Ridgefield Park, NJ – November 6, 2003 – Eagle-Tribune Publishing Company (ETPC), headquartered in North Andover, Massachusetts, has become the first worldwide user of the :Advantage DL3850, the violet laser-based computer-to-plate (CtP) system that brings the benefits of advanced visible light technology to the newspaper industry. ETPC liked it so much they decided to get a second one. ETPC’s 10 newspapers (four dailies and six weeklies) cover 52 communities in two states and have a combined circulation of more than 212,000. For the past four years, ETPC has been looking at various approaches to CtP. It was not until Agfa announced the :Advantage at Nexpo 2003 that they found the solution they required. The low cost of acquisition and ownership, within the grasp of newspapers of any size, sold them immediately. Also, having been a long-time Agfa film and :Avantra imagesetter user, ETPC was comfortable partnering with a stable and responsive company. ”The economics really work when you invest in an :Advantage. We did a full ROI and cost of ownership model, and the :Advantage was way ahead of any of their competitors,” said Dennis Turmel, ETPC’s Vice President / Operations. “The simplicity of the machine is also great. Platesetters are usually big, wide boxes, in which there are seemingly millions of moving parts. The advantage to the DL3850 is that Agfa kept the moving parts to a minimum, increasing reliability and making it easier for my own staff to care for the machine,” Turmel added. Adding the violet diode-based platesetter to his workflow has given Turmel’s editorial department more time to get late-breaking articles into the paper, giving ETPC an advantage over local competitors. “Before, it would take us 12 minutes to make a plate. Now, we’re soft proofing pages and producing them in less than a minute. Plus, we spend less time imaging plates,” Turmel said. “We especially liked that the durable violet laser would last much longer and is under warranty. I’ve heard too many horror stories about high laser replacement costs and short life spans. With violet, I am back to the same conditions as with my imagesetters, when I never had to worry about laser cost or replacements. They just don't fail,” he added. By the end of the year, more than 20 orders will have been placed for the :Advantage, which was only recently introduced to the world at NEXPO 2003. It’s continued success and resonance with the market is expected to continue in 2004. “Violet technology for CtP is clearly the optimum choice when it comes to cost of ownership, quality, and overall price performance,” said Sheila Nysko, Agfa’s Newspaper Segment Marketing Manager, North America. “With the :Advantage DL3850, newspaper publishers around the country and around the world can reap the benefits of violet laser technology in their operations.” “Our approach on all of our technologies to consider the needs of the customer,” added Kurt Smits, world wide director, Agfa newspaper business. “The partnership with Eagle-Tribune, as evidenced by the purchase of a second :Advantage DL3850 machine, is clearly one that can serve as an example to similar newspaper publishers looking to get the most from their investments.” In addition to the two :Advantage systems, ETPC is also getting Agfa’s :OptiBend System, a versatile plate punching and bending system. Its unique flexibility allows it to handle both multiple punch and bend configurations with different plate cut-off lengths during a single production run. Built for high-speed throughput of up to 240 broadsheet plates per hour, the :OptiBend System punches and bends one plate while positioning the next plate. This ensures continuous production, especially when online to the :Advantage DL3850.