New Océ devices add professional color to office documents

The Océ VarioLink 5522c/6522c MFPs stylishly produce the documents businesses need


TRUMBULL, CONN. June 15, 2009 – Océ, an international leader in digital document management, introduced today the Océ VarioLink™ 5522c/6522c devices. With print, copy, scan and fax capabilities, these multifunction printers add professional color distinction to office documents. Regardless of the format, media or finishing needs, they elegantly produce color or black & white documents. By seamlessly integrating with office workflows, the Océ VarioLink 5522c/6522c MFPs will become a natural extension of any business.

"In today's economy, companies are looking for every advantage to stand out of the competitive crowd, reduce costs and improve operational efficiencies. The new Océ VarioLink 5522c and Océ VarioLink 6522c are affordable, productive additions to the Océ VarioLink line-up that help our customers do more in less time, control color usage and costs, yet add color impact and style to documents to improve readability, comprehension and impact," said Thomas O’Neill, Vice President, Product and Strategic Marketing, Océ North America, Document Printing Systems division. "With a host of copy, print and scan functions, these devices can handle virtually any kind of document distribution so users can concentrate on their core businesses. With our set of Océ PRISMAstart™ utilities, Océ PRISMAenterprise™ Suite and the Océ Extended Solutions Platform, users and administrators gain full control over advanced security, authentication, accounting and device management functions from a single MFP to the entire fleet. And through our commitment to sustainability, these devices are designed to help customers meet their own sustainability goals. Océ is excited to expand the new Océ VarioLink line with these two models."

Speeds up document workflows

With a print speed of up to 55/65 ppm in black & white and 45/50 ppm in color, simplex or duplex, the Océ VarioLink 5522c/6522c MFPs meet the most demanding office needs. Scanning will not slow business down either, as the system processes up to 78 originals per minute. The standard 1-GHz print/scan controller, to read rest of press release go here.

Ricoh Aficio MP C2550 Presented With Five Star Rating

WEST CALDWELL, N.J., June 15 /PRNewswire/ -- Ricoh Americas Corporation announced today that its Aficio MP C2550 color multifunction product (MFP) was awarded a five star rating from Buyers Laboratory Inc. (BLI) in environmental performance. As a result of BLI's rigorous evaluation process, the device was recognized as offering the lowest annual energy consumption and cost of all the Segment 2 models tested to date.

During the testing, the Aficio MP C2550 used significantly less energy in all running modes, including color, black-and-white, simplex, duplex, copy and print, when compared with competitive models in its speed range. The results of BLI's environmental job stream test, which measures energy consumption for typical real-world usage, contributed substantially to its lower than average energy consumption rating.

BLI's environmental performance test takes into account energy consumption as well as recovery time. While low energy consumption is an important efficiency measurement, it cannot be used to its fullest potential if the device requires a long recovery time from sleep mode. Therefore, BLI's tests take recovery time into account. The Aficio MP C2550's recovery time from sleep mode was considerably faster than average, resulting in more energy savings with less waiting time, earning it a 5-star rating in this aspect of testing along with its 5-star rating for energy consumption. Thanks to quick recovery technologies such as a compact, heat responsive fusing unit and new PxP color toner with a low melting point, more energy savings is possible with less waiting time.

"For over 30 years, Ricoh has placed environmental preservation as a top priority within the company, both in our global business operations and product development," said Michael Hunter, director, Product Marketing, Ricoh Americas Corporation. "We are constantly exploring ways to help our customers improve their sustainability and energy usage and believe 'green' MFPs are key toward this goal. Obtaining the five star rating in environmental performance from an industry leader like BLI only helps to reinforce our commitment to environmental stewardship and product innovation."

The Aficio MP C2550 has a toner-save mode. It also has a proof mode for copy and print jobs to save on consumable usage. In addition, BLI's tests showed that the MFP's overall copy and print productivity and noise emissions are competitive with other tested products.

