WINDSOR, Conn., Aug. 18 -- Konica Business Technologies U.S.A., Inc. (Konica), the innovation leader in digital imaging solutions and a subsidiary of Konica Minolta Holdings, Inc., announced that its 8020 Color Imaging System was recognized as the "Best 20-30ppm 'Copier-Centric' Office Color MFP" by BERTL (Digital Test Labs) in the 8th Annual BERTL's Best ™ Awards. In selecting the winners, BERTL weighed a wide-range of factors -- functionality, productivity in print and copy modes, upgrade paths, paper handling, finishing options, ease of use and overall value -- and found the 8020 to be a standout device amongst the "bumper crop" of products announced this year. "As the use of color in everyday business documents becomes more prevalent, companies are increasingly looking to save money by bringing their color production in-house with mid-range MFP's that provide quality color and black and white output at a very attractive price point," said William H. Brewster Jr., vice president, marketing, Konica Business Technologies U.S.A., Inc. "BERTL's recognition of the 8020 as the 'Best' among today's available products is a significant endorsement in this highly-competitive market." During BERTL's productivity tests, the 8020 delivered a strong performance and displayed an impressive range of features that BERTL noted were "especially well-engineered" when compared to similar functions on competing devices. For example, while many devices offer scan-once/print-many functionality, competing devices restrict the function to a single page of storage. Leveraging the 8020's advanced copier memory -- 512MB of standard copier RAM and an optional 10GB copier hard drive -- the device allows for multiple pages to be scanned and then outputs the collated sets in one step. BERTL specifically highlighted the 8020's image quality, which analysts noted is "markedly improved" from traditional color image quality with the addition of Konica's Simitri™ Color Polymerized Toner. Simitri Color Polymerized Toner maintains the uniformity of toner particles to produce high- quality, accurate color output. BERTL also praised the 8020's 'glossy' output option that reduces the paper path speed and raises the fuser temperature to create a higher-gloss finish that is similar to a photography-quality print. Analysts praised the 8020's unusually high-color copying functionality and its superior performance as compared to competing units across the wide variety of copy tests conducted during BERTL's analysis. The device's printing functionality is enhanced with the powerful Fiery X3e+ print controller, supporting a wide range of network scanning options including scan-to-email, scan-to-HDD, scan-to-FTP and Internet fax. BERTL also highlighted a number of the 8020's "impressive features," including: electronic sorting of copy jobs, removing the need for sorter bins and allowing for document imposition for booklet making; a high proportion of user-replaceable parts; extensive print on demand capabilities; electronic collation; and a large control panel that offers a high degree of functionality. In summary, BERTL stated, "the Konica 8020 delivers good performance and desirable functionality, coupled with an attractive price point, that sets it apart from similar types of copier-centric color devices at the time of the award." Highlighted Features of the Konica 8020: -- Copy and print speeds of 20ppm color and 31ppm B&W -- Tandem LED technology, single-pass color system -- Scan-once/print-many technology -- Simitri™ Color Polymerized Toner -- 600 x 600 dpi copy resolution with enhanced 600 x 1800 dpi print resolution -- Maximum document size of up to 12? x 18? -- Up to 140-lb. index through the universal cassette and bypass tray -- 750-sheet standard/3,250-sheet maximum paper capacity Fiery X3e+ print controller with 700 MHz processor, 128MB of standard memory, graphical PostScript3 and PCL5c print drivers, 10GB hard drive Advanced finishing options, including booklet finisher with two and/or three- hole punch unit and corner-stapler finisher Pricing and Availability Affordable, competitive options, the Konica 8020 is available through Konica's North American direct sales, authorized dealer and value-added reseller channels. The manufacturer's suggested retail price (MSRP) for the 8020 is $14,195. The MSRP for the Fiery X3e+ is $4,200.