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Xerox Adds New Wide-Format Printer

February 3, 2006

Equipping print providers with the right technology to profit from the growing digital wide-format printing market, Xerox Corp. announced the Xerox 6204 Wide Format Solution, a black-and-white copier and printer aimed at commercial print shops and architectural, engineering and construction companies.

Xerox unveiled the new product at the co-located Xplor show and the Graphics of the Americas Exhibition - the first major printing industry trade show of 2006.

The Xerox 6204 copier and printer is one of the fastest in its class, and it is designed to produce engineering renderings, topographic and aerial maps, and mechanical and architectural drawings. It is ideal for customers transitioning from analog to digital printing or for those entering the wide-format printing market for the first time. Wide-format documents typically exceed 24 inches in width.

"Xerox is an important player in the monochrome digital wide-format market with one of the largest installed bases," said Tim Greene, director of the wide-format research group at InfoTrends, a leading independent industry research firm. "They now have a complete portfolio of products for users in small, medium and large technical document printing establishments - both on the enterprise and print-for-pay side."

Digital low-end wide-format printer revenue is expected to grow from $87 million in 2005 to $115 million in 2009, representing the fastest-growing segment of the wide-format digital printer market, according to InfoTrends.

"Digital wide-format printers are becoming easier to use, smaller in size and more economical," said Quincy Allen, president, Xerox Production Systems Group. "The flexibility of the Xerox 6204 allows print shops and enterprises to take full advantage of a wide-format solution with a minimal investment in dollars and space."

Hanlon Architects, a Rochester, N.Y.-based architectural firm, purchased the Xerox 6204 Wide Format Solution to help clients produce plans and designs. "When a project gets a green light, our clients expect us to immediately turn around documents," said David Hanlon, president, Hanlon Architects. "With the 6204, we are able to respond to our clients'' expectations quickly and produce quality documents."

The company had been using a competitive system that was significantly slower than the Xerox 6204. When researching a faster replacement, Hanlon Architects looked at systems that had a separate scanner and determined the products were too large to fit on their office floor. However, the Xerox 6204 system''s compact design kept it out of Hanlon''s basement and in the office, where the company''s 14 employees can quickly scan plans to their network, print multiple-page construction drawings, and copy architectural renderings.

Two Configurations Deliver Speed and Flexibility

The Xerox 6204 is available in two configurations: a printer-only model and a printer-copier model with the optional capability of scanning to the network. The printer-only model is the only configuration of its kind in the low-end, digital black-and-white wide-format market; competitive products include both a printer and scanner, regardless of a customer''s needs.

The scanner on the Xerox 6204 printer-copier is the fastest in its class, scanning 600 dots-per-inch resolution at 3 inches per second. Unlike some competitive products, the system lets people scan documents to their network in one step.

In addition, the Xerox 6204 includes several other benefits:

• Speed. One of the fastest products in the low-end, black-and-white digital wide-format market, the 6204 prints four "D-size" (24" x 36") images per minute and can be upgraded to print five D-size ipm. Few competitive systems can print five D-size ipm. Users can also select a two-roll paper option for greater printing capacity.
• Benchmark image quality. The Xerox 6204 prints large documents at widths from 11 inches to 36 inches at 600 x 600 dpi.
• Flexibility. The Xerox 6204 is smaller than competitive printers because it doesn''t require a standalone scanner and PC. It also can be placed within inches of a wall, conserving work space, since printed documents are delivered from the front. A touch-screen interface and integrated scanner also make it simple to operate for a variety of customers, including government agencies, utilities and educational institutions.
• Workflow integration. An embedded print controller, the processor that sets up print files and transfers them to the printer, helps print providers streamline and standardize how their print operations work, which reduces costs and improves productivity.

Xerox now gives customers five digital, black-and-white wide-format printing options to meet their speed and page volume demands: the Xerox 6204 Wide Format Solution, the Xerox 510 and 721 Print Systems, and the Xerox 6030 and 6050 Wide Format Systems.