HP Introduces Large-Format Color Inkjet CAD Plotter and Color PostScript Graphics Printer (Designjet 750C, Designjet 755CM)

25 September 1995 - 09:20

PALO ALTO, Calif. Sept. 25, 1995  Hewlett-Packard Company, the worldwide leader in printer and large-format-plotter sales, today announced the HP DesignJet 750C large-format color plotter and the HP DesignJet 755CM large-format color PostScript(TM) inkjet printer.

The DesignJet 750C plotter is the fastest inkjet plotter in its class; it replaces the HP DesignJet 650C plotter, the world's best-selling plotter. The DesignJet 755CM printer can produce full-color poster-sized designs and presentations in a matter of minutes. Both new products feature HP's next-generation inkjet technology, which provides the best print quality to date.

Typical DesignJet 750C plotter customers use computer-aided design (CAD) applications in medium to large engineering, architectural and mapping companies. Most of these users also use PCs in a networked environment and typically produce 20 or more plots a day.

The DesignJet 750C plotter is $6,495 (U.S.) for a D-size (24 inches wide) and $7,495 (U.S.) for an E-size (36 inches wide). The new plotter has more functionality than the DesignJet 650C plotter, yet sells for $500 less.

The DesignJet 755CM printer is $11,995 (U.S.) and provides a total color-output solution for graphic artists involved in a variety of applications. This all-in-one printer provides exceptional color output, from 8.5 inches by 11 inches up to 3 feet by 9 feet and everything in between. The device is plug-and-play ready and comes preinstalled with an Adobe PostScript Level 2 raster-image processor; an HP JetDirect card for easy connection to a Macintosh, PC or network; 68MB of memory so that large, complex PostScript files print easily; and HP's DesignJet Color Management Kit for color matching.

Graphic artists or designers in companies dedicated to design -- such as advertising agencies or design firms, and graphics departments of Fortune 1000 companies -- will find the DesignJet 755CM printer ideal for a variety of applications. Among those are comps, presentations and short-term signage in businesses such as advertising, packaging, publishing, law offices and education.

DESIGNJET 600 PLOTTER PRICE CUTS

HP also announced that on Oct. 1 it will reduce the price on its popular HP DesignJet 600 monochrome plotter by $500 on each model. The plotter will be priced at $4,495 for a D-size and $5,495 for an E-size.

FASTER PLOTTING AND PRINTING WITH SUPERIOR PRINT QUALITY

The DesignJet 750C plotter can plot a typical D-size black or color CAD plot in about four minutes in normal print mode. Typical color CAD drawings can take as little as three minutes in fast mode or about nine minutes in best mode.

In addition to faster plotting, the DesignJet 750C plotter features improved AutoCAD(TM) and Windows drivers that perform twice as fast as their predecessors. These factors contribute to the plotter having the fastest throughput in its class.

The DesignJet 750C plotter and the DesignJet 755CM printer come with four print cartridges -- cyan, yellow, magenta and black -- that create 300 dots-per-inch (dpi) resolution color designs. New inkjet cartridges and new ink formulations provide better image quality and more media flexibility, including color plain-paper plotting and enhanced lightfastness. Designs produced on these devices will last up to one year in office light and up to two weeks outdoors (for window displays). Both products have new imaging modes to create exceptional images with clear, vivid colors and virtually no banding. (Banding is an undesirable line pattern that sometimes appears on large shaded areas of color output). For monochrome plotting, the products offer 600-dpi resolution so that fine lines and four-point type are clear and readable.

The DesignJet 755CM comes with a Color Management Kit that contains profiles for Pantone(R), Adobe Photoshop(TM), PageMaker(TM), Kodak Precision Color, Agfa FotoTune and ICC. The profiles help the user create images with near-photographic quality that are virtually identical to the original. HP's color-rendering technology, ColorSmart, also ships with the DesignJet 755CM printer. The printer's drivers support popular Macintosh and Windows 3.1 design applications, such as Quark Xpress, Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, PageMaker and Freehand, and Corel Draw. Thirty-nine Adobe Type 1 typefaces are included. The printer has a scaling feature so that PostScript users with software that does not support large-format can scale small designs up to poster size.

PLAIN-PAPER COLOR PLOTTING AND NEW MEDIA

The DesignJet 750C plotter and the DesignJet 755CM printer produce color line drawings and monochrome designs on most common engineering papers. HP now offers a variety of special media for color and monochrome plotting and printing; they are available in rolls and some cut-sheet sizes. Media types for CAD and mapping applications include opaque bond, vellum, clear film, matte film, coated paper and heavyweight coated paper. Media types for graphic arts applications include high-gloss photo paper, semi-gloss photo paper, premium white glossy paper and high-gloss white film.

UNATTENDED OPERATION AND NETWORK FRIENDLY

The DesignJet 750C plotter comes standard with 4MB of memory upgradable to 68MB. Both the plotter and the printer have a bidirectional Centronics parallel-expanded-capability port that transmits data five times faster than previous ports for faster processing. They also have a RS-232-C serial port for easy connection to any workstation or server. Using optional HP JetDirect cards, the DesignJet 750C plotter and the DesignJet 755CM printer can be attached directly to most Ethernet or Token Ring networks running LAN Manager, Novell, AppleTalk, LocalTalk, UNIX and Windows NT, among other operating systems. Both products are plug-and-play ready for Windows 95.

The DesignJet 750C plotter ships with a Microsoft(R) Windows 3.1 driver. It also ships with MS-DOS(R) drivers for AutoCAD Releases 11, 12 and 13 and Windows drivers for AutoCAD Releases 12 and 13. The Windows driver for AutoCAD Release 13 was jointly developed by HP and Autodesk and provides HP plotter users who use AutoCAD with the best-possible solution. In fact, HP is the only plotter vendor to ship an AutoCAD Release 13 driver with its plotter.

The DesignJet 750C plotter comes with HP-GL/2, HP-GL and HP RTL languages, and automatically switches among those languages as well as PostScript for those users who choose to install HP's PostScript upgrade kit. The kit includes Adobe PostScript Level 2 printer language and 39 Adobe Type 1 typefaces for $1,195 (U.S.).

AVAILABILITY AND WARRANTY

The DesignJet 750C plotter and DesignJet 755CM printer are available immediately from HP-authorized dealers. Both products come with a one-year, limited on-site warranty. HP is the only plotter or large-format printer vendor to provide standard on-site warranty service. Users may extend the warranty for $552 (U.S.) per year. In addition, customers can purchase HP SupportPack, a warranty plan that extends the on-site warranty for two years, for $996 (U.S.).

HP is the world's leading supplier of hardcopy products that set the standard for technology, performance and reliability. HP LaserJet and DeskJet printers are the world's best-selling printers that range from high-speed network devices for workgroups to inexpensive desktop products for the home. HP has sold more than 30 million printers worldwide since 1984. Other market-leading HP products include DesignJet large-format printers and plotters, ScanJet scanners, OfficeJet printer-fax-copier devices and HP FAX facsimile machines.

Hewlett-Packard Company is a leading global manufacturer of computing, communications and measurement products and services recognized for excellence in quality and support. HP has 99,900 employees and had revenue of $25 billion in its 1994 fiscal year.