Introduced a new line of color multifunction devices MB OfiiceCenter. This was the company’s first press conference in the last two years, and MV representatives did not limit themselves to just announcing new products, but also talked about the recent restructuring of business processes and the new development strategy.

We started with a short excursion into history. The MV company was founded in 1990 and began its work with servicing of copiers, soon expanding its activities to supply equipment to Russia. The MB trademark was registered in 1996, and since 1997 the company began producing copiers under its own brand. Later, the company began selling air conditioners and office furniture. This was done so that clients had the opportunity to equip their office with everything they needed, using the services of just one company. In 2006, a rapid reorganization of the company began, the management changed, and the new team of top managers almost completely changed the course of development of MV - Office Equipment.

The general director of the company, Vyacheslav Siver, spoke in some detail about why MV representatives have not been publicly active for so long and what exactly the company has been doing for the last two years.

It's no secret that Moscow is one of the most expensive cities in the world, and this has a serious impact on companies trying to do business in the capital. This was the main reason for the move of the MV headquarters to the near Moscow region. This idea, of course, does not belong to the management of MV, and they do not deny it. On the contrary, they emphasize that they largely act according to the experience of Western companies, whose headquarters are most often located very far from large cities. Following the example of the Xerox company, MV has built several houses for out-of-town employees, as well as cottages, which it plans to sell at cost to its best employees. As a result, serious savings on the maintenance of offices and warehouses made it possible to fix prices for many goods, in particular consumables, which in turn improved the loyalty of the company's customers.

Again, for reasons of economy, several regional representative offices were closed in 2007, and in return a dealer network began to develop. However, MV remains responsible for the qualifications of personnel at dealer service centers. The company's employees are trained in its own training center, and on-site master classes are organized for partners.

However, no matter how beneficial the restructuring and relocation may have had on the company’s future business, over two years of rapid internal changes, MV’s market share has declined significantly. You could even say that many have completely forgotten about the existence of this brand. Of course, clients who have been working with MV for a long time still receive full service, but there has been practically no influx of new ones. MV has produced and produces large office equipment, expensive copying devices, which the average user can only become interested in out of curiosity. Several years ago, MV's share of the Russian market was about 20%, not least due to its well-developed service scheme. Now this share does not exceed 7% and is maintained almost exclusively by old clients. MV's plans for the next two years include regaining its 20% of the market, but further plans are less ambitious - gradually increasing its share to 25%. Regarding the development of the line of devices, the bulk of which are still large and expensive copying and printing machines, Alexander Stepanov, Marketing Director, said that MV, like other manufacturers, plans to develop the segment of desktop devices. There are no such devices in the company’s line yet, but the development department is working hard on them.

Alexander Stepanov presented three new multifunctional devices of the MB OffceCenter series. The first device to be shown was the MB OfficeCenter 120C. This full-color A4 MFP is equipped with fax, printer and scanner functions and the cost of prints is close to monochrome devices. The 120C is designed for medium and small workgroups and is equipped with a network interface.

Technical characteristics of MB OfficeCenter 120C:

• Copying/printing speed A4, ppm - 5 colors. / 20 bw
• Warm-up time - 49 s
• First copy out time - 22 sec color/13 sec b/w
• Standard paper supply, sheets - 200
• Maximum paper supply, sheets - 500
• Duplex - optional
• Paper density, g/m2 - 60-163
• Automatic feeding of originals, sheets - 50
• Printer connection interface, standard - USB 2.0; USB 1.1; 10Base-T/100Base-TX (IEEE 802.3) Ethernet
• Memory - 128 MB
• Copy resolution - 600 dpi
• Printing resolution - 2400×600 dpi
• Scanning resolution - 600 dpi
• Drum life, color. fingerprints - 11250
• Drum life, bw. prints - 45000
• Toner resource, color prints - 1500
• Toner resource, bw. prints - 4500
• Dimensions of the device, mm - 531×528×475
• Weight, kg - 33

According to the manufacturer, this is the most compact device in its class. The difference in size is unlikely to be very noticeable, but it is significant when placing the MFP directly in an office, especially a small one, where literally every centimeter counts. In addition, the required working space of the 120C is significantly less than that of other similar devices. That is, a certain distance must be maintained so that a person can comfortably work near the MFP and to ensure access to the device during service. In the 120C, all main blocks open upward, so when replacing a cartridge or removing jammed paper, none of the nearby employees will be disturbed. And this procedure itself is simple enough to do without calling a specially trained person - however, now in most more or less compact MFPs these procedures require minimal knowledge and effort. And one more thing allows this MFP to be located close to workstations - the air vent in it is made vertical, so that all the warm air goes up and doesn’t bother anyone.

And most importantly, what is the secret of the low cost of full-color prints. Firstly, the 120C uses low-cost toner, and secondly, the device is four-pass. That is, only one photoconductor is used for all four toners instead of the usual “one toner cartridge + one photoconductor” system. Using one photodrum significantly reduces the cost of a print, since in this case you will have to replace one consumable instead of four. On the other hand, it may wear out faster, because the load on it is much greater than in single-pass systems. But representatives of MV promise a high service life of their consumables, including this photodrum.

This device has one more feature that is not very necessary in an office MFP - the PictBridge interface for connecting digital cameras. In case one of the employees wants to print their photographs, but does not want to bother with transferring files to the computer, and then to the printer. USB flash drives cannot be connected through this interface; it only works with cameras.

