Sharp and Brother sweep BLI Picks
January 9, 2019
The two OEMs came out on top in the latest round of awards dispensed by Keypoint Intelligence – Buyers Lab (BLI).
The renowned document imaging hardware, software, and services evaluator has honoured “the most impressive devices evaluated by Buyers Lab during the previous six-month test cycle.”
Sharp was one of the biggest winners, taking home the Winter Pick 2019 Awards for Outstanding 65-ppm Colour Copier MFP (the MX-6580N); Outstanding Professional High Volume 70-ppm Colour Copier MFP (MX-7090N); Outstanding 75-ppm Colour Copier MFP (MX-7580N); Outstanding Professional High Volume 80-ppm Colour Copier MFP (MX-8090N); Outstanding 30-ppm Copier MFP (MX-M3070); Outstanding 40-ppm Copier MFP (MX-M4070); Outstanding 60-ppm Copier MFP (MX-M6070); and Outstanding 90-ppm Copier MFP (MX-M905).
The company was denied a clean sweep only by Toshiba, which triumphed in the Outstanding 45-ppm Copier MFP category, with its E-STUDIO4518A.
“Sharp’s MX-M3070, MX-M4070, and MX-M6070 promise to serve workgroups from small to large equally well, beginning with their outstanding overall usability,” said George Mikolay, Keypoint Intelligence’s Associate Director of Copiers/Production. “The control panels are highly intuitive and customisable on a user-by-user basis and feature simplified Easy Mode functions, where users can quickly access the most commonly used scan and copy functions. Throw in the drivers, along with the innovative, award-winning web utility, and building workflows is a cinch.”
“The Sharp MX-M905 blew through its 1,000,000-impression durability test with barely a glitch,” said Joe Ellerman, Keypoint Intelligence’s Manager of U.S. Lab Operations. “Plus, the robust 8,500-sheet paper capacity means time spent having to refill paper will be minimal. Programming jobs from the driver and control panel is also a breeze. And for IT administrators, the search function on the easy-to-use and organised web utility, as well as the ability to create shortcuts for common tasks directly from the utility, are big time savers.”
“The Sharp MX-7580N and MX-6580N will serve mid-size to large organisations exceptionally well,” Mikolay said. “The design of the drivers and control panel, along with the retractable keyboard, make programming all job types and entering data a breeze. Plus, the scan preview with multi-page views and onscreen editing, as well as fast scan speeds, ensure scans will be delivered accurately and expediently.”
“Downtime will rarely be an issue for the Sharp MX-8090N and MX-7090N, as the devices experienced near-perfect reliability throughout durability testing,” said Ellerman. “Uptime gets an additional boost thanks to the triple air-feed system that directs airflow to allow for more precision paper handling, further minimising the risk of a misfeed occurring. And very good, consistent printed output means the devices will deliver the quality required in more marketing-intensive environments over long job runs.”
Mikolay also paid tribute to the winning Toshiba machine: “Scanning will be a snap, and fast, with the Toshiba e-STUDIO4518A, thanks to simple programming of destinations and scan speeds that are among the fastest in its class,” he said. “A choice of four menu designs for scan and copy, from two of which the most commonly used settings are quickly found and programmable, and user-by-user customisation, also allow users to program jobs quickly and efficiently. And with a perfect reliability performance, fast print speeds, and standard tandem printing to help complete large jobs even faster, the device promises timely delivery of every job, every day.”
Brother also had reason to celebrate, with the OEM also taking home a multitude of awards from BLI. The company received accolades in three categories for the Brother HL-L3230CDW/HL-L3270CDW/HL-L3290CDW as Outstanding Colour Printer for SOHO environments, the Brother MFC-L3770CDW/MFC-3750CDW Outstanding Colour MFP for SOHO environments and the Brother INKvestment Tank MFC-J6945DW Outstanding Tabloid Inkjet All-in-One.
“Our digital colour Brother HL-L3230CDW/HL-L3270CDW/HL-L3290CDW and MFC-L3770CDW/MFC-3750CDW models were designed specifically to address the needs of SOHO users looking for laser-quality sharp text and vivid colour images for important documents,” said Phil Lubell, senior director of B2C product marketing at Brother. “When introducing this product line, we really listened to our customers to address more of their printing and imaging challenges, and we are incredibly proud to be recognised for it.”
“Brother continues to deliver top-of-the line printers for businesses of all sizes,” said Marlene Orr, director of printer & MFP analysis for Buyers Lab. “With value-adding features allowing users to print wirelessly, the colour digital printers are an incredible tool for small businesses with employees on the go.”
Categories : Around the Industry
Tags : Awards BLI Brother Buyers Lab Keypoint Intelligence Sharp Toshiba