To read the full release go here

-=Good Selling=-

Polek & Polek Celebrates 35 Years in Imaging Supplies Business

June 1, 2009

Fairfield, N.J. – Polek & Polek is celebrating its 35th anniversary in the imaging supplies business this year. Established in 1974, Polek & Polek has grown from a small home office to one of the leading distributors of parts and supplies for copiers, faxes and printers worldwide.

Founder John Polek’s core beliefs when he started Polek & Polek are still its foundation today – providing the highest quality products; developing and maintaining long-term employee, vendor, and customer relationships; and absolute, 100percent unconditionally guaranteed customer satisfaction. Polek & Polek has always been committed to helping office equipment dealers improve their profits.

"This is what our customers experienced with Polek & Polek back in 1974," said Chris Polek, CEO. "In 2009 and beyond, our customers can count on the same experience. Every Polek & Polek employee is committed to these values, and these beliefs are the core to Polek & Polek’s success. As I look toward our future in the next 35 years, I know that these beliefs will not change."

Our commitment to saving dealers money has become even more evident to the dealer community as they struggle with the current economic conditions. Polek provides a profit relief valve that helps dealers maintain their profitability, even if revenue declines. Dealers who are still loyal to OEM find they need to make profits at the end of the day for their company. Using an exclusive OEM strategy does not maximize that profit opportunity. Polek & Polek has been through all of the downturns since 1974, and they have navigated them successfully to support the industry.

With 2009 being an anniversary year, Polek admits that he’s reflecting on Polek & Polek’s past more than usual. “It is interesting that when Polek & Polek was born, the U.S. Economy was facing its most difficult times since the Great Depression,” Polek said. “Now we fast forward 35 years later where Polek & Polek has significantly more experience, knowledge, and resources to help our customers survive and thrive through these unprecedented economic times.”

"I believe the future for our industry is a very bright one, and the recovery of corporate technology spending will help the growth of our industry move even faster," Polek said. "I would like to thank all Polek & Polek customers, vendors, and employees for their support. Whether it be the past, present, or future, our success would be impossible without them!"

Polek & Polek is a distributor of parts and supplies for copiers, faxes, and printers for brands including Canon*, Copystar*, Kyocera*, Konica Minolta*, Panasonic*, Sharp*, Ricoh*, Savin*, Toshiba*, HP*, Lexmark*, Panafax*, Brother*, Xerox*, Lanier*, Muratec*, Okidata*, Riso*, Samsung*, and Imagistics*.
Contact Polek & Polek at (800) 526-1360, e-mail sales@polek.com or visit www.polek.com.

*Trademarks are property of respective owners and are used for descriptive purposes only.

-=Good Selling=-

ActiveIdentity, Konica Minolta partner

ActiveIdentity, Konica Minolta partner

Konica Minolta Business Solutions U.S.A. Inc., a provider of imaging and networking technologies for the desktop to the print shop, and ActivIdentity Corp., a provider of strong authentication and credential management, announced that they have co-developed a Personal Identification Verification-Compliant Card System that increases security and document control for customers using multifunctional products, such as print, copy, fax, and scan all in one system.

The ActivIdentity ActivClient security software is available to U.S. Department of Defense customers - as well as customers of other government agencies - using Konica Minolta multifunctional products. The PIV-Compliant Card System can be used in conjunction with the Common Access Card, as well as the next generation CAC, a PIV-Compliant Identification Card.

-=Good Selling=-

Kyocera FS-C1020MFP Review

Kyocera Mita America has introduced the FS-C1020MFP; a color multifunctional printer ideally suited for today's small to medium sized businesses and shared workgroup environments. The FS-C1020MFP is a 21 page-per-minute color solution offering standard paper-saving duplex printing and copying and features designed to improve workplace functionality in a cost-effective manner.

For organizations seeking to meet the demand for superior output quality while simultaneously managing costs, the FS-C1020MFP includes a 35 sheet document processor, a 250-sheet adjustable paper drawer, and 256MB of standard memory (upgradeable to 512MB) to ensure fast and efficient processing for printing, scanning, faxing and copying. The FS-C1020MFP provides the user with monochrome and color scanning capabilities; including scan to PC, scan to e-mail, Scan to FTP and TWAIN scan.

