New High-Volume Copier Guide

Better Buys for Business has released its High-Volume Copier & Multifunctional Guide. This guide, which covers black-and-white copiers over 50 pages per minute, includes a range of high-powered office and light production multifunctionals. The guide contains reviews and specifications for over 100 models from 15 companies from Canon to Xerox. The top models in each category have been given 2009 Editor’s Choice Awards.

Ricoh extends black-and-white copier line

Ricoh this week introduced two new copier and copier/multifunctional families, the Aficio MP 4000 and MP 5000. These new models replace the year-old MP 3500 and MP 4500. In addition to boosting the speed by 5ppm, the new models families add a number of new or enhanced features.

Among those upgrades are more paper capacity, support for heavier weight paper, a big color touchscreen control panel, a larger document feeder, more memory, and improved first-page out time. The new models also include more advanced security features. List prices match those of the earlier models.

Ricoh is consciously upgrading its product line and adding new features. The issue is that their copiers and copier/multifunctionals are already good enough for most users. But the need to refresh its lineup and keep in step with key competitors means making what is already very good even a little bit better.

Toshiba refreshes black-and-white copier line

Toshiba announced over the last few weeks a nearly total upgrade of its black-and-white copier/multifunctional line, from 20pppm to 86ppm. The upgraded models, all similar to current models, are signified with a “3” at the end of the model number. The new models are the e-STUDIO 203L, 223, 283, 353, 453, 523, 523T, 603, 803T, 723, 723T, and 853. Speeds correspond to the first two digits.

The major changes in the upgrades involve compatibility with Windows Vista XPS printing, enhanced security, and (in some cases) added memory capability. This is a baby step, enhancing slightly what is already a very good copier product line. The prices remain the same as those of their predecessors.