It was not possible to find out the exact price of the device - about $1,000. But company representatives emphasized that it is 15% cheaper than similar MFPs from other manufacturers.

The other two MFPs, MB OfficeCenter 25C and 40C, are large office equipment for large workgroups. In principle, they can be called mini-printing houses, especially since their functionality is quite sufficient for this. The models are identical in technical characteristics and differ only in printing speed, which, by the way, is reflected in their names. The OfficeCenter 25C prints and copies A4 mono and color pages at 25 ppm, and the OfficeCenter 40C at 40 ppm.

Technical characteristics of MB OfficeCenter 25C and 40C:

• Maximum original size - A3
• Minimum copy format - A5
• Maximum copy format - A3
• Standard paper supply - 1100
• Maximum paper supply - 5600
• Paper density - 55 g/m2-209 g/m2
• Warm-up time - 80 sec or less
• Resolution (equivalent) - 600×600 dpi (1200×600 dpi for B&W printing from PS3)
• Copier memory - 768 MB standard
• Printer memory - 640 MB
• Fax memory - 8 MB standard
• Hard drive - standard 40 GB
• Duplex - standard (60 g/m2 - 105 g/m2)
• Print volume per month - in b/w - 75 thousand, in color - 15 thousand pages
• Printing/copying speed - 25C: A4 in color and b/w - 25 kopecks/min, A3 in color and b/w - 14 kopecks/min; 40С: A4 in color and b/w - 40 kopecks/min, A3 in color and b/w - 23 kopecks/min
• Electronic sorting - yes
• First copy output - color - 8.9 s, b/w - 6.3 s
• Continuous copying - max. 999
• Scanning resolution - color: 600×600, b/w: 600×300/600×600
• Automatic feeder - standard, max. 100 sheets (80 g/m2)
• Page description languages ​​- standard PCL5c/PCL6, optional PostScript3
• Interfaces - USB 2.0, network 10/100 BaseTX
• Network protocols - TCP/IP, NetBEUI, IPX/SPX (NetWare), EtherTalk (AppleTalk)
• File format - TIFF, PDF, PDF, JPEG (color only)
• Addressing - desktop (Desk Top Document Manager), FTP, folder (SMB server), USB memory, E-mail, i-Fax
• Dimensions of the device, mm - 620×670×950
• Weight, kg - 112

The devices use a new polymerized toner, and the fixing system does not use oil, resulting in matte prints that are close in quality to printing.

The machines have a USB connector for flash drives, so documents can be scanned directly to a removable drive. But the best thing about this connector is that you can also connect a keyboard through it to enter user data, email addresses, etc.

The automatic document feeders for scanning in these MFPs are non-reversing, that is, double-sided documents do not turn over, which can be very important when processing old originals or originals on thin paper. And, of course, the scanning speed increases significantly.

Finally, both the 25C and 40C units can be installed in tandem and thus increase productivity. This process is quite simple - simply two devices are connected to a local network, after which they work as one device.

The cost of the devices, depending on the configuration, is: 25C - 7-7.5 thousand euros; 40C - 9.5-10 thousand euros.

Well, perhaps the most interesting question for the Russian MFP manufacturer is - where and how are these devices produced? The MV company has a full production cycle - from development to sales and service. The devices are produced on rented lines at foreign factories, of course, in particular in Korea. The development of the device takes place in the company's office. MV engineers, of course, do not reinvent MFPs; they take existing devices as a basis and modify them in accordance with their desires and the capabilities of production lines. Consumables are produced according to the same scheme, but it is worth paying special attention to the fact that the MV company undertakes all maintenance, including replacement of cartridges. Therefore, their consumables are not supplied for retail sale, and those that can be found are fake. Alas, this problem affects not only large Western brands, and domestic manufacturers have to participate in raids on the Savelovsky market.

The MB company, a well-known supplier of copying equipment and solutions in the field of document automation, does not often please with news about itself, so the announcement of the company’s entry into the printer market immediately attracted attention.

According to IDC estimates, the MB brand is considered the third most popular on the copier market in Russia. In 2000, in terms of the number of copiers sold with a printing speed of over 10 copies per minute (for the market as a whole, with the exception of personal copiers), MB took first place. The growth was 56%, which was several times higher than the market average. And over the past two years, supplies of MV equipment amounted, depending on the segment, from 25 to 35% of the total market volume.

The MB company acts as an OEM partner of a number of foreign companies, such as Konica, Oki, etc., which produce equipment for it at enterprises in Southeast Asia and Japan.

As is known, the market for copying equipment both in the world and in Russia is growing at a much lower rate than the printer market.

And now MV, as company executives say, is “invading” the printer market. According to MV Marketing Director Dmitry Myslin, in the first six months of 2001 alone, more than 6 thousand MV monochrome laser printers with print speeds from 8 to 45 ppm were sold, which is almost twice as much as in the same period last year . In addition, during the first half of 2001, 2.5 times more color printers were sold than during the same period in 2000.

From the point of view of Robert Farish, director of IDC Russia (see CRN/RE No. 11/2001, p. 14), it was the color laser segment that became the most profitable printer market in 2001. If previously these devices were mainly interested in specialists working with graphics, Now color printers are turning into a product of interest to corporate clients. It is expected that by 2005 the Russian market for color laser printers and copiers will reach $70 million, with the bulk of sales of this equipment going to the corporate sector. In 2000, HP was the leader in the color laser printer segment, but Xerox/Tektronix achieved greater sales growth than the leader - 130% (HP had 110%). In addition, a significant (about 185%) increase in sales of Konica color printers is noticeable. It is known that for this success the supplier had to sacrifice its name, since all its equipment was sold under the MB brand.

