June 11, 2007
'Xerox, Ricoh, Konica Minolta Top Color Printers': BLI
Buyers Lab (BLI) 'Pick' Winners in Key Growth Market for Color Workgroup Printers.
Hackensack, NJ, June 6, 2007 – BLI has announced the winners of its Spring 2007 “Pick” awards in the color printer category, with KONICA MINOLTA Printing Solutions, Ricoh Corporation and Xerox Corporation receiving accolades for their products. Color printers have been a key growth market in the printer industry; as hardware prices continue to fall, color printers are both replacing monochrome models and upgrading previous-generation color placements.
Over the past six months, BLI subjected more than 30 color printers from 12 vendors to its in-depth lab tests, including assessments of reliability, image quality, productivity, print drivers, feedback to workstations, administrative utilities, ease of use, network setup, toner yield and more. The outstanding performers in this group to be honored with BLI's "Pick" awards are the following products from KONICA MINOLTA, Ricoh and Xerox:
KONICA MINOLTA PRINTING SOLUTIONS U.S.A., INC.
KONICA MINOLTA magicolor 5550
Outstanding Mid-Size Workgroup Color Laser Printer
RICOH CORPORATION
Ricoh Aficio GX5050N
(also sold as the Gestetner GX5050N, Lanier GX5050N and Savin GX5050N)
Outstanding Small Workgroup Inkjet Printer
Ricoh Aficio SP C811DN-DL
(also sold as the Gestetner C7640nD, Lanier LP440C and Savin CLP240D)
Outstanding Large Workgroup Color Laser Printer
XEROX CORPORATION
Xerox Phaser 6180DN
Outstanding Small Workgroup Color Laser Printer
Xerox Phaser 8560DN
Outstanding Critical Color Printer
KONICA MINOLTA Recognized In Mid-Size Workgroup Category
In the mid-size workgroup color printer category, the KONICA MINOLTA magicolor 5550 takes BLI’s “Pick” award. “The magicolor 5550 offers excellent ease of use and setup. The magicolor 5550 ships with the consumables pre-installed to further simplify setup and the automated software installation will have users up and running in a matter of minutes,” said BLI Senior Test Technician Tony Maceri. “A really nice feature of the magicolor 5550 is the USB port on the control panel that allows users to print directly from a PictBridge-compatible digital camera or a USB thumb drive at the control panel.”
“KONICA MINOLTA is delighted with Buyers Laboratory’s response to the magicolor 5550 and its selection of this performance color laser printer as a Spring 2007 ‘Pick of the Year’ winner,” said Tony Shiraiwa, president and CEO of KONICA MINOLTA PRINTING SOLUTIONS, U.S.A., Inc. “This important award validates our initiative to provide customer-driven products that are innovative, easy to use, and are able to excel—even in the most demanding print environments.”
Ricoh Takes “Pick” In Two Categories
In the small workgroup inkjet printer category, the Ricoh Aficio GX5050N was chosen as the BLI “Pick.” BLI’s Maceri stated, “With a cost per page that is among the lowest for comparable inkjet printers, the Aficio GX5050N is an ideal choice for budget-conscious workgroups. It offers excellent feedback to users and Ricoh’s proprietary RPCS driver allows users to save settings under custom icons. Even better is the fact that the GX5050N demonstrated overall efficiency rates higher than those of the majority of competitive inkjets tested.”
“Ricoh is proud to be recognized by BLI for this one-of-a-kind printing solution by being presented the award for 'Outstanding Small Workgroup Inkjet Printer,’” said Nick Ikeya, director, GelSprinter Business Development Group, Ricoh Americas Corporation. “The Aficio GX5050N truly is a revolutionary solution putting fast, high-quality color and black-and-white printing capabilities in a compact desktop device.”
Another outstanding Ricoh product was recognized in the large workgroup color printer category. For its outstanding economy, thorough utilities and admirable print quality, the Ricoh Aficio SP C811DN-DL was chosen as the “Pick” winner. BLI Senior Printer Analyst Marlene Orr commented, “The Ricoh Aficio SP C811DN is an excellent choice for large workgroups. The SP C811DN provided a flawless reliability performance in our testing and offers very good image quality. Making this device even more attractive is the winning combination of Ricoh’s highly regarded management utilities, a host of security features and a cost per page that is among the lowest for products in this class.”
“BLI naming the Ricoh Aficio SP C811DN-DL ‘Outstanding Large Workgroup Color Printer’ is an honor and testimony to Ricoh's commitment to bring only the most versatile, effective printing solutions to our customers and the end-users,” said Ron Potesky, vice president of product marketing for Ricoh Americas Corporation.
Xerox Awarded In Two Key Color Segments
Taking the BLI “Pick” in the small workgroup color printer category, the Xerox Phaser 6180DN provided an excellent overall performance in BLI's tests. “The Phaser 6180DN is an entry-level color laser printer that makes it easy for small workgroups to adopt color printing. With a competitive cost per page and low acquisition cost, the Phaser 6180DN is an economical choice,” said BLI’s Orr. “And making it even more attractive is the unit’s excellent ease of use and setup; the control panel and the drivers are very intuitive and installation of the software takes only four mouse clicks.”
Xerox also received a “Pick” award in the critical color printer category. Commenting on the outstanding performance of the Xerox Phaser 8560DN, BLI’s Maceri stated, "Not only is the Phaser 8560DN easy to set up and manage on the network, but routine maintenance is virtually effortless. The solid ink sticks are specially keyed and color coded so that users cannot put them in the wrong ink slot. The solid ink technology in the Phaser 8560DN produces output that is ideal for any environment where color is critical. And with a cost per page that is competitive with comparable color laser and business-class inkjet printers, the device is ideal for general business use as well."
“Xerox is leading the charge to provide high quality, affordable color printing for businesses small to large,” said Paul Gleason, vice president of marketing and channel development for the printer and A4 business unit of Xerox Office Group. “Xerox offers an array of color laser and proprietary solid ink printers and MFPs to help businesses achieve vibrant, consistent color and help ‘spruce up’ everyday documents without breaking the bank. We are honored to receive ‘Pick of the Year’ awards for our Phaser 6180DN color laser and Phaser 8560DN solid ink printers, as this reaffirms our commitment of value for our customers.”
For 45 years, BLIBuyers Laboratory has been a leading independent office-equipment testing lab and business consumer advocate. BLI test reports on office document imaging devices, each represent months of exhaustive hands-on testing in BLI's 10,000-square-foot lab. The company is the leading source for extensive databases of specifications and pricing on copiers, printers, fax machines and multifunctional products. They are available to BLI subscribers in the form of printed specification guides and online via the company's bliQ competitive information service.
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