Epson announces new thermal printer for the point-of-sale market; the fastest thermal printer in its class

Business Wire, Sept 29, 1996

CHICAGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 29, 1996--An industry leader in the point-of-sale market, Epson introduced a new one station thermal printer, the TM-T88 at the RISCON show Sunday.

Designed to meet the high-speed requirements of coupon and clean receipt printing, the TM-T88 raises the bar on high-speed performance with a print speed of 16.5 lines per second making it the fastest thermal printer in its class. A highly reliable printer, the TM-T88 permits bar code printing and is capable of printing characters that can be scaled up to 64 times as large as the standard printing size for logos.

"The TM-T88 is an ideal solution for retailers who require a quiet, high-speed printing solution in a small footprint at an affordable price," said Bud Weist, business unit director, Epson. "The TM-T88 gives retailers the ability to print clean receipts or coupons quickly."

Featuring a resolution of 180 x 180 dpi (dots per inch), this unidirectional friction feed printer is capable of printing alphanumeric, international and extended graphics in programmable font sizes of 12 x 24 or 9 x 24. The TM-T88 also has a print width of 72mm and prints 42 or 56 characters per line depending on the selected font.

To speed paper loading and roll changes, the TM-T88 features an easy drop-in paper loading feature, near-end paper detection and paper out detection, a cover open sensor and an auto-cutter for added convenience. Designed to maximize valuable counter space, the TM-T88 is 148mm (H) x 145mm (W) x 195mm (D) and weighs 3.96 pounds. The TM-T88 has an MCBF of 37 million lines, an operating temperature of 5 degrees to 45 degrees Celsius, and a built-in interface for dual cash drawer capability.

The TM-T88 is available now and carries an MSRP of $563. It will be offered directly from Epson or through Epson's designated distribution channels.

Epson offers an array of technology products for the OEM market including liquid crystal displays (LCDs), PCMCIA cards, storage products, handheld computers, point-of-sale printers and intelligent terminals. For the consumer and business markets, Epson offers an extensive array of image capture, image output and portable storage products.

Founded in 1975, Epson America Inc. is an affiliate of Seiko Epson Corp., a global manufacturer and supplier of high quality technology products that meet customer demand for increased functionality, compactness, systems integration and energy efficiency. Epson America has headquarters in Torrance, Calif. For more information on OEM products, call 310/787-6300 or visit the company's corporate Web site at http://www.epson.com. -0- NOTE: Brand or product names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective holders.

CONTACT: Epson

Janette Reynolds, 310/782-5161

janette_reynolds@ea.epson.com

or

Base One Marketing

Julie O'Brien, 310/792-1877

j_obrien@base1.com