Among MB products, the most popular in the first half of the year were monochrome printers MB 326 with a print speed of 26 ppm and MB 508 with a print speed of 8 ppm.

MV 326 is a compact network laser printer in A3 format. The first page output speed is 6.5 seconds. Resolution 1200 x 1200 dpi. The standard configuration includes PostScript language, the MB 326N model is equipped with a network card. Additional devices include a four-cell mailbox, which allows you to separate documents from different user groups. There is also a confidential printing function, where the user receives his documents only after entering a password on the printer.

The MB 508 is a personal printer with a resolution of 1200 x 600 dpi. The model is compatible with Windows, Windows NT and DOS (and the printer is hardware-Russified for DOS and has 12 Russian fonts). Printing is carried out on a wide variety of paper (even made from recycled materials) in formats from A6 to A4, with a density of up to 120 g/m2. m. Printer weight 4.3 kg.

Office applications require printing very large volumes of personalized information. In this case, the documents need to be sorted and bound. Very often, as MB specialists note, in such a situation the client is forced to buy a copier-printer system that has similar capabilities (these are expensive systems with a printing speed of 40 to 100 ppm). In response to market demands, MB offers two high-performance models with a range of finishing devices.

MV 375 operates at a speed of 75 ppm and is designed for peak loads of up to a million prints per month. The MB 375 display allows you to fully control the operation of the printer. A printer interface is provided - ProfiRIP, which has advanced software that allows you to turn the MB 375 into a processing, printing and document management center.

The MB 738 color laser printer in A3 format has a resolution of 1200 x 1200 dpi. The first print output time is 12 s (for color images), PostScript 3 language support is provided. The device is also equipped with finishing devices, and, according to the company, exceeds its competitors in print speed by 2 times (28 color or 38 black and white pages per minute ). The main and additional trays hold 3,100 sheets. As additional equipment, a 2,000-sheet finisher is provided, which allows you to staple finished prints and punch holes in them for folders, as well as a mailbox with four cells.

The MB company, which has proven itself to be a reliable and responsible partner in the domestic office equipment market, will celebrate the 15th anniversary of its successful activity next year. Over the years, the company has been able not only to declare itself, but also to contrast significant competitive advantages with recognized global corporations.

Thanks to the fact that MB has a wide network of regional offices, the company offers its customers almost throughout the country high-quality products and, importantly, guaranteed service. According to IDC, since 1998, MB has been one of the three most popular brands of copiers in Russia, along with Canon and Xerox. It should also be noted that MV has close and fruitful cooperation with many large domestic enterprises that are leaders in Russian economic sectors, with federal ministries and departments, and with leading foreign companies.

MV is constantly expanding, and a logical step was the decision to develop new markets, which is confirmed by plans to open the company’s first representative office in one of the CIS countries - in Ukraine. According to Dmitry Myslin, executive director of MV, the company has accumulated enormous potential, allowing it to develop new markets and develop its own network of representative offices outside of Russia. Entering the office equipment market in the CIS countries is a priority in MB's marketing strategy.

The range of products manufactured by the company is represented not only by copying equipment, but also by printers, multifunctional printing complexes, industrial printers, engineering systems, fax machines, as well as office furniture, climate control equipment and office paper. The products of this company in the field of printing technology almost completely cover all areas of this industry. MB's primary focus is providing comprehensive document management solutions for large corporate customers. MB's marketing strategy is aimed primarily at providing customers with the widest possible selection of products to solve a variety of problems. The main focus is on the guaranteed quality of all products and services under the MB brand.

Following global trends and taking into account the wishes of customers to use a universal device capable of performing all the basic functions of document management, combining a copier, printer and scanner, MB has chosen the development and production of multifunctional devices as its main direction. The past year was marked by the release of a wide range of such devices, while a number of the equipment offered is intended for both small organizations and corporate clients and offices with a large document flow.

It is also worth noting that the company has separated multifunctional devices into a separate line OfficeCenter, which includes MFPs intended not only for office use, but also for industrial duplication.

Now let’s take a better look at the new MB products from the OfficeCenter series.

OfficeCenter 116 is the optimal solution for the SOHO segment, and in addition, it is the first product in a new line.

Unlike its competitors, this device has maximum functionality and at the same time has a fairly low price. It is primarily intended for use in a small office and provides the most commonly used functions required for document management. Despite its small dimensions, this model is easy to use and does not require special skills to work with it.

In the future, such devices should displace three devices from the market at the same time: a copier, a scanner and a printer, which take up much more space in the office and require frequent maintenance.

The basic OfficeCenter 116 includes a monochrome A4 laser printer, a copier and a scanner capable of printing and producing black-and-white copies at speeds of up to 16 ppm, as well as scanning color documents. The presence of a flatbed scanner in all variants of the new device removes almost all restrictions on the type of original.

The MB OfficeCenter 116F model is equipped with a modem with a speed of 33,600 bps and, like most similar devices, has connectors for connecting to a computer via a USB port and an IEEE-1284 interface.

