At Ricoh, Everything's About Lasers

As the SOHO segment of the CE market has become a lot more significant over the past few years, the manufacturers of various computers peripherals have also begun to design specific products tailored to the needs of home and small office users. And that's also the case with Ricoh, who has just announced a new family of color laser printers, the Aficio SP C222DN Series, as well as several laser multifunction products (MFPs) from the Aficio SP C222SF Series, all in all six new models designed especially for small workgroups.

The Aficio SP C222DN Series is made up of three separate models: the Aficio SP C220DN, SP C221DN and SP C222DN. The Aficio SP C220DN provides black and white as well as color prints at 16 pages per minute (ppm), while the SP C221DN and SP C222DN both generate documents at 21 ppm. Additionally, first print speed for the entire series is only 14 seconds, while the devices feature printing resolutions of up to 2400 x 600 dots per inch (dpi).

The functions of the Aficio SP C222DN Series are also pretty easy to manage via the Status Image Monitor software, which enables users to check supply levels and change settings via the Web. Furthermore, the printers' control panel uses an alert light for error notifications and LED indicators that tell users when supplies need to be replenished. And since we're on the subject of supplies, it's important to note the fact that Ricoh has equipped this series with All-in-One Cartridges that can be replaced with one hand and a top-loading design on the printers for easy access.

Although the company has not announced the exact moment when the devices arrive in stores, it's important to note that the suggested retail prices for the SP C220DN, SP C221DN and SP C222DN are $529.00, $629.00 and $759.00, respectively.

Now, for the MFPs. The first in the Aficio SP C222SF Series is the SP C220S. Equipped with copy, print and scan capabilities, the SP C220S prints and copies at 16 ppm for both black and white and color documents. The Aficio SP C221SF and SP C222SF print and copy at 21 ppm and also offer facsimile features that include a G3 transmission speed of 3 seconds per page, a 100-page memory capacity and 20 One-Touch numbers and 50 Speed Dials, which provide increased speed and convenience.

All three devices provide resolutions of up to 2400 x 600 dpi and laser quality printing and copying to ensure fast, consistent results. In addition, items can be scanned to resolutions of up to 1200 x 1200 dpi or converted to text for easy editing capabilities.

Furthermore, the Aficio SP C221SF and SP C222SF offer automatic duplex printing and all models and also feature Scan-to technologies and TWAIN drivers, as well as All-in-One Cartridges. Moreover, they are controlled via the Status Image Monitor software that allows users to remotely check supply levels and modify settings, and the PageManager utility, an easy-to-use application that enables automated file management, OCR scanning, and other time-saving functions.

The suggested retail price for the Aficio SP C220S is $829, for the SP C221SF is $949 and for the SP C222SF is $1,049.

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