A Comprehensive BLI Laboratory Evaluation · PDF fileA Comprehensive BLI Laboratory Evaluation...

A Comprehensive BLI Laboratory Evaluation

© 2005 Buyers Laboratory Inc. WARNING: This material is copyrighted by Buyers Laboratory Inc. and is the sole property of Buyers Laboratory. Duplication of this proprietary report or excerpts from this report, in any manner, whether printed or electronic (including, but not limited to, copying, faxing, scanning or use on a fax-back system), is illegal and strictly forbidden without written permission from Buyers Laboratory. Violators will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. To purchase reprints of any BLI reports or articles, contact us at [email protected]. Buyers Laboratory Inc., 20 Railroad Avenue, Hackensack, NJ 07601 USA.1

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TBUYERS LABORATORY

Lab Test Report—European Edition

April 2005

The Kyocera KM-2050 proved to be a good overall performer in BLI’s two-month laboratory evaluation, demonstrating strong reliability and good over-all output at a low price. Designed for small and medium-size enterprises, this 20-ppm unit offers standard copy and print functionality with its embed-ded controller, as well as optional scan and fax functionality.

Convenient to use, the KM-2050 revealed itself to be an efficient unit, dem-onstrating very good overall productivity in both print and copy modes. Particularly noteworthy is that this model has the fastest first-copy times and first-print times of competitive models tested. Furthermore, unlike most multifunctional models, which come with a 90-day warranty, the KM-2050 has a one-year warranty for all parts, including any options ordered with

BLI RECOMMENDATION

Manufacturer’s maximum recommended monthly volume: 30,000 impressions.BLI’s recommended monthly volume for optimum performance: 15,000 impressions.More information on the Kyocera KM-2050 is available through bliQ (www.buyerslab.com/bliQ).

Kyocera KM-205020 PPM MonochromeCopier • Printer • Scanner

Test duration: Two months, including a 30,000-impres-sion durability test.

Reliability .................................................. Very Good Multitasking ........................................................ Fair Administrative Utilities ........................................ Good Feedback to Workstations ..................................... Good Ease of Network Setup ......................................... Good Print Drivers ..................................................... Good Applications Compatibility ............................... Excellent Scan Function .................................................... GoodPrint / Copy Quality ............................................. Good Print / Copy Productivity ................................. Very Good Ease of Use ....................................................... Good Feature Set ...................................................... Good Toner Yield ....................................................... Good Cost Per Page .......................Supplies pricing set by dealer Value ........................................................ Very Good

* Supplies cost per page could not be calculated, as the pricing for supplies is set by dealers.

Rating Scale: Excellent, Very Good, Good, Fair, Poor

Click rating for details. Click and to move through document.

Please note that the following document is based on tests conducted on a Kyocera KM-2050 sold in the United States market. BLI has updated this report to reflect the specifications and features available on the European version of this model. Although there may be slight differences in features and pricing, both models are manufactured by the same parent company, share many of the same components, and are based upon a common engine.


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BUYERS LABORATORY LAB TEST REPORT—European Edition

the machine. In addition, the KM-2050, which supports output sizes up to A3, provides a competitive feature set. Complimenting the KM-2050’s good overall performance and good feature set is a low price, which makes it a very good value. BLI recommends the Kyocera KM-2050 for offices in need of a multifunctional product for monthly volumes of up to 15,000 impressions.

+ The unit completed a 30,000-impression durability test without requiring any service calls. It misfed five times for a misfeed rate of one per 6,000 impres-sions.

+ Contributing to high uptime for the KM-2050 are its long drum life and PM cycle, which at 150,000 impressions, is the highest of competitive models available.

– While it’s not uncommon for models in this range, the multitasking capa-bilities of the KM-2050 are limited. Users cannot program a copy job while another copy job or print job is in progress.

The user can interrupt a print job to perform a copy job by pressing the “Interrupt” hard key on the control panel. When the “Interrupt” key is pressed, the print job automatically stops and the user can access all the features that would be required to perform a copy job. However, once the copy job is completed, the user must press the “Interrupt” key again to con-tinue the interrupted print job.

+ Utilities include the KM-NET Viewer; KM-NET Viewer for Web Edition, a Web-based version of the KM-NET Viewer software; KM-NET Viewer for Clients; and Kyocera Command Center, an embedded Web utility.

+ The KM-NET Viewer is a network management software tool that is compat-ible with all Kyocera printers and multifunctional products, as well as those of other vendors. The settings of all printers on the network can be checked visually and amended from any Windows PC.

