*NEWS*KONICA/MINOLTA ’S AWARD FROM BERTL

[Anonymous]

Konica Minolta Receives
BERTL’s ‘Gold Award’ for Color Reliability in 2004 Digital Imaging Reader’s
Choice Awards

RAMSEY,N.J., Feb.05  Konica
Minolta Business Solutions U.S.A., Inc.(Konica Minolta) is honored to announce
that BERTL(R) Inc. has named Konica Minolta as a “Gold Award” winner in the
Color Reliability category of its Digital Imaging Reader’s Choice
Awards.

BERTL’s Reader’s Choice Awards are
based on results of a year-long survey of 1,800 enterprise buyers and technical
professionals in 47 countries who are responsible for managing more than 175,000
copiers, printers and MFPs from 23 different manufacturers. The survey
respondents were asked about the most important issues affecting their digital
imaging equipment, including productivity, reliability, service and support,
image quality and pricing. Based on the survey results, BERTL awards Platinum
and Gold Awards in six categories — Ease of Use, Overall Productivity,
Monochrome Reliability, Color Reliability, Best Priced MFPs, and Color Image
Quality.

In its 2004 Reader’s Choice Awards
report, BERTL commented on the color market and Konica Minolta’s reputation in
this market. “In the last few years, color has gone from being a high-ticket
luxury item to a capability that companies simply cannot do without,” said
Elizabeth McNichol, vice president, corporation relations, BERTL. “While Konica
Minolta is a relative newcomer to the color market, the manufacturer has already
established a strong reputation among users for reliability.”

Konica Minolta offers a full line
of color imaging devices for the workgroup and corporate settings, as well as
the print-for-pay and production environments. From the versatile and
feature-rich, 22 page-per-minute (ppm) bizhub C350 to its revolutionary 50ppm
color workhorses, Konica Minolta’s color multifunctional devices make
affordable, high-quality color output available for everyday business
use.

One of the BERTL survey
respondents, an office manager for a large marketing and promotions department,
had this praise for Konica Minolta’s color devices: “With over two dozen art
directors, obviously we do a lot of color printing in my company. We installed
our first Konica Minolta 50cpm color copier because its price was unbeatable,
plus it was a lot smaller than others that we looked at. I can’t tell you how
impressed we’ve been with the quality and consistency of its color, and we never
had a moment’s trouble with it. It runs so well we plan on replacing our [name
removed] machines with Konica Minolta ones when our current lease arrangements
are up.”

“Konica Minolta has a long-standing
reputation for the high reliability of our monochrome devices. As our color
lineup expands, including the introduction of six new bizhub and bizhub PRO
color devices in 2005, consumers can expect that same level of reliability,”
said Kevin P. Kern, vice president, product planning and development, Konica
Minolta Business Solutions U.S.A., Inc. “We’re very honored to receive this
award from BERTL, especially since it is based on the response of such a large
and diverse user
base.”
_________________________________________________________
Konica Minolta Introduces the bizhub PRO C500 — A Central
ResourCe for High-Volume Color Production Printing

RAMSEY, N.J., Feb. 05– Konica
Minolta Business Solutions U.S.A., Inc. (Konica Minolta) today introduced the
bizhub PRO C500, the latest addition to its powerful new bizhub PRO product
line. The next-generation bizhub PRO C500 brings cost-effective, 50
page-per-minute (ppm) color and B&W on demand printing to the CRD and
print-for-pay environments, as well as high- volume corporate settings. With a
rated monthly page volume of 150,000 pages, the bizhub PRO C500 offers digital
production print functionality and professional color print management
capabilities all in one central resource.

The bizhub PRO C500 is built on the
core engine and capabilities of its groundbreaking predecessors — the Konica
Minolta 8050 and the Konica Minolta CF5001 — and features true 600 x 600 dpi
resolution, 256 gradations per color per pixel, easy color calibration, and an
enhanced version of Konica Minolta’s Simitri(R) Color Polymerized Toner
technology.

The enhanced version of Simitri
enables the bizhub PRO C500 to deliver higher image quality with its wider color
gamut and its new color profiles (available for the IP-921 Embedded Fiery(R)
Image Controller and the IP-901 Fiery(R) Image Controller). In addition, with
this new toner technology, users can now select matte or glossy output. By
utilizing Simitri toner and the ACT(TM) (Advanced Continuous Toner) technology,
the bizhub PRO C500 offers sharper text, better halftone clarity, precise image
stability over long print runs, and superior quality electro-photographic prints
by eliminating the need for fuser oil, as well as the ability to change toner
on-the-fly for uninterrupted printing in time-sensitive situations.

Paper handling has also been
improved for this new 50ppm device with two new finishing options — the FS-513
Staple Finisher and the FS-606 Booklet Finisher — and the ability to use a
wider array of paper grades at higher print speeds.

[Author]

February 17, 2005 at 1:10 PM