bli pick of the year award

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Konica Minolta, Ricoh And SharpEarn Fall 2009 BLI “Picks”

January 5, 2010 – Wokingham (UK) – Buyers Laboratory Inc. (BLI), the world’s leading independentevaluator of document imaging products and solutions, today announced its Fall 2009 “Pick” awardshonouring outstanding A3-size MFPs from Konica Minolta, Ricoh and Sharp. BLI’s semi-annual “Pick”awards are given to the hardware and software offerings that measure up as the best in BLI’scomprehensive evaluations, which assess a wide range of the most important features and performancefactors for buyers.The Fall 2009 Copier MFP “Pick” winners are:

Konica Minolta BusinessTechnologies, Inc.

Konica Minolta bizhub C220/C280Outstanding 21- to 30-ppm A3

Colour MFPs

Konica Minolta bizhub C360Outstanding 31- to 40-ppm A3

Colour MFP

Ricoh Europe

Ricoh Aficio MP C2050(Also sold as the Gestetner MP

C2050, Infotec MP C2050,Nashuatec MP C2050 and Rex

Rotary MP C2050)Outstanding Up to 20-ppm A3

Colour MFP

Ricoh Aficio MP C5000 with EFIFiery Controller

(Also sold as the Gestetner MPC5000, Infotec MP C5000,

Nashuatec MP C5000, and RexRotary MP C5000)

Outstanding 41- to 50-ppm A3Colour MFP

Sharp Electronics

Sharp MX-M283N

Outstanding 21- to 30-ppm A3Monochrome MFP



Sharp MX-M363

Outstanding 31- to 40-ppm A3Monochrome MFP

Sharp MX-M453Outstanding 41- to 50-ppm A3

Monochrome MFP

Sharp MX-M503Outstanding 41- to 50-ppm A3

Monochrome MFP

Konica Minolta Colour Series Rises To The Top In Low- To Mid-Speed Ranges For their impressive overall performances, Konica Minolta’s 22-ppm bizhub C220, 28-ppm bizhub C280,and 36-ppm bizhub C360 have earned Fall 2009 BLI “Pick” awards for “Outstanding A3 Colour MFPs” intheir respective speed ranges.

“The models offer exceptional ease of use and strong productivity in key test areas, while also proving tobe highly reliable, making a strong case for these as the best in business colour for Fall 2009,” said BLIAssignments Editor George Mikolay.Results of BLI’s job stream test in colour, which simulates real-world usage, were impressive, as all threemodels achieved above-average efficiency from both the PCL and PostScript drivers. Black and colourduplex copy and print efficiency results were also very good to outstanding overall, which is crucial asusers attempt to lower running costs and improve environmental friendliness.All three models are also on the cutting edge for innovation. With the MyTab feature, a Spring 2009 BLI

“Outstanding Achievement” winner, commonly used print job selections can be configured and saved onone tab, allowing users to take full advantage of the driver feature set with a minimum of fuss and lessrisk of errors, as all required features can be viewed at a glance. Further, the Quick Copy tab allowsusers to select features for a typical copy job from one tab. Third-party software developers can alsointegrate their document management and cost accounting solutions with the devices via bizhubExtended Solution Technology (bEST).

“We at Konica Minolta are honoured that BLI recognized all three of the systems in the bizhubC360/C280/C220 Series of colour MFPs,” said Kevin Kern, Senior Vice President, Marketing, KonicaMinolta Business Solutions U.S.A., Inc. “These awards echo the same sentiment we’re seeing in themarketplace. Additionally, it’s great validation how our end-users can count on Konica Minolta to meetthe diverse needs of today's ever-changing workplace.”

Duplex Productivity, Reliability And Superior Networking Garner Ricoh Acclaim In a world where companies are switching to duplex workflow, the Ricoh Aficio MP C2050 makes for avery compelling solution with duplex print and copy productivity running above 100% efficiency in BLI’smulti-set tests, helping it to earn a Fall 2009 BLI “Pick” for “Outstanding Up to 20-ppm A3 Colour MFP.”Demonstrating near-flawless reliability and superior network attributes, the Ricoh Aficio MP C2050 is anexcellent choice for budget-conscious buyers.The unit’s feedback to workstations is excellent, and the device offers very good administrative utilitiesand a range of print drivers, including standard PCL 5c/6 and RPCS drivers, as well as an optional AdobePostScript 3 print driver. Its ease of use is very good overall, and support for Ricoh’s Embedded SoftwareArchitecture enables users to run embedded applications for additional capabilities.

“To witness a device delivering productivity above its rated maximum is very rare indeed, and when itdoes so in duplex mode, the achievement is all the more impressive,” said BLI European Laboratory andResearch Manager David Sweetnam.

“BLI’s 2009 Fall ‘Pick’ for Outstanding Up to 20-ppm Business Colour MFP for the MPC2050 is a great endorsement,” said Oscar Mellegers, Product Manager at RicohEurope. “It is a recognition of Ricoh’s strong and reliable product line-up in eachsegment. Cost and environment-conscious duplex productivity are just a few of themany benefits which make the MP C2050 the perfect solution for today's sustainablebusiness demands. Paired to outstanding ease of use and diverse softwarecompatibility, the MP C2050 is a welcome addition to any business environment at avery attractive Total Cost of Ownership (TCO)”.