This multifunctional device includes not only a scanner with a resolution of 600 dpi, but also a printer that allows you to print originals with a resolution of up to 600 dpi, which is an undoubted advantage of the OfficeCenter 116. According to the manufacturer, the warm-up time for the OfficeCenter 116 is 25 s , and the first copy release time is 13 s, which is a good indicator for devices of this class. The tray capacity is 250 sheets, with an optional tray that holds 500 sheets. There is also a manual feed for 10 sheets of heavier paper.

With the optional fax module, OfficeCenter 116F allows you to fax data over the Internet, as well as scan an original and send the scanned image to an email address. It is worth noting that this model has a built-in base memory with a capacity of 16 MB with the possibility of subsequent expansion up to 48 MB, and this allows you to expand the functionality of the device.

The maximum resource of the device is designed for 150 thousand copies with a monthly load of 15 thousand copies, and the drum resource is 20 thousand copies. The toner resource is designed for 6 thousand copies, which is a very high figure.

In general, MB OfficeCenter 116 is perfect for working in a small office and, importantly, can almost completely replace several devices at once.

The multifunctional devices MB OfficeCenter 316 and MB OfficeCenter 320 are designed primarily for use in small and medium-sized offices. The maximum print format for these devices is A3. Like most of these devices, they have fairly small dimensions, but at the same time, in the basic configuration they include not only a copy machine, but also a printer and scanner. The difference between these devices is the copy speed: the OfficeCenter 316 has 16 ppm, and the OfficeCenter 320 has 20 ppm.

MB OfficeCenter 316/320 devices are designed to perform a variety of small business tasks. The resolution of these devices when printing and copying is up to 600 dpi. Models are connected to a computer via USB or IEEE-1284. The built-in memory of 16 MB allows you to use digital technologies for multiple printing of a scanned document once.

The warm-up time for these devices is no more than 45 seconds, while the first page will take just over 7 seconds. It is impossible not to mention the high density of media that can be used with these models, since thanks to the use of new technology, the density of the originals reaches 200 g/m2. The paper input tray holds 250 sheets, and an optional 100-sheet tray is available. The optional automatic paper feeder greatly increases copying efficiency.

It is impossible to ignore the control panel, which is located on the front of the device and consists of a set of buttons and a liquid crystal screen. Using the multiple functions of these devices is quite easy, since the menu structure is very simple and understandable even to the average user.

In addition to automatic exposure adjustment, you can select two print modes: “Text” for text originals and “Photo” for photographs. In each of these modes, five-level exposure adjustment is possible. Photo mode allows you to make clear copies of complex grayscale originals, such as photographs. In addition, the device provides auto-scaling, auto-tray switching, toner saving mode, and disproportionate scaling in 1% increments.

Like most MFPs, this device allows you to print copies while scanning the original, saving you the time it takes to scan multiple times. The copier will be a good solution for quickly and efficiently performing operational black-and-white printing work, and the built-in scanner will allow you to do more work.

Almost at the same time when the OfficeCenter 316/320 models were released, the MB company introduced the multifunctional OfficeCenter 420 device to the market, some technical characteristics of which are similar to the MB OfficeCenter 320, and in addition, this device allows the use of electronic sorting capabilities and combination modes. 2 in 1" and "4 in 1", edge/center erase and edge shift modes. Like its younger brothers, the OfficeCenter 420 allows you to print and copy at a resolution of up to 600 dpi, and when scanning, the resolution is 600-1200 ppi. The printing speed of this model is 12 ppm when printing A4 size documents. In addition, with the help of the enhanced capabilities card, OfficeCenter 420 can print and scan documents up to A3.

Built-in memory of 32 MB allows you to increase printing speed, and also provides the ability to print copies with a single scan.

The scanner installed in this device is full-color, which makes it possible to obtain scanned images with a resolution of 600 dpi. To increase productivity, a built-in sorter is designed, which at the output shifts sets of work done by different users relative to each other.

It is also necessary to mention the duplex module, which comes as standard for this multifunctional device and can significantly reduce the time it takes to print double-sided documents.

MB OfficeCenter 420 has several options for connecting to a computer: in the basic version they are USB with the 1.1 specification and an IEEE-1284 parallel interface, and as additional interfaces to the OfficeCenter 420 a 10/100Base-TX network interface and a USB 2.0 interface are provided, and the use the latter allows you to significantly increase the speed of exchange between the computer and the MFP. Installing a network interface allows you to connect the MFP directly to the local network, and this makes it possible to scan over the network.

The MB OfficeCenter 420 is equipped with two trays with a capacity of 250 sheets and a manual feed tray with a capacity of 100 sheets. Additional 250-sheet trays are available as an option.

The device's resource is designed for 900 thousand copies, based on a monthly load of 15 thousand copies. To facilitate the operation of the device, the toner resource has been significantly increased and is designed for 16 thousand copies.

It's worth noting that the MB OfficeCenter 420 copes well with tasks that primarily involve copying, scanning and printing small office documents, but this device can also print other documents that contain more graphics than text. Small dimensions, high operating speed, as well as the presence of a duplex printing module and connection to a PC, of ​​course, allow the MB OfficeCenter 420 to be positioned as a device for small and medium-sized offices.

This model of multifunctional device is intended primarily for printing and copying in small and medium-sized offices. MB OfficeCenter 215 is a modern digital device of A4 format that performs copying work of any complexity. Possessing all the advantages of modern office equipment, these devices occupy a minimum of workplace space in the office.

