Xerox Raises the Bar With New Phaser-r- 850 Color Printer; More Than Three Times Faster Than HP At No Extra Cost - Product Announcement

Edge: Work-Group Computing Report, Jan 31, 2000

Breaking the speed barrier in office color printing, Xerox Corporation announced Monday the Tektronix Phaser 850 color printer, which prints more than three times faster than the comparably priced Hewlett-Packard (HP) model but at no extra cost.

Printing at 14 full-color pages per minute (ppm), the Phaser 850 color printer offers improved technologies for superior color image quality and for easier installation and use. The Phaser 850 color printer also features a new "blacker" black ink, which is free during the life of the printer. With an estimated street price of $2,495, the Phaser 850 color printer is the industry's fastest color printer and offers more value than the similarly priced HP Color LaserJet 4500.

"The Phaser 850 color printer prints truer colors and livelier images than any color laser in its class," said Gerry Perkel, president, Xerox Office Printing Business. "It is the first of many new products that the Xerox Office Printing Business expects to introduce."

Not only does the Phaser 850 color printer deliver high-speed color printing at up to 14 prints per minute, but it prints its first color page in 12 seconds, more than three times faster than a typical workgroup color printer. Another productivity feature is Xerox' easy-to-load Tektronix ColorStix, which allows for on-the-fly ink replacement so important jobs don't need to be interrupted to change toner cartridges.

The Phaser 850 color printer is ready to "plug and print" with an easy-to-use installation CD that automatically deals with the complexity of Windows and networks and a new print driver interface for optimum print quality. Xerox' improved PhaserLink printer management software also includes a customizable Web interface for easy printer administration, automatic e-mail notification of printer status, usage profile monitoring and online troubleshooting. The Phaser 850 color printer also comes with auto-sensing 10/100 Base T Ethernet, native USB and parallel/serial connectivity.

The Phaser 850 color printer comes with one-year onsite service and Xerox' three-year Total Satisfaction Guarantee, and is available immediately through resellers and dealers. It is the first color printer to come from Xerox' Office Printing Business, created after Xerox' recent acquisition of the Tektronix, Inc. printing business.