Powerful Professional Colour Printing Capabilities Steer Ricoh To Success With more companies looking to keep a higher percentage of printing in-house, Ricoh’s MP C5000 drivenby the EFI E5100 controller delivers a value-packed solution, helping it to earn a Fall 2009 BLI “Pick” as

“Outstanding 41- to 50-ppm A3 Colour MFP.”Offering outstanding reliability, the MP C5000 also demonstrated productivity that was consistently aboveaverage across a range of BLI copy and print tests. Walk-up users will also benefit from the device’s 50-second warm-up time, which reduces the unit’s carbon footprint, while saving on energy costs without

unduly hampering staff productivity. Other benefits of the MP C5000 configured with the Fiery controllerare its strong productivity and a host of print management utilities.

“We were impressed by the power and functionality of the Ricoh MP C5000 when driven by the EFIcontroller. The intuitive hot folders and Command WorkStation 5 applications enabled our team oftechnicians to quickly route complex workflows through the device with the minimum of effort andmaximum results,” said Sweetnam.Scoring very highly in both black and colour print categories, the device also benefits from the extensivecolour management options within EFI ColourWise and advanced image quality options available in boththe PCL and PostScript drivers.Scan users will benefit from a wide range of capabilities, including the ability to scan jobs directly intothe hold queue of the controller where they can then be reprocessed before final submission. In addition,complex multi-destination workflows can be programmed as a one-touch preset using the EFI ScanUtility, and Ricoh’s colour-dropout utility allows organizations processing forms, multi-choicequestionnaires and tests to remove background elements, thus improving OCR/OMR accuracy and

reducing file size and bandwidth strain. “We are very pleased with this ‘Pick of the Year’ award from BLI. It is a confirmationfrom the market that the MPC5000 with EFI Controller is really outstanding, separatingitself with innovative features and finishing options not regularly seen withcompetitors”, said Suzanne Racz, Product Manager at Ricoh Europe. “Our brand hasalways been synonymous with quality, reliability, productivity, low power consumptionand ease-of-use. With more users producing professional looking documents in-house,the MP C5000 with the EFI controller is the perfect solution for superb output,optimizing document distribution and advanced performance at low TCO.”

Sharp’s MX Monochrome Series Earns Honours Earning high marks in nearly every aspect of testing, all four models in Sharp’s MX Monochrome Serieshave earned Fall 2009 BLI “Picks” in their respective speed ranges.The four models—the 28-ppm MX-M283N, 36-ppm MX-M363N, 45-ppm MX-M453N and 50-ppm MX-M503N—demonstrated outstanding reliability in BLI’s durability testing and offer very good multitaskingcapabilities. They earned high marks in all aspects of connectivity as well.The models also offer a host of innovative features that helped Sharp earn a 2008 BLI “OutstandingAchievement Award.” Most notable is the industry-first optional retractable QWERTY keyboard. Because itmakes it easier for users to enter index data, the QWERTY keyboard helps to make these Sharp devicesmore functional with integrated software applications, while also making documents easier to retrievelater. The models also feature a high-resolution colour touch-screen display that is customizable to allowcommonly used features to be placed on the main screen for each function, as well as the third-generation of Sharp OSA (Open Systems Architecture) so that they can be configured to integrate withcustomers’ document management and other types of applications to automate workflow.

“I think Sharp knew it had some good products on its hands as soon as the new black-and-white line-upwas announced internally around 12 months ago,” said Marc Brion, Sharp’s UK Product MarketingManager. “With a fantastic range of colour products already on the market, we knew that the black-and-white equivalents would be just as successful and highly regarded. These BLI awards reinforce our views

of the products and we hope our customers agree with us.”About Buyers Laboratory Since 1961, Buyers Lab has been the leading independent office-equipment testing lab and business consumeradvocate. In addition to publishing the industry's most comprehensive and accurate test reports on officedocument imaging devices, each representing months of exhaustive hands-on testing in BLI's US and UKlaboratories, the company has been the leading source for extensive databases of specifications and pricing oncopiers, printers, fax machines and multifunctional products. The company's databases cover over 10,000products and have a long-standing reputation for being the industry's most trustworthy and complete source forglobal competitive intelligence. They are available to BLI subscribers online via the company's bliQ competitiveinformation service. This encyclopedic resource also provides quick and easy access to BLI's First Look Reports,Field Test Reports, Lab Test Reports, Solutions Reports, and BLI-produced articles.In addition to the testing of office equipment for its subscribers, Buyers Lab provides consulting services tobuyers and a vast array of confidential for-hire private testing services that include document imaging devicebeta and pre-launch testing, performance certification testing, consumables testing (such as toner, ink andphotoconductors), software and solutions and print media testing (including virgin and recycled papers).

For more information on Buyers Lab, please call +44 (0) 118 977 2000, visit www.buyerslab.com, or [email protected].

bli pick of the year award

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