"In today's business work environment, small offices and workgroups are challenged to find solutions that address their high productivity demands and limited budget," said Richard Heckelmann, product and solutions marketing manager, printers for Kyocera Mita America. "The FS-C1020MFP exemplifies Kyocera's commitment to provide user's with devices that work harder and help them become successful in today's competitive marketplace. This device will allow small offices and workgroups to produce professional quality documents affordably."

Standard network print includes an ARM 400 MHz processor and 600x600 dpi print resolution. The FS-C1020MFP supports multiple page description languages, including PCL 6 (XL, 5c) and PS3 emulation, and can be connected in any Windows and Mac environment. Additionally, the device includes a Super G3/Network fax system -- which allows users to send and receive faxes from their desktop.

The FS-C1020MFP also offers a 500 sheet paper drawer option for businesses that need additional paper capacity.

The FS-C1020MFP is available now through authorized Kyocera dealers, at a manufacturer's suggested retail price (MSRP) of $1,220.

Notes from Art:

A few things you should know about this unit. Ricoh and other manufacturers have also relabled this unit. The toner cartridge is an all in one cartridge, meaning that the cartridges houses the drum, cleaning unit, and toner. Cost for color is about $100 per cartridge, thus the cost per page for each color cartridge is .05 (5 cents). Black is about $50 per cartridge, thus the cost per page for black is .025 (two and a half cents). When making color copies or color prints based on 5% coverage per color, this unit will cost you an astonishing .175 (seventeen and a half cents per page). The thermal transfer and fuser are rated for the life of the unit. You also need to replace a waster toner container about every 25,000 pages.

Here's my pet peeve about this unit, Kyocera claims a max volume monthly duty cycle of 50,000 pages! Huh??? What? If you did make 50,000 pages on this device in one month, you would have paid $8,750 for the consumables and would probably have to buy a new unit, it would also take 40 hours to make those prints. Good for the very low volume user (home office), not so good for office work groups. The cost per page for color is too high!

-=Good Selling=-

Should I get a Ricoh or Canon?

I picked this question up this AM from my email, and thought I would post here for everyone.

My firm is deciding between Canon Brand digital copiers and Ricoh. Which should we choose and why?

"thewindmaster_11" has got it wrong about IKON, they are now owned by Ricoh and only sell Ricoh, thus he may not be a reliable source to answer your question of which is better, Ricoh or Canon. He does have a good point in reference to support. Check out support references from all parties involved.

Getting the right machine may depend on what type of business you are in and what type of volume you are looking to produce. The copiers of today are no longer about speeds and feeds, but rather what type of "apps' that can be added to improve your business process. Yes, today's copiers are similar to iphones, where apps can be loaded on the systems operating system to improve scanning, faxing, and document management, plus many additional options.

Another item to consider is what is the largest paper size that you will print, copy or scan from the unit, if you have no need for 11x17 scan, copy or print and your volume is under 15K per month, you could save thousands of dollars on a "A4" MFP device.

Ask the rep how long he or she has been with the company, as stated before there's a lot more to these devices than speeds and feeds and the new reps do not have the knowledge of those reps that have tenure in the business.

If you'd like to know more pay a visit here www.mfpsolutions.blogspot.com

Art

RICOH INTRODUCES PRIPORT DX 4545 FOR MID VOLUME DOCUMENT DUPLICATION

New Digital Duplicator Delivers Lower Per Print Cost

West Caldwell, N.J., June 1, 2009 – Ricoh Americas Corporation, a leading provider of digital office equipment, today announced the availability of its Ricoh Priport DX 4545 digital duplicator. Ideal for mid-sized organizations that specialize in short to medium-run jobs like newsletters, bulletins, school permission slips, tests and work sheets, the Priport DX 4545 offers less per print costs than laser printers or copiers when producing between 30 and 4,000 copies per original.