Large memory capacity (192 MB) as standard ensures high performance of these devices. To optimize work with significant volumes of documents, it is possible to install an automatic document feeder, and to increase the standard paper supply, you can install an additional 500-sheet tray.

As standard interfaces in the basic configuration, this MFP is equipped with a 10/100Base-TX network interface, as well as a USB 2.0 interface. However, you can additionally install not only the IEEE-1284 interface, but also FireWare (IEEE-1384), Bluetooth, and the increasingly popular Wi-Fi interface (IEEE 802.11b). The printer interface supports the most common page description languages: PCL 5e, PCL 6, RPCS and optionally PostScript.

A distinctive feature of the MB OfficeCenter 215 is that this device can already make double-sided copies in A4 format as standard. Duplex, which until now only allowed working with documents in A3 format, has now become available for printing documents in A4 format. When printing without a duplex module, the machine speed is approximately 15 ppm. A copy resolution of 600 dpi allows you to obtain high-quality copies, and electronic sorting allows you to produce multiple sets from a multi-page document. Only the MB OfficeCenter 215 comes standard with network scanning and scan-to-email capabilities. MB OfficeCenter 215 will help office workers solve the problem of sending scanned documents to recipients.

This model comes standard with a 250-sheet tray, but there is an option for an optional 500-sheet tray. In this case, the tray is designed to feed paper with a density from 60 to 157 g/m2.

This model is perfect for installation in a small office and will completely replace a scanner and printer, while occupying very little space.

The OfficeCenter 427 is one of the company's latest developments, which is a high-performance multifunctional machine with high print resolution, designed to print multiple copies of A3 format. In its basic configuration, this device has quite impressive dimensions.

This model uses USB 2.0 and IEEE-1284 interfaces as standard interfaces for connecting to a computer, and an optional 10/100Base-TX network interface is available as an option, which allows local network users to print and scan using this machine without using a PC. Using a standard parallel port and USB 2.0, two users can be connected to the device at the same time, and thanks to the presence of the MB network interface, OfficeCenter 427 has the ability to scan originals over the network, download to a computer, to FTP and send images by e-mail. Specifying the address for sending the scanned document is carried out on the machine or on the computer. Resolution for printing and copying up to 1200 dpi.

The 32 MB memory, which belongs directly to the MFP, can be expanded up to 1056 MB, which gives a noticeable acceleration in the speed of work. The printer module also has a special 64 MB memory built into it to increase the speed of printing large, high-resolution images.

In order to increase productivity, the OfficeCenter 427 MB is equipped with a finisher that sorts or staples finished documents at the output.

This product comes standard with a two-sided copying unit, which improves the overall performance of the machine and also provides convenient printing of two-sided documents. The copying/printing speed is simply amazing 27 ppm when printing an A4 document.

The automatic feeder developed by the company's engineers significantly increases the efficiency of copying and scanning multi-page documents. The machine has two base trays with a capacity of 500 sheets each, and a high-density straight feed tray with a capacity of 100 sheets.

In addition, the device allows you to perform a number of additional functions: auto-scaling, auto-tray selection, electronic shift sorting, independent axis scaling, combining, manual and automatic exposure, and toner saving mode.

MB OfficeCenter 427 is an excellent tool for fast and high-quality printing and for copying black and white originals in a wide variety of printing centers and offices. High print resolution, excellent copy speed, full support for Adobe PostScript 3, as well as the ability to connect to a local network - all this makes this model very attractive to buyers.

MB recently entered the market with a new offer - the MB OfficeCenter 472 product, which is a high-performance complex for copying, network printing and document scanning. Advanced technologies for copying and printing were used in the design of this machine. The specified tool copies and prints at a speed of 72 ppm, and the speed can be doubled due to a tandem configuration up to 144 ppm.

As standard, the device has a paper supply of 3.6 thousand sheets, and the maximum paper supply can be increased to 7.6 thousand.

MB OfficeCenter 472 has expanded finishing equipment, which allows you not only to staple ready-made sets of documents, but also to perform various types of document folding (double, triple folding), as well as the production of brochures.

When installing the printer interface, MB OfficeCenter 472 turns into a powerful A3 printer. In addition to the printer interface, a PS extension with a scanning module can be supplied, which allows you to print complex graphic documents and scan them to a computer.

This MFP is ideal for those who value their time and who need a high-quality and reliable device for urgent document production. Operations such as folding, stapling and booklet making can be carried out along with inserting covers.

MB OfficeCenter 472 uses advanced finishing equipment; in particular, this device allows you to scan at high speed from both the exposure glass and the automatic document feeder. Scanning resolution is 600–600 dpi. The MFP is equipped with a fairly wide range of functions such as watermarks, image repeat, confidential printing, A3 Full-bleed printing, and variable data printing (Fiery FreeForm). Multitasking mode allows the user to start a new task without waiting for the previous one to complete.

Additionally, the device can be equipped with a 10 GB printer hard drive, which allows you to save fonts and carry out confidential printing. You also cannot ignore the built-in memory of the MFP with a capacity of 64 MB, which can be expanded up to 512 MB. In addition to the built-in memory, the OfficeCenter 472 has 128 MB of printer module memory, which increases the speed of processing and printing large documents. However, it is worth noting that for some reason the Token ring interface is additionally used here, which currently has no practical use anywhere in the world.

