TCPglobal - news, views and issues on total cost of printing

Issue #0520/1 - Two new colour printers from Konica Minolta extend printer choice towards power users while one introduces a new focus on Total Cost of Printing.

Konica Minolta has launched two new colour laser printers into its range, both offering PCL6 and PostScript 3.

Extending the printer range towards power-users, the four-pass magicolor 2450 and single-pass magicolor 5450 are both targeted at users who require that little bit more from their printer.

As well as PCL6 and PS3, both printers also offer PictBridge connectivity for printing of photographs directly from a PictBridge compliant digital camera. To complement the PictBridge compatibility, Konica Minolta has been working on its colour photo printing capability and has launched a ‘Photo Art Contone’ print mode.

Photo Art Contone can best be described as the laser version of Hewlett-Packard’s PhotoRET ink technology. Both are layering technologies that combine multiple dots of ink/toner, placed on top of one another to create the individual colour of the dot in the image. The benefit of the technique is smoother gradations of colour and a more photo-like image than traditional printed images that rely on placement of adjacent dots in a dither pattern.

This feature is interesting in that contone would normally be reserved for high-level graphics-oriented printers where colour proofing is required in the graphic arts environment.

Note that for this level of machine, the mixed mono/colour CPP over three years shown in the accompanying table is calculated on the basis of 5,000 pages per month using maximum capacity toners and takes into account any standard, or starter, toner cartridges shipped with the printer and includes the purchase price.

However, here we see it applied to printers that fall within the pricing bracket expected of machines designed for the general office.

At the higher end, the 25ppm single-pass magicolor 5450 is billed (in the UK) as “offering sublime quality in monochrome and colour – at the low cost of a monochrome laser printer, in terms of both the purchase price for the printer and the print cost per page”.

While making no comment on the ‘sublime’ print quality, I would have liked to see edge-to-edge, borderless printing from an A4 laser printer designed to allow graphics professionals produce proof prints for their clients.

In fact, this printer is probably more accurately targeted at in-house marketing departments where production of marketing materials on demand is desirable. It is here that borderless printing would really be of value, allowing users truly to produce professional quality full-bleed tri-fold materials without having to think about borders or trimming.

As for the claim that costs are equivalent to mono laser printers – how many 24ppm or 25ppm mono laser printers are on the market costing as much as £1,169? This is perhaps a claim that takes us from the sublime to the ridiculous when the typical price for a mono laser printer in this speed bracket is well under £500! Even Konica Minolta’s 35ppm PagePro 9100 mono printer costs less than £1,000.

In terms of running costs though, the claim is closer to the mark as Konica Minolta “moves strongly towards” a Total Cost of Printing marketing message. Nominal Cost Per Page for mono printing comes in at 1.05 pence, which is well within the bracket occupied by mono printers of this speed.

More noteworthy though, is the fact that the colour CPP falls below the six pence per page mark, 5.86 pence, a level that is beaten only by aggressive Dell and low cost specialist, Kyocera Mita.

With a purchase price that is in line with many other colour laser printers, though not remarkable, the long-term CPP is a very commendable 2.98 pence – again beaten only by Dell and Kyocera Mita, neither of which have a colour printing heritage as long or illustrious as Konica Minolta’s.

Note that for this level of machine, the mixed mono/colour CPP over three years shown in the accompanying table is calculated on the basis of 2,500 pages per month using maximum capacity toners and takes into account any standard, or starter, toner cartridges shipped with the printer and includes the purchase price.

Contributing towards this low cost are the 12,000-page toner cartridges, double the capacity of the units used in the magicolor 5430 and significantly higher than any other machine in this group, apart from the Lexmark C762, which has a toner yield of 15,000 pages. This not only promotes economy in terms of low CPP but also reduces the number of interventions required during the course of the printer’s life.

This aspect is further maximised by the use of just five consumable items – four toner cartridges and a waste toner bottle (see TCPglobal Issue #0519 - "Day-to-day maintenance - is it more cost-effective on time to have single-piece or multi-piece colour consumables?" for further explanation) – that are all pre-installed, albeit as a 3,000-page starter cartridge, to save the purchaser time and hassle on installation of the printer.

One feature of this printer that Konica Minolta does not mention is that the printer falls within the category that still is not serviced by Hewlett-Packard. Indeed, Kyocera Mita does not yet have an A4 colour printer this fast either.

Konica Minolta has designed this machine with flexibility of media input in mind, with a 600-page standard capacity plus the ability to receive two optional 500-sheet feed paper feeds and an optional automatic duplex unit. In addition, it is equipped with a higher-than-average memory of 256MB.

Saved for last, one of the most remarkable features of this device is the built-in standard network interface. Konica Minolta has taken the step of providing Gigabit networking for the magicolor 5450 – a first in the printer market – and, even though Gigabit networks are still relatively few and far between, this step will allow customers to future-proof their purchasing. The printer is also equipped with a USB 2.0 interface.

Moving on to the magicolor 2450, this is an addition to the ultra low-end range of four-pass colour laser printers that extends the range upwards to provide PCL6 and PostScript capabilities in a low cost device. At £449 in the UK, the pricing is not remarkable but does put a full-featured 5/20ppm, four-pass device into the market under the Konica Minolta banner.

Running costs are also not remarkable, placing the machine at the upper end of the category with only Brother’s HL-2700CN as a more expensive printer.

In the magicolor 2450, as indicated earlier, we also see the Photo Art Contone technology that, in conjunction with the other features of the device, provides a capable and flexible printer for the small office and workgroup environments. These features include: standard fast Ethernet interface, together with USB 2.0 and parallel interfaces; paper capacity expandable to 700 sheets; optional automatic duplex printing; and optional hard disk.

In summary, Konica Minolta has placed two printers into the market with innovative features, to varying degrees, that fulfil the graphics needs of low-end users on the one hand and in-house marketing departments on the other, at prices that will certainly be attractive where the magicolor 5450 is concerned.

~End~

This entry was posted on Friday, June 17th, 2005 at 12:04 am and is filed under Hardware, New Products, News, Total Cost of Printing. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.