+, – and represent positive, negative and neutral attributes, respectively.

Performance Overview

Reliability

Administrative Utilities

Multitasking


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+ The embedded Web page can be accessed from any Web browser. Once an IP address is assigned to the device, from either the control panel or remotely via the Quick Setup utility, the browser can view the configuration page. This page is easy to navigate and can be secured with a password to limit ac-cess. From the embedded Web page, a network administrator can apply any network or device setting, including Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) or Simplified Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP).

+ Administrators and/or users can receive information two ways—via pop-up device status messages or by monitoring the device proactively—using the utilities, which include the KM-NET Viewer for Clients utility and the KM-NET Viewer software utility, as well as Kyocera Command Center and KM-NET Viewer for Web Edition.

– Print job status is not available.

Paper size status and paper supply status (empty/not empty) are available via the KM-NET Viewer utility and Kyocera Command Center, the embedded Web utility.

+ Up to three users can receive e-mail alerts when an error occurs or consuma-bles are depleted. Messages include low toner, add toner, paper jam, add paper and cover open.

+ Prior to installing the printer driver (an all-in-one driver, user-switchable be-tween the KPDL PostScript emulation, PCL XL and PCL 5e), the user should install the KPrint Add Port Wizard, which automatically searches for devices with a compatible network interface card and creates the printer port. The device was tested in the Windows 2000 environment.

After the driver has been installed, the administrator selects the port that was created and must then manually specify the hardware configured. According to Kyocera, a version of the drivers with the capability of detecting config-ured accessories will be available Summer 2005.

A Web page and a software utility are available for configuring the device on a network and for monitoring basic device status.

– Scanning and printing each require a network connection and IP address.

Ease of Network Setup

Feedback to Workstations


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+ The unit was tested with the standard print drivers (user-switch-able between PCL 5e, KPDL [a PostScript emulation] and PCL XL for Windows 95, 98, Me, NT 4.x, 2000, 2003 and XP), which were generally easy to use and provided graphical representation.

+ The feature set of the print drivers was good overall.

– Some of the less commonly used print driver features required ac-cess to multiple screens.

The printer port creation utility, the KPrint Add Port wizard, is provided on the software library disk.

+ The CD-ROMs containing the drivers and the utility are auto-launched when inserted and the installation process is easy.

+ The KPDL, PCL XL and PCL 5e drivers were found to be very similar in appear-ance and functionality.

+ All three print drivers allow users to save settings for frequently used jobs.

+ No problems were experienced with any of the applications used in the ap-plications compatibility tests. Units are tested for compatibility on a Windows 2000 platform with Microsoft Word 2000, Microsoft PowerPoint 2000, Microsoft Excel 2000, Adobe PageMaker 7.0, Adobe Photoshop 6.0 and Adobe Acrobat 6.0 using 25 application test files, which contain text, graphics, halftone im-ages, tables, etc., enabling BLI technicians to evaluate memory usage, file processing, font rendering and grayscale capability.

The optional scanning kit includes Kyocera Scanner Library (Kyocera’s scan-ning utilities) and PaperPort Deluxe 8.0, which enables scanning of docu-ments to workstations connected to the KM-2050.

The system supports scan to TWAIN, scan to PC and scan to e-mail.

From the control panel, users can select scan destinations, which may be either e-mail addresses or locations in designated folders on specified hard drives on the network (programmed via the Web utility or via the scanner file utilities), which appear on the control panel.

Applications Compatibility

Scan Function

PCL XL Print Driver Properties Screen For Windows XP

Print Drivers


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– Scanning to e-mail required more keystrokes than is generally required for devices in this category as the user is prompted to confirm some selections.

+ PaperPort Deluxe software, which is very easy to use and incorporates OCR, is installed on users’ workstations and enables users to view and manipu-late (e.g., crop, rotate, annotate) scanned images. The PaperPort Deluxe software incorporates TextBridge OCR software. Scanned documents can be viewed with PaperPort, OCRed using TextBridge and then manually opened in Microsoft Word.

With TWAIN scanning on the KM-2050, the user opens the TWAIN driver from the PC, selects the desired scan device, sets desired scan parameters (such as original type and resolution) and clicks on “Scan.” Then the user places the documents in the document feeder, returns to the PC and uses a TWAIN-com-pliant application such as Photoshop or PaperPort to open the document.