Ricoh’s newest digital duplicator delivers speed, quality and value as the Priport DX 4545’s print masters yield double the capacity of competitive devices thereby providing organizations with diminished per-page costs. The speed and quality of the Priport DX 4545 reduces the need to outsource jobs as the machine’s 120 sheets-per-minute equips staff with the speed to complete their small to medium-run jobs in-house. The Priport DX 4545 uses advanced ink control technology that distributes high density ink with precision, creating professional documents with smooth, solid images, clear grayscales and consistent halftones.

The intuitive 4-line LCD control panel is easy for users to navigate, modeled after a typical copier control panel. The optional Type 4545 embedded PC controller facilitates connectivity with a workstation or network and allows users to easily manage their equipment with Ricoh’s @remote.

“At Ricoh, we are committed to meeting the demand of our consumers by providing them with the best in cost savings and speed,” said Raymond Bauer, product marketing manager, Digital Duplicator Systems, Ricoh Americas Corporation. “The Ricoh Priport DX 4545 Digital Duplicator is an example of our ongoing desire to produce innovative products that facilitate our customers’ goals and businesses.”

Engineered to meet the diverse duplication needs within any organization, the Ricoh Priport DX 4545 delivers outstanding results. Priport DX 4545’s Print Pressure sensors automatically adjust for speed, temperature and humidity to enhance the image quality of any production job. Users can also tailor documents via user-selectable imaging modes that are applicable to all documents whether they consist of text, a combination of text and photos or handwritten originals.

To learn more about Ricoh’s full line of products, please visit www.ricoh-usa.com.
About Ricoh Americas Corporation

Ricoh Americas Corporation, headquartered in West Caldwell, N.J., is a subsidiary of Ricoh Company Ltd., the 73-year-old leading supplier of office automation equipment and electronics, with fiscal year 2008 sales in excess of $20 billion.
Ricoh Americas Corporation is a leading provider of document solutions. Ricoh’s fully integrated hardware and software products help businesses share information efficiently and effectively by enabling customers to control the input, management and output of documents.
Ricoh Americas Corporation directly or through its network of authorized dealers markets and distributes products in North, Central and South America.
Information about Ricoh's complete range of products and services can be accessed on the World Wide Web at www.ricoh-usa.com.
# # #
All referenced product names are the trademarks of their respective companies.

-=Cheers=-

Print Audit Assessor Usage Soars in 2009

Office equipment dealers are opening doors and closing sales by using Print Audit Assessor’s detailed analysis tools to pinpoint new opportunities

CALGARY, ALBERTA (May 27, 2009) – In the current economic climate, office equipment dealers are seeking better differentiators while potential customers are looking for hard evidence that any new office equipment they purchase will pay off. Print Audit Assessor provides a working solution for both of these vendor and customer concerns – and its effectiveness has been proven by its steadily increasing popularity. In the past 5 months, Assessor usage has reached record heights, with installations growing by 40 percent over last year.

Developed by leading print management company Print Audit, the Assessor gives dealers the ability to provide potential customers with an extremely detailed and accurate snapshot of their printing environment. Unlike rapid assessment tools, Print Audit Assessor is able to gather comprehensive workflow data that includes who is printing, what documents are being printed, the size of each job and more.

"Using Print Audit software allows us to begin a fact-based conversation with our customers about their actual, not perceived document usage,” said Boyd Smith, President of TechKnowledgey Inc. “Using Print Audit gave our suggestions for change validation, and we were able to secure an 11-unit deal based on the results Print Audit discovered in the field.”

“Office equipment dealers and their customers are struggling in today’s economy,” said John MacInnes, President and CEO of Print Audit. “The Assessor helps both parties: the dealer has an advantage over their competitors as well as a complete map of their client’s needs. The client is given proof that they need new equipment and that they will have a quick return on investment.”

Currently, Print Audit is offering a Guaranteed Deal Package that will allow vendors to try the Assessor program risk free. In addition, dealers can earn a free Assessor package for each assessment they perform that leads to the sale of a Print Audit product.


