MOBILE, Ala., Nov. 28 - MINOLTA-QMS, Inc. today introduced a performance breakthrough in color laser printer technology-the magicolor 3100 Print System. Built upon an innovative new tandem laser print method called PRISMLASER Technology, the magicolor 3100 delivers up to 16 pages per minute in both color and black and white. Priced at $2,999 (estimated Street), it is the fastest magicolor laser printer available today. "The magicolor 3100 integrates two very important features for businesses that will change the way they think about color printing," said Steve Fletcher, president of the Americas for MINOLTA-QMS. "First, this printer produces color prints at the same speed as black and white. Secondly, it's doing this using the superior printing technology of laser. For our customers, this translates to high-quality, precise color delivered faster than ever before." "PRISM" for Performance Traditional color laser printers use a multi-pass technology in which cyan, magenta, yellow, and black toner are imaged on a page sequentially and separately to create full-color output. The magicolor 3100's PRISMLASER Technology is a tandem, single-pass print method that images all four toner colors simultaneously to produce full-color prints two to four times faster than these traditional color laser printers. Other printer manufacturers have implemented tandem color printing based on LED technology. Unlike the MINOLTA-QMS magicolor 3100, however, this technology does not have the proven reliability, precision, and quality of color laser. For efficient network printing, the magicolor 3100 uses MINOLTA-QMS' robust Crown® controller architecture in conjunction with a powerful 350-MHz RISC processor and a fast 10/100BaseTX Ethernet interface. Additionally, the printer is equipped with both USB and parallel interfaces for local connections. To ensure seamless support for users across computer platforms, the magicolor 3100 includes PostScript 3, PCL 6, and PDF language emulations. Beyond Business Basics The magicolor 3100 includes, as a standard item, an integrated automatic duplexer, typically available only as an option on most multi-pass laser printers and LED-based model offerings. This one document handling feature can single-handedly produce significant savings in paper costs and filing space as general reports and documents are printed automatically on both sides of a page. The magicolor 3100 is also equipped with a 500-sheet standard cassette and a 100-sheet multipurpose tray that is perfect for printing envelopes, transparencies, and heavier paper stocks. A 1,000-sheet high-capacity input feeder can be added to increase paper input for peak document production. Top-Quality Color With 1200 x 1200 dpi print quality and a unique, new toner technology, the magicolor 3100 is able to produce eye-catching, beautiful color by just clicking "print." The toner, called microfine PhysicoChemical toner, has smaller, more uniform particles for sharper text, lines, and graphics and smoother graduations in halftones. It's also specially formulated with a lubricant for the fusing process-eliminating an extra consumable expense and keeping the cost per page very low. The magicolor 3100 also features AIC, an automatic color calibration system, plus industry standard ICC-based color matching that delivers the best color dependent upon a page's contents. No matter what kind of document is being printed, whether a report, presentation, or graphical Web page, users can expect the magicolor 3100 to produce excellent color every time.