New Minolta, Oki Printers Poised To Take SMB Market By Storm

The Minolta printer costs less than $500 and is ideal for use in a small office, providing adequate text and graphics output. The Oki printer costs about $1,000, but it prints text faster than the Minolta unit, though graphics performance is about the same. Performance tests were done using a stopwatch, and image quality tests were done using sample images from Spencer and Associates' Printer Test Suite, a CD-ROM containing printer benchmark files designed to push printers to their limits. Neither of these printers are wide-format units, with both limited to paper that's no more than 8.5 inches wide.

Minolta Magicolor 2430 DL
The brand-new Magicolor 2430 DL from Minolta is by far the smallest, lightest and possibly the least expensive color laser printer ever tested by the CRN Test Center. Priced at just $499, the Magicolor 2430 DL includes Ethernet and USB 2.0 interfaces and a standard 200-sheet paper input capacity. Standard memory is 32 Mbytes, which is upgradable to up to 544 Mbytes. The Magicolor 2430 DL can print pictures directly from PictBridge-compliant digital cameras, a great feature for use in a small art department, magazine or graphics design business. An automatic duplexer is optional. This tiny printer has a monthly duty cycle rating of 35,000 pages.

The Magicolor 2430 DL weighs only 44 pounds, so it's easy for one person to set up. It measures 16.9 x 13.4 x 19.8 inches and takes up less desk space than many of its competitors. Consumables are preinstalled by the manufacturer, so there's less setup work for the solution provider.

The Magicolor 2430 DL is no speed demon. The unit is rated at 20 ppm in monochrome and 5 ppm in color. It has a maximum resolution of 2,400 x 600 dpi. In testing, the Magicolor printer printed a 10-page monochrome Word document in 41 seconds and a 10-page Word document with color headings in 2 minutes, 10 seconds.

Surprisingly, the unit printed two test color graphics images with better quality than most other, more expensive color lasers can produce. Photos showed proper color tones, good contrast and fine detail. This is an ideal printer for almost any use in a small office and an unbeatable value for the price.

Minolta's partner program offers a single tier, and all partners receive marketing, pre- and post-sales and technical support. Complete product training is available either online or in person to keep partners up-to-date on the company's latest products. Partners are fully supported with dedicated account executives and systems engineers in the field and a dedicated inside sales representative at Minolta corporate headquarters. All partners have access to a password-protected Web site where they can learn about the latest offers, claim incentives and download support materials.

OKI C5400
The Oki C5400 uses LEDs instead of a laser to draw images on its transfer drum. The unit then melts powdered toner over the image to transfer it to paper in the same way true laser printers do. The Oki C5400 uses single-pass technology and is rated at 24 ppm in monochrome and 16 ppm in color. It has a maximum resolution of 1,200 x 600 dpi, with a 300-sheet main paper tray and 100-sheet multipurpose tray.

High-speed USB connectivity and a parallel port are standard. The printer also comes with 64 Mbytes of memory, which is upgradable to 320 Mbytes. The Oki C5400 is almost as small as the Minolta printer, measuring only 16.7 x 13.6 x 22.1 inches, and weighs about 57 pounds. It has a monthly duty cycle of 50,000 pages, which is a lot for a printer this small. It has a list price of $1,099, and street prices range from $930 to $1,350.

The Oki C5400 printed a 10-page monochrome Word document in 52 seconds and a 10-page Word document with color headings in 51 seconds. Surprisingly, the single-pass Oki didn't print color graphics as fast as the four-pass Minolta, and Oki's printouts didn't look as clear or have the fine detail that the Minolta unit provided, either. That proves that the number of passes is not as important as processing speed and print accuracy.

Oki's channel program has three levels. Standard partners must purchase a minimum of $2,000 in Oki products per month, Premier partners must purchase $5,000 in Oki products per month, and Elite partners must also provide value-added service and stock consumables and parts for Oki printers in addition to meeting the minimum $5,000 purchasing requirements. Discounts on products, spare parts and warranties vary by partner level. Partners have access to 24x7 technical support, a dedicated channel portal, co-op funding and MDFs and are reimbursed for marketing and advertising campaigns and more. Training is provided regionally in person and is also available online. Larger groups can attend local two- and three-day classes that cover everything needed to sell Oki printers.