January 13, 2012 - Hackensack, NJ Kyocera, Ricoh and Sharp Earn Winter 2012 BLI A3 “Picks” January 13, 2012 – Hackensack (NJ) – Buyers Laboratory LLC (BLI), the world’s leading independent evaluator of document imaging products and solutions, today announced its Winter 2012 “Pick” awards honoring outstanding A3 MFPs from Kyocera, Ricoh and Sharp. BLI’s semi-annual “Pick” awards are given to the hardware and software offerings that measure up as the best in BLI’s comprehensive evaluations, which assess a wide range of the most important features and performance factors for buyers.  Kyocera Mita America, Inc. Kyocera TASKalfa 4550ci (Also sold as the Copystar CS 4550ci) Outstanding 41- to 50-ppm A3 Color MFP Kyocera TASKalfa 6550ci (Also sold as the Copystar CS 6550ci) Outstanding 61- to 70-ppm A3 Color MFP Kyocera TASKalfa 7550ci (Also sold as the Copystar CS 7550ci) Outstanding 71- to 80-ppm A3 Color MFP Ricoh Americas Corporation Ricoh Aficio MP 2852/2852SP (Also sold as the Lanier MP 2852/2852SP and Savin MP 2852/2852SP) Outstanding 21- to 30-ppm A3 Monochrome MFP Sharp Imaging and Information Company of America Sharp MX-2310U Outstanding 21- to 30-ppm A3 Color MFP  Kyocera Wins Triple Crown for Exceptional Performers For their impressive overall performances, Kyocera’s 45-ppm TASKalfa 4550ci, 65-ppm TASKalfa 6550ci and 70-ppm color/75-ppm black TASKalfa 7550ci have earned Winter 2012 “Pick” awards for Outstanding A3 Color MFP in their respective speed ranges. “Offering outstanding reliability, exceptional ease of use and strong overall productivity, there is no doubt that this trio of devices is worthy of these hard-earned awards,” said Pete Emory, BLI’s manager of laboratory testing. “Noteworthy is that the TASKalfa 7550ci is the most productive model in its class tested to date, with best in class productivity when printing BLI’s job stream and a range of other speed tests.” All of the devices offer very good ease of use from the print drivers and a well-designed color control panel that can be moved up and down and side to side, providing easy access for individuals with disabilities. They also earned high marks for most attributes important to IT, including ease of network setup and administrative utilities. In addition, overall image quality of these devices ranged from very good to excellent. In fact, the TASKalfa 7550ci is among an extremely small minority of business color models to have earned an excellent rating for both color and black output quality. The scan functionality of these devices, which includes six shortcuts and convenient USB access, was also above average. “The honor of having received BLI's Winter 2012 ‘Picks’ for so many Kyocera color multifunctional products is extremely gratifying, and provides validation that we’re delivering on our commitment to our customers and independent dealers,” said Peter Hendrick, vice president of marketing for Kyocera Mita America. “It’s an honor to receive recognition for Kyocera’s high speed TASKalfa 7550ci and TASKalfa 6550ci color MFPs; as well as the TASKalfa 4550ci color MFP, as we maintain our promise of delivering Kyocera color MFPs with superior performance and ultra-reliability at the best end-user value.” Class-leading Productivity Earns Laurels for Ricoh Top-notch print productivity, outstanding reliability and superior network attributes have placed the Ricoh Aficio MP 2852SP/2852 a step above the competition and earned it a Winter 2012 “Pick” award for Outstanding 21- to 30-ppm A3 Monochrome MFP. “BLI put this device through its paces and it proved to be an outstanding performer, receiving high marks in nearly all categories evaluated,” said David Sweetnam, head of Research and Lab Services for BLI’s UK laboratory. The device produced job stream test results that were among the best of the competitive group. “This means that the device will be highly productive in real-world office environments in which multiple jobs are sent to the device at once during busy times of the day,” noted Sweetnam. Featuring a compact footprint that makes it well suited to office environments where space is at a premium, the Aficio MP 2852SP also had first-copy times that are the fastest for competitive models tested. Further helping to earn this model a place in the winner’s circle is its near flawless reliability. Easy to manage and use, the Aficio MP 2852SP completed BLI’s demanding 100,000-impression durability test with only a single misfeed and no service required. While receiving high marks for all aspects of connectivity, the device’s excellent feedback to workstations, which includes bidirectional feedback from the drivers regarding errors, such as paper misfeeds or other error conditions, is particularly noteworthy. “We are very pleased the Ricoh Aficio MP 2852SP was honored with a Winter 2012 'Pick' award from Buyers Laboratory,” said Shun Sato, senior vice president of marketing for Ricoh Americas Corporation. “BLI no doubt put our multifunction product through some rigorous paces, not only testing its print productivity, but its reliability against competitive products and its ability to network with other devices. We are honored by the recognition.” Sharp Wins Kudos for Excellent Color Print Output, Flawless Reliability “Color print output quality that is superior to that of most business color devices tested, as well as flawless reliability and outstanding ease of use, all contributed to BLI’s decision to award the Sharp MX-2310U with a Winter 2012 ‘Pick’ award for Outstanding 21- to 30-ppm A3 Color MFP,” said Lynn Nannariello, BLI’s assistant managing editor. “Only a relatively small number of business color models tested by BLI have achieved the level of excellence attained by the MX-2310U when it comes to producing color photographic output and yet the device provides this capability at a competitive price.” An impressive overall performer, the device breezed through BLI’s durability test, producing 100,000 impressions without a single misfeed or requiring any service. Receiving high marks for most aspects of connectivity, as well as its multitasking capabilities, the MX-2310U proved very easy to use from its full-color touch screen, which provides ample room for menu choices and an easy-to-navigate menu system. Furthermore, the touch screen can be customized so that the most commonly used features can be placed on the main screen. In addition, the device offers a good feature set that includes standard hard drive overwrite and encryption. Also noteworthy is that the device features Sharp OSA (Open Systems Architecture) so that it can be configured to integrate with customers’ document management and other types of applications to automate workflow. “Sharp is very pleased to receive the BLI 'Pick of the Year' award for the MX-2310U”, said George Grafanakis, senior manager of product planning and marketing for Sharp Imaging and Information Systems of America (SIICA). “This affirms that the MX-2310U represents the best in value, features and reliability in the 21- to 30-ppm A3 Color MFP category with its amazing image quality, robust multi-tasking controller, advanced security features and environmentally-friendly design.” Stay tuned for upcoming Buyers Lab “Pick” award announcements in the following categories: January 17: Solutions Line and A3 Line About Buyers Laboratory LLC Buyers Laboratory LLC (BLI) is the world's leading independent provider of analytical information and services to the digital imaging and document management industry. 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