+ Output produced by the KM-2050 was good overall in both print and copy mode for most types of output evaluated.

+ Test technicians cited clean, crisp fine lines, particularly in print mode.

– The density of print and copy output was lower than the average.

* Tests were conducted using U.S. letter-size paper and A4 results may vary.

+ Copy efficiency is slightly above average in simplex and 1:2 duplex mode and competitive in 2:2 duplex mode. Print efficiency is competitive in both sim-plex and duplex mode.

+ The KM-2050’s first-print-out-times are faster than the average—indeed they are the fastest—for all file formats tested (Word, TIFF, PDF and JPG).

+ The unit’s first-copy times from the platen and the document feeder are the fastest for competitive units.

+ The unit’s rated warm-up time, at 20 seconds, is faster than that of most competitive units.

+ The four-line, 99 mm x 28.5 mm display on the KM-2050 is a backlit text and graphical LCD display (non-touch screen) that is easy to read. The contrast of

Ease of Use

Print / Copy Productivity

Print / Copy Quality


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Kyocera KM-2050 Control Panel

Misfeed Access Locations

the display is adjustable through the control panel but BLI considers a con-trast dial on the unit itself easier to adjust.

+ The control panel is well laid out and organised—and the desired features are easy to find—considering the amount of functionality offered by the unit. Separate hard keys for copy, print, scan and fax are clearly labeled on the left side of the panel and each is equipped with built-in LEDs that illuminate to indicate which function is operational.

+ When the user changes modes, i.e., from copy to print, the display on the non-touch screen also changes to correspond to the selected function.

+ The meter counter breaks down images produced by copy, print and fax, and the scan meter count lists the number of documents fed through the document feed-er for copying, documents scanned, as well as documents that are fed through the document feeder for faxing. Users can also print the counter report.

+ The procedures for removing misfeeds, loading paper (the user can load paper while the device is running) and adjusting paper drawers proved con-venient. Users can pull open the drawers without having to press any buttons


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when loading paper, but must press down on the spring-loaded ramp until it locks into place. The length and width guides slide to fit the size of paper be-ing loaded—which BLI considers a plus as opposed to having to remove them entirely and reinsert them. In addition, paper sensors automatically detect the size of the paper loaded into the drawers.

+ Mechanical paper gauges on the outside of each drawer indicate the amount of paper remaining in them.

+ The procedure for replacing toner is clean and straightforward.

+ The KM-2050 offers a competitive feature set.

+ The unit’s standard and maximum copier memory capacities are above the average for comparably equipped models.

+ With the standard print controller, there is no additional cost of a network interface card.

– The unit’s standard and maximum paper capacities (650 and 1,250 sheets, re-spectively), as well as its bypass capacity (50 sheets), are below the average for comparably equipped models.

+ A 500-sheet internal finisher, which provides stapled output for up to 30 A4 sheets and 20 B4 sheets, and a job separator that keeps up to 100 sheets of print, copy or fax output separate, both tested by BLI, are available as op-tions.

– The unit offers 100 copy control codes, which is below the average for simi-larly equipped models.

Job programming allows the settings (e.g., quantity, reduction) for up to eight copy jobs to be stored for future use with the touch of a key.

Other features include a choice of languages for the display and the ability to program a copy job before the unit is warmed up.

Super G3 faxing is available if the optional fax kit is installed on the unit. In addition to offering a 33.6-Kbps modem, the unit can send and receive duplex faxes when the optional RADF and duplex unit are installed. Further, network fax transmission and reception are possible if both the network scan and fax options are installed. Additional fax features include JBIG compression, 8 MB of dedicated fax memory that can be upgraded to 32 MB, mailboxes, broad-casting to 200 destinations, smoothing and timers.

Feature Set


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+ The unit’s toner yield is higher than the average for Segment 1 units tested.

+ The Kyocera KM-2050 is priced lower than the average for competitive mod-els. In fact, it’s priced considerably less than the average for comparably equipped models. Supplies cost per page could not be calculated, as the pricing for supplies is set by dealers. The unit’s good performance overall in the tests, combined with its competitive feature set and aggressive pricing, make it a good value. Value analysis was based on U.S. price structures and prices vary according to country where the device is purchased.

Value

Toner Yield


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Test Environment

This product was tested in BLI’s 10,000-square-foot test lab, in an environment monitored by a Honeywell Temp/RH chart recorder, which replicates typical office conditions.

