Epson introduced two inkjet printers last week that focus on delivering improved print speed and enhanced color performance.
The Epson Stylus 760 is faster than the current 740 and is positioned as the company’s “best for small office product.” It has a resolution of 1,440 x 720 dpi as well as an ink droplet size of 4 picoliters for improved print quality. (The smaller the droplet size the finer the image.)
Epson claims a print speed of seven pages per minute (ppm) in black and six ppm in color for the 760. Rajiv Mishra, product manger for consumer inkjets, said, “Companies tend to talk mostly about black text print speed, but since there is so much printing taking place in color today, we are trying to highlight the fact the we really smoke our rivals in color.
“We can do an 8 x 10-inch [print] in less than two minutes, while our competitors often take six to seven minutes to print the same image.”
The 760 comes bundled with Polaroid’s PhotoMAX Pro, ArcSoft’s PhotoPrinter SE and eFax. In addition, Epson is continuing its offer of allowing purchasers to select two titles out of 13 and pay only $7.95 for shipping and handling. Titles include Corel Draw, Groliers Multimedia Encyclopedia and Rand McNally’s Route Planner.
Estimated street price of the 760 is $229 before a $30 rebate. The Stylus Color 740 remains in the line, but has been cut in price to $149 after rebate.
Epson also introduced the Stylus Color 860. Designed as the company’s “best for business” inkjet, it replaces the 850 and features an enhanced engine with faster print speed of 9.5 ppm in black and seven ppm in color. It can print an 8 x 10 photo in 1 minute/43 seconds and a 4 x 6 print in 48 seconds.
The printer features a new industrial design but retains its predecessor’s 1,440 x 720 dpi resolution with a 4-picoleter droplet size.
Both the 860 and 760 offer Ethernet support and USB as well as parallel port interface. The Stylus Color 860 has an estimated street price of $279.
Also new in printers is the OKI-PAGE 6w, a six ppm digital LED printer from Oki Data. With 600 dpi resolution, the OKIPAGE is the smallest printer in its class, according to Oki Data. It has a 100-sheet paper tray and an estimated street price of $199.