***

According to D. Myslin, next year the trend of transition to the use of multifunctional devices, combining the functions of several devices printer, scanner and copier, will not only continue, but also intensify, that is, the future of the office equipment market lies with multifunctional devices. Flexibly responding to changing consumer preferences, the MB company is already ready today to promptly offer its clients new opportunities for an integrated approach to the document flow process. Let's hope that the pace of growth and development of the company in the next year, the anniversary year for MB, will be on par with this year.

Andrey Ezdakov

Laser printing in the office

Today, a laser printer is an almost mandatory and indispensable attribute of any office. The most actively used category of such devices belongs to workgroup-scale devices. Such models have print speeds ranging from 15 to 35 ppm and mainly support network printing.

A recent feature has been the widespread use of workgroup-scale color laser printing devices. The process of replacing monochrome devices with color ones began to be especially active when the price of the latter dropped significantly, and the cost and quality of black and white prints became almost identical. According to a number of industry analysts and manufacturing company specialists, this trend will continue.

The segment of color laser printers has recently become one of the most dynamically developing in the printer market, its share is constantly increasing from year to year. This happens due to a number of interrelated reasons. Firstly, as a result of a noticeable reduction in prices for such devices, color laser printers have become affordable and attractive to a wider range of users. Secondly, the volume of printing various office documents in color (tables, graphs, presentations, reports, etc.) is growing. In addition, such devices provide high quality printing, are reliable in operation and allow you to obtain qualitatively different documents - in color.

For printer equipment in the working group category, an important indicator is the cost of printing. The bulk of office printing (90-95%) is usually black and white documents. To print them, a monochrome printer is sufficient, the cost of printing on which (not to mention the printers themselves) was lower than on color devices. Now the situation has changed - the cost of printing black and white documents on a color laser printer has become approximately the same as on a conventional monochrome device of the same class. So color laser printers today are able to compete with their monochrome counterparts in all respects.

Now consumers just have to make the right choice from the variety of monochrome and color workgroup-scale printing devices offered by many manufacturers.

Canon printers

The average cartridge life is 5,000 pages at 5% coverage. Economode saves toner by up to 50% at 600x600 dpi.

The more powerful HP LaserJet 4200 mono laser printer delivers speeds of up to 33 ppm at 1200x1200 dpi resolution. Combined with an average monthly workload of up to 150 thousand pages, this places the printer in the category of devices for medium or large workgroups with a significant volume of printing work. The first page comes out in less than 8.5 seconds.

The HP LaserJet 4200 is equipped with a more powerful processor with a clock speed of 300 MHz. Its standard RAM capacity is 48 or 64 MB (depending on version) and can be expanded up to 416 MB. In addition to an IEEE 1284-compliant parallel port, this device has two available EIO slots for connecting additional internal HP JetDirect print servers for 10Base-T, 10Base2, 100Base-TX, Localtalk, and Token Ring Ethernet networks. The built-in Web server allows direct access to the printer through a standard browser, provides remote device configuration and e-mail alert messages.

The ability to monitor the status of consumables and receive alerts via email increases printer uptime. Print job analysis and cartridge usage tracking help you better control costs. The device cartridge is designed as a single module, including toner, drum and developer, which is convenient for replacement.

The standard HP LaserJet 4200 input tray capacity is 600 or 1,100 sheets, depending on the product version (100 in the multi-purpose tray and 500 or 2x500 in one or two trays). In addition, the printer can optionally be equipped with one or two additional trays with a capacity of 500 and 1500 sheets. In addition to the standard 250-sheet face-down and 50-sheet face-up output, you can add a 500-sheet magazine output tray.

The HP LaserJet 4200 runs the same OS as its smaller brother, the LaserJet 2200.

Hewlett-Packard's family of color laser printers recently added two new models: the Color LaserJet 2550 and the Color LaserJet 4650. The first is an entry-level A4 model for small workgroups, with print speeds of up to 19 ppm in black and white. printing and up to 4 ppm in color. Compared to the Color LaserJet 1500 and 2500 devices, which the new printer replaces, it increases the speed of black-and-white printing, expands the ability to use print control languages, improves the set of external interfaces and adds the ability to print on non-standard media (glossy paper and film) .

The new four-pass printer has a Motorola CFV4e processor with a clock frequency of 264 MHz, the standard amount of RAM (64 MB) can be increased to 192 MB. The first page out time is 18 s. The hardware resolution of 600x600 dpi increases to 2400x2400 thanks to HP ImageRet 2400 technology. In addition to the HP PCL 6 language, HP PostScript 3 emulation is supported. In addition to a parallel port and a USB 2.0 port, network versions of the printer (Color LaserJet 2550Ln/n) are equipped with a built-in HP print server JetDirect (10/100Base-TX, RJ45).

In addition to the standard 125-sheet paper feed tray, the device can be equipped with two additional capacities of 250 and 500 sheets (the first tray is included with the Color LaserJet 2550n version). Duplex printing is supported at the driver level when feeding paper manually. The output tray holds 125 sheets. The average monthly load for the Color LaserJet 2550 is 30 thousand prints. The device operates under Microsoft Windows 9x/Me/NT 4.0/2000/XP and Mac OS versions 9.1 and higher, optionally operating in Linux, Unix and OS/2. The cost of the printer in the minimum configuration is approximately $640.

