Epson Reduces Digital Camera Prices Up to 20 Percent; Epson's Fully-Featured, Megapixel PhotoPC 700 is Now Available for $599; The Convenient, Portable PhotoPC 550 Sells for $199

Business Wire, Oct 1, 1998

TORRANCE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 1, 1998--Epson, the creator of high-quality, award-winning imaging products, Thursday announced price reductions of up to 20 percent on its popular digital cameras, the PhotoPC 700 and PhotoPC 550.

Effective immediately, the estimated street price of Epson's megapixel PhotoPC 700 is now $599, reduced from its previous street price of $699. The PhotoPC 550 is now available for $199 down from the previous street price of $249.

"Epson strives to achieve exceptional value for the consumer in its digital cameras by providing fully featured products with excellent image quality and unmatched versatility," said Anna Jen, director, photo imaging product marketing, Epson.

"These new price moves increase the value package even more. With the PhotoPC 700 in particular, the low price combined with the low total cost of ownership -- achieved through the included Nickel Metal Hydride rechargeable batteries -- make the PhotoPC 700 an excellent value for business users and digital imaging enthusiasts alike," Jen added.

About the PhotoPC 700

The fully featured PhotoPC 700 is Epson's first megapixel digital camera, offering sharp images in 1280 x 960 pixel resolution. This increased resolution is best suited for presentations, proposals, reports, e-mail messages and Web pages.

The PhotoPC 700 offers users the ability to customize their photos with a variety of picture modes including full size (1280 x 960 pixel), panoramic, close-up, 2x digital zoom and continuous shoot VGA, all in 16.7 million colors or crisp black and white.

Using the 2x digital zoom or panoramic picture modes, users can "crop-on-the-fly" capturing only the information they need, thereby minimizing file sizes to conserve valuable storage capacity for additional images. For enhanced versatility and to achieve a desired effect, users can accessorize their PhotoPC 700 digital cameras with add-on lenses such as wide angle and telephoto that can be attached to the included Tiffen lens adapter.

The Continuous Shoot mode allows users to capture two 640 x 480 pixel images per second, up to a maximum of 10 images. Epson's newest digital camera also offers a new Fast Erase feature allowing users to quickly delete unwanted images immediately after capturing them.

Unlike many other cameras available today, the PhotoPC 700 comes with four AA size rechargeable Nickel Metal Hydride (NiMH) batteries and a compact charger -- together called the NiMH Power Pak. NiMH batteries offer several advantages over Nickel Cadmium (NiCd) batteries in that they are environmentally friendly and do not need to be fully discharged before recharging.

Epson's NiMH batteries also recharge in about two and a half hours using the pocket-sized charger. For additional convenience, the PhotoPC 700 also accepts standard AA size batteries. The PhotoPC 700 includes 4MB of internal memory, so the camera is always ready for picture taking. For expanded memory capabilities, the PhotoPC 700 accepts standard CompactFlash cards up to 48MB.

About the PhotoPC 550

Epson's PhotoPC 550, "the easy-to-use, pocket-sized digital camera you can talk to," is slightly larger than a deck of playing cards and allows users to annotate every picture with a message of up to six seconds in length. The PhotoPC 550 is ideal for business and novice users alike and provides extraordinary picture quality, ease-of-use and a versatile feature set for work or play.

Perfect for creating Web sites, sending emails, and business and personal correspondence, the PhotoPC 550 offers 640 x 480 pixel resolution in two degrees of compression called High and Super High resolution modes. Users may also use the Standard mode to capture images in 320 x 240 pixel resolution.

The PhotoPC 550 utilizes a super sensitive CCD sensor to achieve excellent image quality in almost all lighting conditions. Like the PhotoPC 700, the PhotoPC 550 also comes with internal storage so the camera is always ready to take pictures. For expanded memory, users can use SmartMedia cards to add to the 1MB of internal storage.

Camera controls are very intuitive and the LCD located on the top of the camera indicates the resolution mode, picture mode (normal or macro), battery level, type of storage used (internal or card) and number of pictures remaining.

Price and Availability

The PhotoPC 700 and PhotoPC 550 color digital cameras are available through distribution, mail order, computer superstores and through Epson dealers for estimated street prices of $599 and $199, respectively. Both cameras carry a one-year warranty and are supported by the EPSON Connection, a 24-hour, fully automated customer support and technical assistance line.

For more information on Epson and its products, call 800/GO-EPSON (800/463-7766) or visit the company's Web site at http://www.epson.com.

About Epson

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