Epson USA Press Release 06/07/04

NEW EPSON STYLUS? C66 AND C86 INK JET PRINTERS OFFER VIVID,
LONG-LASTING OUTPUT WITH FAST PRINT SPEEDS

Epson?s Latest All-Purpose Printers Include New Photo Kit to Provide Easy and Convenient Photo Printing From Start to Finish

LONG BEACH, Calif., July 6, 2004 ? Epson America Inc. is adding two new all-purpose printers to its award-winning product line that deliver fast print speeds and incredible print quality at affordable prices.  Replacing the award-winning EPSON Stylus C64 and C84, the EPSON Stylus C66 and C86 produce text, documents and beautiful frame-ready borderless photographs, and are available for estimated street prices of $69 and $99, respectively.

Both printers feature Epson?s exclusive and award-winning DURABrite inks, delivering fade-resistant, water-resistant and smudge-resistant results to preserve cherished photos and important documents.  The EPSON Stylus C66 and C86 offer up to 5760 x 1440 optimized dpi with variable sized droplets to ensure incredible quality and detail, as well as a convenient and cost-effective individual ink cartridge system with true black printing on glossy media for more realistic and sharper images.

?Whether a customer is looking to print beautiful photos or important business projects, the EPSON Stylus C66 and C86 deliver water, smudge and fade-resistant, long-lasting quality at affordable prices,? said Lowell Wolf, product manager, consumer ink jet printers, Epson. 

?While both printers offer incredibly fast print speeds for everyday text and document printing, they also make it easy to share special photos.?

New Photo Kit
New with the EPSON Stylus C66 and C86, customers will receive a photo kit for easy and convenient photo printing and crafting.  Included with both printers are 20 sheets of photo paper, Epson Software? Film Factory? for easy photo storage, printing and organization, as well as a free membership to Epson?s exclusive photo craft and photo sharing Web sites, giving customers all the resources needed to start printing at home.

About the Stylus C66
The EPSON Stylus C66 prints amazing borderless 4? x 6? frame-ready photos, as well as text and graphics with ease.  It offers variable size ink droplets ? as small as four picoliters ? to ensure incredible quality and detail.  The printer delivers fast text print speeds with up to 17 pages per minute in black and up to 9 ppm in color*. 

The EPSON Stylus C66 is Windows compatible, offers USB 1.1 connectivity for quick and easy set up and features a DC motor for quiet printing of any output from start to finish.

About the Stylus C86
The EPSON Stylus C86 delivers sharp, vivid results with remarkable speed and precision.  It offers borderless printing for frame-ready prints in several popular sizes, including 4? x 6,? 8? x 10? and letter-sized prints.  In addition to extraordinary output, the EPSON Stylus C86 makes it easy to get more done with incredible high-speed printing.  It delivers up to 22 ppm in black and up to 12 ppm in color*.  With ultrafine ink droplets as small as three-picoliters, the EPSON Stylus C86 provides exceptional photo-quality results.  The printer is both Windows and Macintosh compatible and offers USB 1.1 and parallel connectivity.

For added versatility, the EPSON Stylus C86 features optional networking solutions for printer sharing.  An optional 10/100 Base-Tx Ethernet Print Server provides customers with wired local-area networking capabilities, while an optional 802.11b Wireless Ethernet Print Server supports cable-free printing from Wi-Fi networks.

The DURABrite Ink Advantage
The EPSON Stylus C66 and C86 utilize Epson?s exclusive DURABrite inks in order to produce impressive looking, durable output that is water-resistant, fade-resistant and smudge-resistant.  Because DURABrite inks are pigment-based inks, output from the Stylus C66 and C86 can be submerged in water without the ink coming off the page, unlike dye-based inks, which typically run and smudge.  DURABrite inks enable creators of photographs, fliers, menus, signs, postcards, and any other printed output, to produce documents and images that will withstand damage caused by moisture-based threats such as rain, spills, humidity, or wet hands.  Bleed-through is also reduced since DURABrite inks rest on the surface of the paper, which is ideal for applications that require double-sided printing.

Media Flexibility
The EPSON Stylus C66 and C86 offer great results on many different types of media ranging from ordinary plain paper to DURABrite Ink Glossy Photo Paper, designed especially for use with DURABrite ink to create long-lasting borderless glossy prints.  The printer also supports a variety of other Epson specialty media including Epson Premium Bright White Paper, Glossy Photo Paper, Premium Semigloss, Matte Paper Heavyweight, Double-sided Matte, and Greeting Cards.

Availability, Warranty and Support
The EPSON Stylus C66 and C86 are currently shipping to major computer, office and electronic superstores, a variety of retail stores nationwide and can also be purchased through mail order, PC manufacturers, the Internet and Epson?s own retail site, www.epsonstore.com. 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 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 the Epson Web site at www.epson.com.

About Epson
Epson offers an extensive array of award-winning image capture and image output products for the consumer, business, photography and graphic arts markets.  The company is also a leading supplier of value-added point-of-sale (POS) printers and transaction terminals for the retail market.

Founded in 1975, Epson America, Inc. is the U.S. affiliate of Japan-based Seiko Epson Corporation, a global manufacturer and supplier of high-quality technology products that meet customer demands for increased functionality, compactness, systems integration and energy efficiency.  Epson America, Inc. is headquartered in Long Beach, Calif.