The more powerful Color LaserJet 4650 color laser printer succeeds the Color LaserJet 4600. This single-pass device with many versions is designed for medium to large workgroups. The print speed in both monochrome and color modes is 22 ppm, the first page out time is 15 s. Monthly load - up to 85 thousand prints.

This printer uses a RISC processor with a clock frequency of 533 MHz, the standard amount of RAM (128-256 MB, depending on the version) can be increased to 544 MB. Optionally, you can install a hard drive with a capacity of 20 GB. The 600x600 dpi hardware resolution is greatly enhanced by HP ImageRet 3600 technology. In addition to standard parallel and USB ports, the new printer features XHTML/Bluetooth-Nokia wireless connectivity, an auxiliary port, and three EIO connectors. Versions designated with the letter n also include the HP JetDirect 620n print server.

The Color LaserJet 4650 has a built-in two-sided (duplex) printing mechanism. In addition to the 100-sheet multipurpose tray and standard 500-sheet tray, the printer can be equipped with an optional 500-sheet tray and an optional desktop unit with two 500-sheet bins. The output tray holds up to 250 sheets. The new HP color laser printer runs Microsoft Windows 9x/Me/NT 4.0/2000/XP, Mac OS 9.1 and higher, Linux, Unix, OS/2 and DOS.

All Hewlett-Packard laser printers in the workgroup category come with a one-year warranty.

MB Printers

Products under the MB brand (http://www.mb.ru) compete worthily in the domestic market of laser printing devices of the working group scale with products from well-known global manufacturers. Users are offered several models of monochrome and color printers of this brand.

The MB 325 monochrome laser printer weighing 14 kg supports print speeds of up to 25 ppm with a resolution of 1200x1200 dpi in A4 format. The first page out time is 7.5 s. This product's standard tray holds 500 sheets of paper, and can be expanded if needed by adding additional 500-sheet trays (up to a maximum of two additional trays). In addition, this printer comes with an optional duplex unit. Output tray capacity - 250 sheets.

Laser printer MB 325N.

The printer has a built-in processor with a clock frequency of 300 MHz, 64 MB of RAM can be expanded to 320 MB. In addition to the standard parallel port and USB 2.0 port, the MB 325N is equipped with a built-in Ethernet 10/100Base-TX network card that supports TCP/IP, IPP, IPX/SPX, NetBEUI, Apple Talk protocols. Therefore, the device is positioned by the company as a workgroup-sized printer with an average print load.

By installing an additional hard drive in the MB 325, users will have access to functions such as proof and confidential printing (that is, a document can only be printed after entering a password from the control panel). A test print will allow you to view the first print and, if the user is satisfied with its quality, print the entire circulation of documents.

MB 325 supports PCL 5e, PCL6, Adobe PostScript 3 and RPCS page description languages. This device can run Microsoft Windows 9x/Me/NT 4.0/2000/XP/Server 2003, Mac OS version 8.6 and above, Novell NetWare version 3.11 and above, Unix, Sun Solaris, HP-UX, Red Hat Linux, MS-DOS.

A more powerful A3 printer - MB 332N weighing 20 kg, has a productivity of up to 30 ppm with a resolution of 1200x1200 dpi. The first page out time for this model is 6.5 seconds. Most of its characteristics and capabilities are the same as those of the MB 325, but there are also significant differences - the printer can be equipped with a large number of additional devices. For example, an optional four-bin mailbox allows you to separate print jobs from different user groups. A useful printer option is the offset sort tray (functionally it is a finisher without stapling). Using this tray, you can easily sort sets of printed documents in A4 or A3 format, without the need for an expensive finisher.

The most high-performance monochrome MB laser printer in the class of workgroup devices is the MB 345 (weighing 63 kg). This device can print documents up to A3 size at speeds up to 45 ppm (A4 size) at a hardware resolution of 600x600 dpi and is aimed at supporting high-volume workgroups or multiple medium-sized workgroups. The first page out time is only 5.9 seconds. High print quality in MB 345 is achieved thanks to a two-component image development system. Another difference from traditional printers is that the printer uses separate image drum and toner. This allows you to save money on large print volumes.

As standard, the MB 345 is equipped with two universal trays of 500 sheets each; the device can be supplemented with a cabinet or additional trays (up to five in total). The maximum capacity of paper loaded at one time can reach 3550 pages. The standard delivery package also includes duplex. This device has a mode for stapling printed documents. In addition, the printer can be equipped with various document output devices. The 1,000-sheet finisher (with 3,000-staple cartridge) or 3,000-sheet finisher performs offset sorting or stapling of printed sets. To separate the work of different work groups, there is a mailbox that can be installed in conjunction with any 3,000-sheet finisher.

In the line of MV color laser printers of the workgroup scale, several models can also be distinguished. Firstly, this is an inexpensive, compact device in A4 format - MB 5504 with a printing speed of up to 4 ppm in color and up to 16 ppm in monochrome mode, it uses a polymer toner. The first page out time is 14 s. This device is already in the standard configuration designed for work within a small workgroup, for which it is equipped with a parallel port, a USB port and a built-in 10/100Base-TX Ethernet controller for connecting to a local network.

The multifunction tray MB 5504 holds up to 200 sheets of A4 paper with weights from 60 to 163 gsm. The printer can also print on envelopes, transparencies, labels, thick paper, and custom-sized media. If necessary, you can increase your paper supply by adding an optional 500-sheet tray. An optional two-sided printing device (duplex) is installed.

