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Independent Tests Give Panasonic new A3 Colour Multifuctional the thumbs up

BERTL has awarded the 2005 BERTL ’s Best Award in the category of

Best 20 to 29 ppm Office Color MFP to the

Panasonic WORKiO DP-C262 and DP-C322

for their high-quality color output, rich and user-friendly console interface, innovative interface options, extensive, cost conscious functionality and an industry-leading warm-up time. standard feature set.

Panasonic has shaken up the 20 to30 PPM color copier MFP market with its first in-house-designed WORKiO DP-C262 and DP-C322, reports the independent testing lab which publishes product evaluation reviews on several hundred copiers, printers, fax, multifunctional, color and production devices every year. Out of these hundreds of devices, only a small number qualify for the highly prestigious 4-Star, Highly Recommended rating. This rating is strictly reserved for those devices that deliver a range of business-critical features/functions that are above average and provide potential buyers with a good return on investment (ROI).

The devices mark the introduction of Panasonic ’s retooled console GUI. The high-resolution interface boasts several productivity-enhancing features including copy and color effects preview. To accommodate the higher bandwidth requirements of color, Panasonic has incorporated innovative compression technology. Panasonic has also innovated with its SD and PC card interface, which allows for instant printing of digital photographs, as well as scanning to portable SD memory drives making the SD card in the digital camera an even more valuable business tool. And Panasonic has made sure these devices integrate with its existing technology, so that the WORKiO DP-C262 and DP-C322 can leverage the versatile Document Distribution System and other Panasonic software.

ENERGY SAVING AND LOW OPERATING COSTS

These devices use an energy-saving induction heating (IH) technology in its fuser unit instead of a more conventional halogen light. Faster and more efficient heating leads to higher productivity and lower operating costs.

GROUND BREAKING IMAGE COMPRESSING TECHNOLOGY

Panasonic has developed a hybrid approach to text and image. Panasonic ’s Compressed PDF separates out the text portion from the image, applying the appropriate optimal compression technology to each.

The new console interface is another area that Panasonic has engineered. Our analysts noted the strong WYSIWYG theme.There is a rich range of visual cues, including a graphic representation of the printer showing the current configuration of the machine and other graphics reminding users of the current job settings. Preview mode lets users see a representation of their scanned image after applying color and other image processing adjustments.

The Panasonic WORKiO DP-C262 and DP-C322 are always finding ways to assist the non-technical user. A unique feature of both the Panasonic WORKiO DP-C262 and DP-C322 is its SD interface. Along with email, fax,and file system addresses, the SD interface now becomes another scan-to destination. Documents —TIFF, PDF, or JPEG— can be transferred to a highly—secure, stamp-size SD memory card. An adaptor is available for Multimedia or Compact Flash cards as well. And images can be directly printed from a camera’s SD memory. The console displays thumbnails of the stored graphics files, so that users can quickly scroll to find the picture they want.

Panasonic ’s Document Distribution System (DDS) is sophisticated workflow scanning software. The Panasonic WORKiO DP-C262 and DP-C322 are designed to work with DDS and other existing Panasonic software. Panasonic’s DDS runs on a separate delivery server. At the server, administrators create new templates that specify instructions for the routing of scanned documents and incoming fax and I Fax. Panasonic WORKiO DP-C262 and DP-C322 console users access these templates from the GUI and are able to initiate documents into a workflow. Panasonic has enhanced DDS to support the Panasonic WORKiO DP-C262 ’s and DP-C322 ’s PDF formats, in addition to TIFF. Panasonic’s Direct Printing System (DPS) works with the Panasonic WORKiO DP-C262 and DP-C322. With Panasonic ’s DPS system, desktop users can directly print JPEG and TIFF files through a simple desktop drag and drop function, without first having to bring up an application.

The Panasonic WORKiO DP-C262 and DP-C322 excel in security. It is one of the few copier MFP devices we know of that complies with the next generation IPv6 standard. Since it supports a much larger range of addresses than the current Ipv4, IPv6 will make it much harder to launch certain kinds of attacks. The Panasonic WORKiO DP-C262 and DP-C322 integrate with Windows NT ’s authentication protocol, raising security and allowing for greater monitoring/auditing of document communications when the device is used for network scanning. For secure printing needs, the Panasonic WORKiO DP-C262 and DP-C322 maintain secure mailboxes, requiring users to enter a PIN to release the document for print. The Panasonic WORKiO DP-C262 and DP-C322 also supports a Web interface. Panasonic WORKiO DP-C262 and DP- C322 users can query for device configuration and status. From their browsers, they can drill down into mailboxes, view thumbnails, and submit a previously stored job for printing. The mailbox feature coupled with the Web interface allows commonly printed documents to be conveniently printed from any computer, saving on network bandwidth.

In summary, the Panasonic WORKiO DP-C262 and DP-C322 are capable color MFP devices with many innovative and built-from-scratch features designed to make the user’s life easier, faster,and more efficient.

BERTL ’s Best

Recognising the Best in Digital Imaging Technology and Innovation for the 10th consecutive year, BERTL, Inc. presents BERTL’s Best: the best devices and software in the digital imaging marketplace. BERTL’s Best award winners are selected after rigorous analysis of the hundreds of digital imaging devices, software, and management utilities in the world-wide marketplace. BERTL’s analysts review current product lines and new product introductions to identify the select group of devices and software that stand apart from the others.

BERTL’s Best covers the entire digital imaging and document management arena:

• Executive Office MFPs

• General Office Monochrome MFPs

• Back Office Production Devices

• Wide Format Devices

• Digital Duplicators

• General Office Color MFPs

•Back Office Production Color Devices

• Document Scanners

• Software and Utilities

Plus, BERTL’s Best recognizes products for cost-efficiency and innovation. While print or copy speeds are important, it is the feature set, functionality, performance, and overall business process value that are the key considerations in judging which product is “BERTL’s Best.” The important question: “How well does this product work in a real-world business setting?”

BERTL combines its wide-ranging knowledge of the competitive landscape and contact with buyers about their product and supplier experiences to identify worthy products. BERTL analyses network management utilities, concurrency and contention, print and copy productivity, image quality, return on investment, competitive advantage, accessibility, design and build quality, standard functions, modularity of design and upgrade path, installation, and more. BERTL is 100 percent independent. It receives no funding from the industry and all product evaluations and reports are published at BERTL’s own expense for its subscribers. BERTL publishes the world’s largest library of business competitive intelligence for the digital imaging market at www.BERTL.com

ESC Technology

ESC Technology is pleased to have been associated with Pansonic business products for more than two decades providing sales and service support to the Canberra Region. The team at ESC provide specialist advice on appropriate document, communication and presentation technology. They sell, install and support the full range of Panasonic copying, printing, scanning and faxing equipment in addition to the latest electornic whiteboards, multimedia projectors and related products. ESC is located at 41 Whyalla St in Fyshwick ACT Telephone 62806498.