Seiko Introduces Thermal Printer

The $237 DPU-3445 weighs less than 1 pound, including lithium-ion battery. It prints from a PC or LAN through a serial port at up to 38,400 bits per second. The printer comes with a cordless IrDA interface and is designed for handheld and notebook computers, personal digital assistants (PDAs) and smart cellular phones.

Seiko's printer produces text, numbers, lines and boxes at 50mm per second in 16- or 24-dot font sizes. The 48mm paper roll measures 112mm wide and allows for 104mm-wide text with a print resolution of 8 dots per mm.

Seiko's DPU-3445 should appeal to vertical markets such as medical operations that want a small, lightweight printer, as well as industries that use PDAs and are looking for portable devices, said Bob Falco, marketing manager of Seiko Instruments.

Applications include police officers looking to write rainproof tickets and route salespeople who want to offer printed receipts, said Falco. It can print a reading of how long a rental car was used, along with its mileage, he said.

"The most competitive advantage of the Seiko line is the quality and the name recognition," said Dennis Cormier, corporate marketing manager of Sager Electronics, a Hingham, Mass.-based distributor.

One distributor expects thermal printers to be a part of a growing trend. "I believe there is a large swing in the market going from impact to thermal printers, as well as a whole host of portable devices," said Mike Eliseo, senior product manager of Reptron Electronics, a Tampa, Fla.-based distributor.

Seiko, based here, is now selling through a team of national distributors. The company plans to launch a VAR program in early to middle first quarter of 1999, said Falco.