PALO ALTO, Calif., Jan. 8, 2007 – HP today announced the first customer shipments of the HP Designjet 8000s Printer series, a cost-effective solution for creating vivid color output with excellent durability from small signs to large outdoor banners. Designed to offer a breakthrough combination of price and performance, the HP Designjet 8000s Printer is a comprehensive and easy to use solution for traditional sign shops and screen printers looking to grow their businesses by expanding into outdoor signage markets. “Joining the HP Designjet 9000s and 10000s, the HP Designjet 8000s Printer series offers the best price-performance ratio to the market,” said Enrique Lores, vice president and general manager, Large Format Printing Division, HP. “HP’s family of low-solvent devices are helping customers expand their businesses with safe yet robust solutions that produce high-impact, enduring outdoor signage. The addition of the HP Designjet 8000s furthers HP’s commitment to giving customers exceptionally easy-to-use solutions and ensuring a unique, reliable experience from printing to maintenance and support.” Signs America, Inc., a leading commercial and architectural signage specialist, expects to bring in considerably more projects in-house, reclaiming revenue historically lost, with the HP Designjet 8000s Printer series. Having built its reputation on quick turnaround while delivering high quality products, San Francisco-based Signs America sought out a solid platform that is fast, easy to use and maintain, and produces vivid signage that withstands the elements. “With the HP Designjet 8000s Printer series, we will be able to offer more services to our existing customers,” said Carl Ramsey, vice president, Signs America, Inc. “We used to have to outsource work for outdoor signage, losing time and money on shipping and weather-proofing. Now we can do this work internally, control the final output and ultimately ensure our customers get top-quality products.” Exceptional performance and price for growing print shops Printing up to 64 inches wide (1626 mm), the HP Designjet 8000s brings ultimate versatility and high productivity at an outstanding value. Offering excellent performance at its price point, the HP Designjet 8000s prints at high speeds of 88 ft2/hr (8.17 m2/hr) at 720 x 720 dpi, quickly producing stunning, durable output across a wide variety of applications. The in-the-box Onyx® SignEZ v7.0 RIP(1) is full-featured yet simple and intuitive, so highly skilled operators are not required. Customers can also rely on the heavy-duty platform with six piezo printheads and 500ml HP 780 ink cartridges, and high-value accessories like the HP Designjet 8000s Take-Up Reel Kit and HP Designjet High Speed Dryer for unattended printing and improved productivity. Users can expect consistent, high-quality results when using the HP Designjet 8000s, HP 780 inks and HP Solvent Media. This complete printing system is specially designed and tested to work together seamlessly to provide optimal print quality and durability on a range of applications. For companies like Signs America, solvent inks have been the technology of choice for outdoor work because of their durability. The safe, sophisticated low-solvent ink technology used in the HP Designjet 8000s, 9000s and 10000s feature high concentrations of colorants creating rich, saturated colors for brilliant signs. The HP Designjet 8000s’ HP 780 inks resist fading for up to three years without lamination and are crack-, smear- and scratch-resistant.(2) Printing on HP’s low-cost media and eliminating the need for lamination further the savings. Designed to work with HP’s Designjet 8000s, 9000s and 10000s Printer series, HP’s outdoor media portfolio features durable media for best-in-class image quality, reliability and value. HP’s broad portfolio of outdoor media addresses the many needs and opportunities in the outdoor signage market. The current media portfolio includes HP Universal Scrim Banner, HP Premium Scrim Banner, HP Premium Self-adhesive Vinyl, HP Premium Backlit film and HP Universal Photo-realistic Paper. This portfolio will be expanded in March 2007 to include HP Blue Back Satin Billboard Paper, HP Satin Canvas and HP Translucent PVC Display Film. HP quality and reliability from start to finish Enabling traditional signmakers and print shops to quickly get started in low-solvent printing, HP has developed an offering that is comprehensive, easy-to-use and safe that includes ready-to-use HP products, such as the self-contained cleaning tools with clear instructions, and automated maintenance processes. HP also ensures HP Designjet 8000s users can operate in a safe and healthy workplace. The HP Designjet 8000s series provides an exceptional level of environmental health and safety assurances with a comprehensive EHS program. This includes the new HP Air Purification System(3) designed to reduce workplace Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) in demanding production environments. To learn more about HP guidelines on environmental, health and safety questions about printing with HP low-solvent inks, visit www.hp.com/go/ehs. Pricing and availability The HP Designjet 8000sr Printer is available now for an estimated U.S. MSRP of $19,995. U.S. sales are handled exclusively through authorized distributor Tekgraf. Please visit www.tekgraf.com for more information.