Test Equipment

BLI’s dedicated test network, consisting of Windows NT 4.0, 2000 and Microsoft Exchange servers, Windows 98 and 2000 workstations, 10BaseT/100BaseTX network switches and CAT5 cabling.

Test Duration

Products are tested for two months, one month of which consists of a durability test during which the product is run at its manufacturer-rated maximum monthly volume, with daily volumes evenly divided over the course of the test.

Tested Configuration

Base unit, which includes the standard print controller and optional RADF, internal finisher and two 300-sheet drawers.

Test Procedures

The test methods and procedures employed by BLI in its lab testing include BLI’s proprietary procedures and industry-standard test procedures, including a BLI-de-veloped variation of ASTM’s 1318-90 Test Method for Determination of Productiv-ity Using Electrostatic Copy Machines. In addition to a number of proprietary test documents, BLI uses an industry-standard Katun test original for evaluating black image quality and test suites from Quality Logic to evaluate applications compat-ibility. Tests were conducted using U.S. letter-size paper and A4 results may vary.

Supporting Test Data

Buyers Laboratory Inc. • 20 Railroad Avenue • Hackensack, NJ 07601 • (201) 488-0404

Michael DanzigerCEO

Mark LerchCOO

Anthony F. PolifroneManaging Director

Daria M. HoffmanManaging Editor

Lynn NannarielloSenior Editor

Mark YoungSenior Editor, Solutions

Marlene Glazer OrrPrinter Industry Analyst

Ben CurryResearch Editor

Rebecca KiilEditorial Manager / Technical Analyst

Marc BussanichTechnical Analyst

George MikolayTechnical Analyst

Camille DendtlerResearch Manager

Pete EmoryManager of Laboratory Testing

Pia BeddigesManager of Field Testing

Ken NardoneTechnical Manager, Field Testing


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PMs/Malfunctions Service Required Meter Count (Impressions)

Impressions Between Service

Meter count (beginning of test) 0

End of test period 30,000

Total Misfeeds/Misfeed Rate 5 / 1 per 6,000

Service calls 0

PMs 0

Total Service Calls (including PMs) 0

M.I.B.F.1

Not applicable

M.I.B.S.2

Not applicable

1 Mean Impressions Between Failures (To obtain this number, BLI divides the total number of impressions produced dur-ing the test period by the number of service calls required. In actuality, it reflects the average number of impressions produced without a malfunction.)

2 Mean Impressions Between Service (To obtain this number, BLI divides the total number of impressions produced during the test period by the number of service calls, including preventive maintenance calls, required. In actuality, it reflects the average number of impressions produced without a service call.)

Reliability


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Note: In addition to a single-user multitasking test, which evaluates a unit’s ability to initiate or perform one function while another function is already in progress (see chart above), BLI also tests a multifunctional product’s ability to handle multiple jobs that would be likely to stack up in a multi-user networked environment.

Secondary Function

Primary Function PRINT SCAN TO E-MAIL COPY

PRINT Yes Yes No2

SCAN TO E-MAIL Yes 1 Yes

COPY Yes Yes No2

1 As soon as the document feeder was free, the secondary function could be programmed; the primary function was already complete. (1)

2 The device does not support program ahead or copy reserve. (2)

NOTES:

(X) indicates number of occurrences.

A “Yes” indicates that the user can initiate the secondary function while the primary function is taking place and that no further user intervention will be required for the secondary function to take place.

Multitasking


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Print Density:1.27 to 1.33

Density for units in this class:1.00 to 1.74

Halftone range:Halftone output was visible from the 1% to the 84% dot-fill levels, with smooth consis-tent coverage within levels and consistent transitions between levels.

Measurements are based on eight readings corresponding to eight different solid black locations on the original. The higher the density reading, the darker the image.

Density of original:1.65 to 1.70

Density of copy:1.12 to 1.19

Density for units in this class:1.07 to 1.58

Halftone range:Halftone output was visible from the 15% level, which is the minimum level on the original, to the 100% level.

Measurements are based on four readings corresponding to four different solid black locations on the output. The high-er the density reading, the darker the image.

0

1.0

COPY DENSITY

0.5

1.5

2.5

Test Original Copy

2.0

1.651.70

1.121.19

0

1.0

PRINT DENSITY

0.5

1.5

2.5

2.0

Kyocera KM-2050

1.271.33

Range for Competitors

1.00

1.74

Print Quality

Copy Quality


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Copying speed (U.S. letter-size copies; A4 re-sults may vary):

First-copy time from the platen:5.8 seconds from the platen.7.7 seconds from the document feeder.

