Konica Minolta Latest Color Laser Printer Packs Features

Konica Minolta Business Solutions released its bizhub C353P color laser printer, which it claims has the features to bring enterprise printing to small offices and workgroups.

According to Dino Pagliarello, senior manager, Product Marketing, Office and Workgroup Products at Konica Minolta, the bizhub C353P can be used as a Segment 3 (31-45 ppm) replacement for monochrome and color printers with print speeds of up to 35 pages per minute. "The C353P has printer features you wouldn't normally get at this price point, like more paper capacity, and finishing options like stapling and folding, making it a good choice if you're consolidating older printers."

Additionally, says Pagliarello, "The bizhub C353P can fit into graphic-intensive environments where up to 70 percent of the output is in color. It can print 11-inch by 17-inch full-bleed prints with crop marks on 12-inch by 18-inch paper, so, for example, you can do proofs for a magazine cover. And it can print on very heavy stock, like 100-pound cover through the bypass."

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The bizhub C353P uses Konica Minolta's "360-degree" InfoLine style-oriented design, Pagliarello notes, which includes a column of LEDs on one side for across-the-room, at-a-glance status of paper level. "360-degree access means you can put the product in the center of a room, and it still looks good from every angle, it doesn't look intrusive, it can fit into current and future office environments without looking out of place."

Click here to read more about Konica Minolta's next-generation bizhub product line.

C353P features include fast first print time, built in networking including IPv6, a 1,150-sheet standard paper capacity, high-capacity black toner and a full XPS interpreter for full compatibility with Microsoft Vista.

Green features include new toner and power saving modes, low-temperature fusing for energy savings, and other "green" technologies that meet April 2007 Energy Star standards.

Security features, which are increasingly in demand for networked printers, include hard-drive sanitizing, job erase, lock job, data encryption, IP address filtering, encrypted network printing, and optional hard-drive encryption, according to the vendor.

"The bizhub is one of the first products in its class—floor-standing office printers—to focus on design and looking as good in the office as it works," comments Rob Enderle, principal analyst at the Enderle Group. "With several finishing options and good performance statistics, it appears to be a very nice printer for the medium-to-large office environment. And thanks to built-in encryption capability, the bizhub C353P also addresses the increasing security needs that exist in most offices today. Overall, this is a nice offering, just enough different to stand out, and with an appearance the buyer can be proud of."

Available now for a base model MSRP of $9,950, the bizhub C353P is available through Konica Minolta's North American direct sales, authorized dealer and value-added reseller channels.

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