NEW PANASONIC PERSONAL PRINTER USHERS IN ERA OF TURNKEY DESKTOP AND MOBILE
COMPUTING SOLUTIONS 

Laser Quality Device Has Industry's Smallest Footprint And Is First Fully
Transportable for Traveling Use

SAN FRANCISCO/Aug 24, 1993 -- Panasonic Communications and Systems Co.
(PCSC), a unit of Matsushita Electric Corp. of America, today introduced
the SideWriter family, a line of upright laser-quality printers with a
desktop footprint smaller than any comparable personal computing output
device. The printers -- which stand only 14 inches high, take up .52
square feet or a space slightly larger than a standard envelope, and weigh
just 14.3 pounds -- represent a breakthrough in the design of personal
desktop printers, according to Tim Curran, group general manager for
Panasonic's Computer Products Group.

Incorporating innovative LED (or Light Emitting Diode) printing technology,
the SideWriter family is available in two versions -- one featuring
Adobe's PostScript printer language and one with HP PCL4 printer language
only. The new printers can be placed next to a PC in virtually any work or
home environment, allowing users to execute all their computer output
tasks without requiring additional printer stations or sacrificing a large
portion of valuable workspace.

The PostScript printer doubles as a personal plain paper fax machine with
the addition of the PostScript fax option. PostScript fax is a high
quality, lower cost alternative to thermal paper fax and is compatible
with the more than 20 million Group 3 fax machines installed worldwide.
Faxes are sent directly from the software application using the same steps
needed to print a document.

Both printers offer users document security by eliminating the need to
broadcast a print job over a network. Additionally, the PostScript model
offers ample security, since its fax option allows for sending or
receiving PC-based plain paper faxes in an office or on the road.

The SideWriter family is also transportable, letting users couple the
printer with a laptop or notebook computer to create a traveling system --
complete with optional plain paper fax capability, without giving up
professional print quality. Priced at under $1,000 for the PostScript
model and under $700 for the PCL model, the SideWriter printers also
establish new price/performance standards for this category of laser
printers.

"Clearly the future of personal computing is to bring total functionality
to the user's fingertips, including printing," said Mr. Curran. "Another
trend is the explosive growth of home and mobile computing, which this
product also addresses, giving users a laser quality printer so small it
can fit into any home office or be taken on the road."

Standard Features, Uncommon Design

In addition to their inventive physical features, the new printers also
provide industry-standard print speed, quality and compatibility at a
price affordable to individual users. Both printers in the new line, the
KX-P5400 and the KX-P4400, output documents at an optimal rate of four
pages-per-minute (ppm). The P4400 incorporates HP PCL4, providing 28
bitmap fonts. The P5400, in addition to HP PCL4 and its font capabilities,
also incorporates Adobe's PostScript Level 2 printer language with 17
scalable fonts.

PostScript is the computer graphics industry standard desktop printer
language, enabling compatible printers to produce documents with a variety
of high quality typefaces and graphics. The P5400 has two megabytes (2MB)
of memory to handle any PostScript print file. The P5400 also offers a
plain paper PostScript fax option for secure, PC-based fax send and
receive.

Designed, developed and manufactured by Matsushita in Japan, SideWriter
delivers high print quality in the smallest laser printer form factor in
the industry (5"w x 11"h x 14 "d; .52 square feet footprint).

The SideWriter products offer resolution of up to 300 x 300 dots per inch
(dpi). They can handle an input of up to 100 sheets of paper -- ranging in
size from executive to standard to legal -- in a side paper tray. Maximum
output tray capacity is 50 sheets.

Both printers use parallel interfaces and work with all IBM PCs and
compatibles. The P5400 has the additional option of an AppleTalk
interface, making it compatible with Macintosh computers. It also has an
optional serial port to offer accelerated communication between the
computer and the printer.

Both printers also comply with the Energy Star program for printers
sponsored by the Environmental Protection Agency. The program acknowledges
that the SideWriter printers are energy efficient office automation
equipment.

Pricing and Availability

In addition to supplanting the conventional idea of laser-quality printers
as large, bulky desktop devices, the SideWriter family also alters the
popular notion that laser-quality output is too expensive for individual
users. The printers will be available through authorized Panasonic
resellers nationwide for a suggested retail price of $649 for the KX-P4400
and $999 for the KX-P5400. General availability for the KX-P5400 and the
KX-P4400 is planned for September and October, respectively. Prices for
the Fax, AppleTalk, Memory and Serial Port options and the PostScript
upgrade will be announced at a later date.

In the United States, Panasonic Communications & Systems Company markets an
extensive line of office automation equipment, including dot matrix, LED
and laser personal printers; color thermal printers; the PanaSync line of
color monitors; phase-change, magneto-optical and WORM optical-disk
recording and storage equipment; the Panafile II series of optical filing
products; filing sub-systems; computer scanners; office and personal
copiers; whiteboards; electronic typewriters; and the Panafax line of
plainpaper and thermal facsimile machines.

Panasonic Communications & Systems Company
Two Panasonic Way
Secaucus, NJ 07094

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