The new, more productive color laser printer - MB 716 has a print speed of 24 ppm in monochrome mode and 16 ppm in color. This model is also distinguished by its short first print output time - 10 s. The printer can be equipped with a large amount of RAM (from 64 to 1024 MB), and it is optionally equipped with a 10 GB hard drive, which opens up the possibility of trial and confidential printing.

You can connect the printer via parallel and USB ports, as well as using a network card. The significant average monthly volume of printed products (up to 50 thousand pages) allows the MV 716 to be effectively used in medium-sized work groups. This is helped by the fact that the device is equipped with a 530-sheet tray and a 100-sheet multipurpose tray, allowing you to work with media weighing up to 250 gsm. m. The total volume of paper loaded into the printer can be increased to 1690 sheets if you use additional trays. Duplex is available as an option. A special feature that automatically detects media weight ensures good print quality and reduces the risk of damage to the machine. The printer supports PCL 5e and Adobe PostScript 3 page description languages ​​and runs Microsoft Windows 9x/Me/NT 4.0/2000/XP, Mac OS 8.6 and higher, Novell NetWare, Unix, Linux.

The MB 710 model is an A3 color laser printer for the workgroup. Print speed is 36 ppm in monochrome and 10 ppm in color. This printer has all the same features as the previous model, but with a wider range of optional paper feed and document output options. Optionally, the MB 710 can be equipped with a 500-sheet finisher with the ability to staple printed documents. In turn, the finisher can be equipped with a mailbox with 4 cells (125 sheets each), which will allow you to separate sets of documents from different users.

All MB laser printing devices are covered by a standard 1 year warranty. In addition, it is possible to conclude a special warranty service agreement for a longer period.

Samsung Printers

Samsung (http://www.samsung.ru) is actively introducing its laser printing devices into the Russian market. The company's lineup includes, among others, devices suitable for supporting work with paper documents in a small or medium-sized work group. These, of course, include two monochrome laser printers - Samsung ML-1710P and ML-2150, as well as the recently launched color printing device CLP-500.

The ML-1710P model supports print speeds of up to 16 ppm in A4 format at a resolution of 600x600 dpi. The first page comes out in 11 s. This device, weighing only 7 kg and linear dimensions 348x355x193 mm, is equipped with a special processor with a clock frequency of 90 MHz and 8 MB of RAM. The input tray has a capacity of 250 sheets and the output tray has a capacity of 50 sheets. The estimated average monthly print load is approximately 15 thousand pages.

The ML-1710P printer uses a toner saver mode that can reduce consumption by up to 40%. This device is equipped with a USB port and runs Microsoft Windows 9x/NT 4.0/2000, Mac OS 8.6 or higher and various versions of Linux. The noise level does not exceed 32 dB in standby mode. The cartridge of this model, ML-1710D3, is designed to print 3,000 pages at 5% coverage.

A more powerful monochrome printing device, the Samsung ML-2150, is designed for an average monthly load of about 100 thousand pages and supports double-sided printing. The first page comes out in 13 seconds; the print speed of this model is 20 ppm with a resolution of 1200x1200 dpi. The built-in processor has a clock frequency of 166 MHz, standard RAM of 16 MB can be expanded up to 144 MB. Optionally, the printer can be equipped with a module that provides support for Adobe PostScript 3. The weight of the device is 13 kg.

The device has a parallel port and a USB port version 2.0, and optionally you can install an Ethernet 10/100Base-TX network card or a combined Wi-Fi + 10/100Base-TX. The ML-2150 input tray holds 500 sheets and the multifunction feeder holds 100 sheets. The output tray accepts 500 sheets (face down) and 100 sheets (face up). In addition to plain paper, this model allows you to print on transparent film and other non-standard media. The cartridge life of this device is 8,000 pages at 5% coverage, and a toner saving mode is also supported. The noise level in standby mode does not exceed 36 dB. The printer runs Microsoft Windows 9x/Me/NT 4.0/2000/XP, Mac OS 8.6 and higher and various versions of Linux.

Samsung's new four-pass color laser printer, the CLP-500, has print speeds of up to 20 ppm in monochrome and up to 5 ppm in color and costs less than $700. This printer has a built-in duplex module. . The device's hardware resolution of 600x600 dpi in interpolation mode increases to 1200x1200. The printer has a special Samsung SPGPm processor and 54 MB of RAM, which can be expanded up to 144 MB if necessary.

Weighing approximately 35 kg, this printing device features a professional color correction system with support for ICC color profiles. Special TRC (Toner Reproduction Curve) technology, which controls constant toner quality, allows you to obtain the same print quality throughout the entire print run, from start to finish. The CLP-500 uses a standard 100-sheet multifunction tray and a dedicated 250-sheet cassette to feed paper. An optional 500-sheet tray can be installed. The maximum monthly load of the CLP-500 should not exceed 35 thousand prints.

In addition to standard external interfaces IEEE 1284 (parallel port) and USB 2.0, the CLP-500n model is equipped with an Ethernet 10/100Base-TX network card. Moreover, the printer can optionally be equipped with a card for organizing wireless access of the 802.11b standard. The CLP-500 runs Microsoft Windows 9x/Me/NT 4.0/2000/XP, Mac OS 8.6 and higher, and various versions of Linux. The black cartridge yields 7,000 pages at 5% coverage, and all color cartridges yield 5,000 pages.