About Print Audit:
Established in 1999 and headquartered in Calgary, Alberta, Print Audit is the fastest growing print management company in the world. By providing businesses with innovative and practical print management software solutions, the company has helped customers recapture over $150 million in printing and photocopying expenses while saving an estimated 190,000 trees a year. Print Audit has offices located in the United Kingdom, South Africa, Australia, Brazil, Canada and the United States.
For more information about Print Audit, please contact:

Trevor Hofer
Print Audit - North America
877.41.AUDIT (28348)
thofer@printaudit.com
http://www.printaudit.com

Xerox WorkCentre® 6400 color multifunction printer (MFP) Review

WorkCentre® 6400 color multifunction printer (MFP) designed for busy workgroups in organizations of any size.

A range of features on the WorkCentre 6400 enhance office worker productivity. The device can copy, scan or fax even while it is printing; the Print Around feature detects print jobs waiting for additional resources and prints the next job in the queue; and full functioned scanning includes a wide range of document capabilities which enable automation of repetitive job processes. Frequently printed documents can be stored on the device for reprinting later, and the device's ability to convert paper documents to text searchable PDFs allows for easy archiving, organizing and searching.


With a price of $4,599 the WorkCentre 6400 copies, scans and faxes, and delivers prints up to 30 pages per minute in color and 35ppm in black and white. The device's automatic two-sided functionality means reduced paper use when copying, printing and faxing helping organizations lower costs and boost efficiency.


Thanks to its icon-based, 203mm, color touch-screen with help screens, the WorkCentre 6400 is also extremely easy to use.


The WorkCentre 6400 has a range of document security features: print jobs can be held in a queue until released by a PIN; after every job, image data in the device's memory can be erased either automatically or on request; and a password can be required before incoming faxes are printed. The device's compliance with the latest security protocols, 802.1x, IPSec for both IPv4 and IPv6, means that networks are more secure.


Xerox's Extensible User InterfaceTM, allows independent software vendors and developers to create customized applications that are readily accessible from the large color touch screen, saving users valuable time and simplifying recurring tasks.


The WorkCentre 6400 is available in either desktop or floor-standing configuration and with a finisher that collates and staples sets of up to 30 pages or offset stacks jobs for "grab and go" convenience.

-=Good Selling=-

InfoPrint Color 1846, Color 1856, Color 1866 MFP Review

InfoPrint Introduces New A4 Color MFPs, Printers For SMB

InfoPrint Solutions Company is launching new laser-based color printers and MFPs for SMB, all of which appear to be based on a similar A4 35-ppm print-engine platform.

The new MFPs provide standard network print, copy, network scan and walkup fax, with color capability in all modes, including fax. InfoPrint rates the Color 1846 MFP, Color 1856 MFP, and Color 1866 MFP at up to 30, 35 and 35 ppm respectively (in both B/W and color) at up to 1,200 dpi in B/W (4,800 dpi enhanced resolution in color print mode). Maximum monthly volume is 85,000 pages.

CPU speed is 600 MHz for the Color 1846 MFP, and 900 MHz for the Color 1856 MFP and 1866 MFP. An Ethernet 10100BASE-TX network interface is standard, while Gigabit Ethernet network and wireless interfaces are optional. Maximum paper capacity is 3,200 for all models, and all of the systems provide automatic duplexing out-of-the-box.





InfoPrint's new Color 1834 printer (left) and Color 1846 MFP (right).

InfoPrint's new Color 1834 and Color 1854 are essentially printer-only versions of these MFPs, and InfoPrint says they're appropriate for workgroups of 10 or less:

The Color 1834 is rated at up to 30 ppm in both B/W and color, has a maximum monthly duty cycle of 85,000 pages, and a 10/100BASE-TX Ethernet network interface (Gigabit Ethernet network and wireless interfaces are optional).
The Color 1854 is the faster of the two printers, as it's rated at up to 35 ppm in both B/W and color. It has the same maximum monthly duty cycle (85,000 pages), and 10/100BASE-TX Ethernet network interface, with Gigabit Ethernet and wireless options.

InfoPrint has not released pricing for the new systems.

-=Good Selling=-