pages in as little as 15 seconds and high-resolution (720 dpi) full-color 8" x 10" photos in approximately 78 seconds.

The Stylus Color 980 is also engineered to meet the demands of a fast-paced business environment, boasting a 5,000 pages-per-month duty cycle and offering connectivity options for FireWire and Ethernet network solutions. An Adobe(tm) Postscript software option (Epson StylusRIP) will also be available later this fall.

EPSON Stylus Color 980N - More Advanced Networking
The EPSON Stylus Color 980N, which will be available in mid-October, combines all of the high-speed, high-quality output features found in the Stylus Color 980 with more advanced networking features. Priced at $449, this printer offers a built-in 10/100 Mbit print server in addition to full multi-protocol support of networks such as TCP/IP, IPX/SPX, AppleTalk and NetBEUI. The Stylus Color 980N also includes network printer management software for simple management of all printers on the network and supports all printers that contain an MIB.

Connectivity and Software Bundles
Each of these new printers is compatible with both Windows and Macintosh platforms and has both USB and parallel connectivity. Each model, except for the Stylus Color 980N, also comes with a value-packed software bundle that includes EPSON Film Factory for collecting and organizing digital photos and Trellix Web for creating personalized Web sites. Additionally, Corel Printhouse is included specifically with the Stylus Color 777, and ArcSoft Photo Impression 2000 and ArcSoft Photo Montage are included with the Stylus Color 880 and Stylus Color 980.

Warranty and Support
Each of these EPSON Stylus Color printers is sold through computer superstores and specialty retail stores nationwide, mail order, the Internet, and in the near future on Epson's newly redesigned Web site. Each carries a one-year Epson Exchange Limited Warranty, enabling customers to receive a replacement printer if a problem cannot be corrected by telephone technical support. They are also supported by the EPSON ConnectionSM, a customer support and technical assistance line. For more information on Epson and its products, call 1-800-GO-EPSON (1-800-463-7766) or visit our Web site at www.epson.com.

Source: Epson