KONICA MINOLTA Wins “Pick of the Year” Award

Buyers Laboratory Names the magicolor® 2480MF
“Outstanding Small Workgroup Color Multifunction Printer of the Year”

July 18, 2006 - Mobile, AL – KONICA MINOLTA PRINTING SOLUTIONS U.S.A., INC. announced today that its magicolor 2480MF color laser all-in-one has earned Buyers Laboratory’s Spring 2006 “Pick of the Year” award for “Outstanding Small Workgroup Color Multifunction Printer.” Last year, two other products in the magicolor 2400 Series also won “Pick of the Year” awards—the magicolor 2400W was named “Outstanding Personal Color Laser Printer” while the magicolor 2430 DL garnered the “Outstanding Small Workgroup Multi-Pass Color Laser Printer” award. KONICA MINOLTA has also previously received “Pick of the Year” awards for the magicolor 2350, magicolor 5450, magicolor 7300, PagePro 1250W, and PagePro 9100.

Buyers Laboratory (BLI) is the leading independent office products test lab and business consumer advocate. Its “Pick of the Year” awards recognize the most exceptional performers from among the many products it tests semi- annually in each product category. “Clearly, any product receiving a BLI ‘Pick’ award has earned it the hard way and truly proven its worthiness,” stated Anthony Polifrone, managing director of BLI. “As a result, buyers can feel confident that they are investing their hard-earned dollars safely and wisely when basing their decisions on a BLI award.”

Outstanding Small Workgroup Color Multifunction Printer
Providing print, copy, scan, PC Fax, and Camera Direct Photo Print functionality, the KONICA MINOLTA magicolor 2480MF “produces high-quality color output without a high price tag,” stated Paul DePaolo, senior test engineer at Buyers Laboratory. “The device is also very user friendly as it features pre-installed supplies and auto-run installation software, so setup takes only a few minutes.”

Buyers Laboratory was especially impressed with the magicolor 2480MF’s “strong reliability, remarkable output quality and excellent ease of use in a compact design.” According to the test report, “the magicolor 2480MF completed its 17,500-impression durability test without requiring any service or experiencing a single misfeed.” BLI technicians commented on “the excellent consistency of the unit’s color output, citing no noticeable change in color photographic images from the beginning to the end of the test period. Black output was also impressive with crisp, clearly formed characters and no toner stray visible.”

Senior Printer Analyst Marlene Orr continued BLI’s praise of the magicolor 2480MF, noting that “with a low acquisition cost and the lower cost per page of comparable models tested, the KONICA MINOLTA magicolor 2480MF is an excellent value.” This color laser all-in-one “offers a combination of value, ease of use and output quality not seen in other models tested to date.”

“It is an honor to receive Buyers Laboratory’s Spring 2006 ‘Pick of the Year’ award for the magicolor 2480MF,” commented Stephen Fletcher, president and COO of KONICA MINOLTA PRINTING SOLUTIONS U.S.A., INC. “Although we have won several previous ‘Pick of the Year’ awards, we are especially proud of this one because the magicolor 2480MF is our first color laser all-in-one. This prestigious award confirms that we have successfully merged our legacy of innovative color laser and multifunction technology to bring another high-quality product to market. We are excited that our products continue to excel even when subjected to rigorous evaluation.”

The magicolor 2480MF has a one-year exchange warranty and ships with a pre-installed set of supplies, including cyan, magenta, yellow, and black all-in-one imaging cartridges. It is available through KONICA MINOLTA’s network of e-commerce partners, dealers, and authorized distributors. To find the location nearest you, call 800-523-2696 or visit www.buymagicolor.com.