LAKE SUCCESS, NY, Canon U.S.A. Inc., the U.S. market share leader in color laser copiers and subsidiary of Japan-based Canon Inc. (NYSE: CAJ), announced today that the CLC 3100 has been awarded the highly regarded "Editor's Choice" award in the annual Better Buys for Business Color Copier Guide, with the CLC 5000 receiving a "Worth Watching" designation, the top honors from the publication. The CLC 3100, which replaces the highly-regarded workhorse CLC 1000, is a full-color laser copier/printer that operates at 31 pages-per-minute. With exceptional image quality driven by a durable four-drum engine, the device was recognized for its outstanding price/performance value in the high-volume segment. According to Jon Bees, editor of the Better Buys for Business Color Copier Guide, "The CLC 3100 provides a lot of speed for the money. It also offers outstanding image quality that will not disappoint users who have chosen Canon for this reason before. We have decided to give our Editor's Choice rating to the CLC 3100 based on its superior value." With best-in-class document feeder and paper input capacity, Better Buys for Business continued their praise of the CLC 3100's value, described by Bees as "…one of the finest high-volume color copiers on the market. The machine's $63,100 list price is over $17,000 less than that of the CLC 1000, changing the competitive position of the company significantly." The CLC 5000, which will begin delivery in the first quarter of 2001, is Canon's fastest color laser copier/printer ever offered, with 50 page-per-minute operation. With a suggested base retail price of $89,500, the device has been heralded by Better Buys as an "exciting new production color model," one that "sets a new benchmark for the production level of the color copier market." "We are very pleased to receive the highest ratings possible from Better Buys for Business for our new production color copier/printers," said Mason Olds, director and general manager, Canon Graphic Systems Division. "Both the CLC 3100 and CLC 5000 promise to deliver the same highest standard of image quality, reliability, innovation, and value that the Canon CLC brand is famous for."