Canon Says Color My World

The Color imageClass MF8170c offers color laser printing, copying, scanning and faxing in a single device, with print and copy speeds of up to 16 ppm for black and white and 4 ppm for color, said Tin Eng, product planning specialist at Lake Success, N.Y.-based Canon's Imaging Systems Group.

The MF8170c costs $999 and includes a 50-sheet automatic document feeder, a 250-sheet paper feeder and built-in networking and USB 2.0 capabilities. The MF8170c looks like an amazing product, said Stephen Allen, president of Integrated Technology Systems, a New York-based solution provider. Allen said that while he has seen similar products from other vendors, the typical starting price is about $2,000. "This introduces small businesses to color capabilities they couldn't get before," he said.

Now that Canon has broken the $1,000 level with a color laser multifunction product, Allen said he expects Hewlett-Packard to respond with a similar product, perhaps based on its $499 color LaserJet 2550L.

Canon also introduced a new multifunction device with monochrome printer and copier capabilities and color scanning with a list price of $249 for the SOHO market. Also new from Canon is a series of personal copy machines for small-business and SOHO users.

The monochrome imageClass D880 and D860 offer 18-ppm copy and 16-ppm print speeds, a 500-sheet front-loading cassette, a 100-sheet multipurpose tray and a 30-sheet automatic document feeder. The D880 also incorporates a fax machine, Eng said. The D880 lists at $699, and list price for the D860 is $599.

For copying on-the-go, Canon introduced the PC 150. It weighs less than 19 pounds and folds for travel. The unit can make up to nine copies at a time at speeds of 4 ppm. List price is $149.

For the consumer market, the company unveiled a number of new photo printers and scanners, as well as all-in-one photo printers with copy and scan functions selling for as low as $99.99.

All products are available through IT distribution channels, Eng said, and programs for solution providers are being planned.