New Epson Stylus C84 Printer Features DuraBrite Inks

Sept. 2003 - Epson is introducing the ultimate all-purpose printer that offers an impressive combination of quality and print durability for an affordable price. The EPSON Stylus C84 can meet the challenges of today's busy customer. It prints documents and text quickly; produces beautiful, frame-ready, borderless photographs; and provides output that will resist light, water and smudges. This printer replaces the popular EPSON Stylus C82 and becomes Epson's new flagship, all-purpose ink jet printer, available for $79 (after a $20 mail-in rebate).

The EPSON Stylus C84 boasts Epson's renowned, DuraBrite ink for long-lasting output.
The EPSON Stylus C84 is the fastest Epson desktop in the product line, delivering up to 22 pages per minute (ppm) in black and up to 12 ppm in color. Not only is the EPSON Stylus C84 able to print quickly, but the printer also does it quietly. Epson engineers have created a new engine and mechanism for this printer, which has resulted in quieter printing of output from the start to the finish.

This printer offers 5760 x 1440 optimized dpi with ultrafine three-picoliter ink droplets for sharp, vivid images and photo-quality results. The EPSON Stylus C84 also takes advantage of a convenient and cost-effective individual ink cartridge system along with true black printing on glossy media for more realistic and sharper images.

"Whether a customer is printing a document on plain paper or printing a photo of the family's summer vacation on our new DuraBrite Ink Glossy Photo Paper, this printer ensures that precious memories are printed on output that is durable and will stand up over time to light, water and smudging," said Rodrigo Catalan, product manager, consumer ink jet printers, Epson.

"Knowing that their output is printed on the Stylus C84 with DuraBrite ink provides a level of confidence and security for our customers that no other printer in this price range can offer today."

Enhanced DuraBrite Inks
The EPSON Stylus C84 utilizes the newest and most advanced formula of DuraBrite inks yet for brighter, more saturated colors and is designed to produce impressive looking, durable output that is water-resistant, light-resistant and smudge-resistant. Because DuraBrite inks are pigment-based inks, output from DuraBrite inks can be submerged in water without the ink coming off the page, unlike dye-based inks, which typically run and smudge. This feature is designed to give creators of photographs, fliers, menus, signs, postcards and any other printed output the ability to produce documents and images that will withstand damage caused by moisture-based threats such as rain, spills, humidity or people with wet hands.

DuraBrite inks also have a light-resistance rating of up to 80 years on certain specialty media and an unmatched 70-year rating on plain paper, making it possible to safely place prints in areas where light would normally cause images to fade quickly. Bleed-through is reduced since DuraBrite inks rest on the surface of the paper, which is ideal for applications that require double-sided printing.

Media Flexibility and New DuraBrite Ink Glossy Photo Paper
The EPSON Stylus C84 offers great results on all different types of media ranging from ordinary plain paper to DuraBrite Ink Glossy Photo Paper, the newest paper to join the wide assortment of Epson media. This new paper was designed especially for use with the latest formulation of DuraBrite ink to create bright, beautiful, borderless glossy prints that are water-resistant, light-resistant and smudge-resistant. DuraBrite Ink Glossy Photo Paper will be available in two popular sizes - 4" x 6" (50 sheet packs) and letter size (20 sheet packs) - for $9.99 and $12.99, respectively, and will be available at the end of September.

The printer also supports a variety of other Epson specialty media including Epson Premium Bright White Paper, Glossy Photo Paper, Matte Paper Heavyweight, Glossy Photo Greeting Cards and Ink Jet Transparencies.

Individual Ink Cartridges
With the new DuraBrite ink formulation, a new cartridge design is being used in the EPSON Stylus C84 for optimal printer performance. This new cartridge design is not backward compatible with the EPSON Stylus C82 and Stylus C80, but as with these predecessors, the EPSON Stylus C84 includes four separate "snap-in/snap-out" ink cartridges to maximize ink yield - one extra-large black ink cartridge and three color ink cartridges (cyan, yellow and magenta). Since these individual color inks can be replaced at any time, efficiency is maximized, lowering the total cost of ownership. Each cartridge also contains a chip that relays ink level information on screen to the user via the printer driver, while self-sealing valves preserve the inks up to six months once removed from the printer. Therefore, reinserted cartridges that haven't been fully depleted can be reinserted for later use.

High Volume Printing
The EPSON Stylus C84 is capable of large-quantity printing when needed. The printer's paper input tray holds up to 120 sheets of 20-pound paper at a time, reducing the number of times a user will need to refill the tray during a large print job. It also has the capacity to print as many as 5,000 sheets per month. Additionally, the Stylus C84 offers both USB and parallel connectivity for simultaneous use of either Macintosh or Windows platforms.

Wireless and Network Connectivity
Increasing use of networking and wireless technology protocols such as WiFi have led to the creation of two similar printers called the EPSON Stylus C84N and C84WN. The Stylus C84N includes a 10/100 Ethernet print server, while the Stylus C84WN includes a wireless Ethernet 802.11b WiFi print server that supports multiple network protocols. Epson also offers Bluetooth capability for the Stylus C84 with an optional interface adapter available for $129 that simply plugs into the printer's parallel port.

Availability, Warranty and Support
The EPSON Stylus C84 is currently shipping to computer superstores and specialty retail stores nationwide and can also be purchased through mail order, PC manufacturers, the Internet and Epson's own retail site, www.epsonstore.com. The EPSON Stylus C84WN and C84N will also be available at www.epsonstore.com and select retailers. Each printer 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. The printer models are also supported by the EPSON Connection, 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