Kyocera KM-2050’s rated speed: 20 ppm.

All files are printed on U.S. letter-size paper in a quantity equal to twice the manufacturer’s rated speed for the device. The Kyocera KM-2050’s raster times/print speeds were tested at the high quality resolution using the PCL XL driver.

First-page time indicates the time it took to RIP, image and deliver the first page of the test document set to the output tray.

Tests were conducted using U.S. letter-size paper and A4 results may vary.

TESTED FIRST-PRINT-OUT TIMES

Windows 2000 Word Photoshop Acrobat Photoshop

File Type Text Graphic Graphic/Text Graphic

File Extension DOC TIF PDF JPG

Pre-Raster File Size 114 KB 20 MB 426 KB 245 KB

Post-Raster File Size 9.96 KB 596 KB 540 KB 741 KB

First-Print Time (seconds) 6.8 19.8 8.5 8.8

FIRST-COPY TIME (seconds)

4

2

10

0Platen

5.8

Document Feeder

7.7

8

6

The time was the same regardless of the automatic modes selected. Tests were conducted using U.S. letter-size paper and A4 results may vary.

Print / Copy Productivity


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Copies per minute:22, excluding first copy.19, including first copy.

Document feeding speeds: 1:1 copy mode: 19.3 originals per minute1:2 copy mode: 15 originals per minute2:2 copy mode: 5 originals, or 10 images, per minute

COPIES PER MINUTE

Excluding first copy

10

15

5

20

25

022 19

DOCUMENT FEEDING SPEEDS (U.S. letter-size originals per minute)

10

5

25

01:1

19.3

1:2

15

2:2

5

20

15

Including first copy


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COPY/PRINT EFFICIENCY FOR 1, 5, 10 AND 20 SETS

COPY 1:1

Sets Min. Sec. PPM Efficiency Overall Efficiency

1 0 22.2 27.0 90.1% 90.1%

5 1 44.9 28.6 95.3% 92.7%

10 3 21 29.9 99.5% 95.0%

20 6 33.1 30.5 101.8% 96.7%

COPY 1:2


1 0 26.5 22.6 75.5% 75.5%

5 2 15.6 22.1 73.7% 74.6%

10 4 18.5 23.2 77.4% 75.5%

20 8 21.2 23.9 79.8% 76.6%

COPY 2:2


1 0 54 22.2 74.1% 74.1%

5 4 20.2 23.1 76.9% 75.5%

10 8 25.7 23.7 79.1% 76.7%

20 16 33.6 24.2 80.5% 77.6%

COPY 2:1


1 0 51.5 23.3 77.7% 77.7%

5 3 28.5 28.8 95.9% 86.8%

10 6 40.6 30.0 99.9% 91.1%

20 13 4.7 30.6 101.9% 93.8%

PRINT 1:1 PCL XL


1 0 26.7 22.5 74.9% 74.9%

5 1 51.2 27.0 89.9% 82.4%

10 3 27.5 28.9 96.4% 87.1%

20 6 39.5 30.0 100.1% 90.3%

PRINT 1:2 PCL XL


1 0 30.6 19.6 65.4% 65.4%

5 2 26.1 20.5 68.4% 66.9%

10 4 35.7 21.8 72.5% 68.8%

20 8 54.9 22.4 74.8% 70.3%

Speed/efficiency tests are conducted using BLI’s 10-page efficiency document. In print mode, output is printed at the high-quality resolution from the PCL XL driver and the standard controller. Tests were conducted using U.S. letter-size paper and A4 results may vary.

100%

OVERALL EFFICIENCY

806040200

96.7%

COPY 1:1

76.6%

COPY 1:2

77.6%

COPY 2:2

90.3%

PRINT 1:1

70.3%

PRINT 1:2

93.8%

COPY 2:1

BLI obtains the overall efficiency for each copy/print mode by averaging the efficiency ratings (derived by dividing the tested speed of the device by the rated speed, and then multiplying by 100) for each run length (1, 5, 10 and 20 sets). Tests were conduct-ed using U.S. letter-size paper and A4 results may vary.


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KYOCERA KM-2050 PRINT DRIVER FEATURES

Windows 2000 PCL 5c Windows 2000 PCL XL Windows 2000 KPDL

Auto Feature / Device Detection1 No No No

Booklet Printing Yes Yes Yes

Collate Sets Yes Yes Yes

Max Paper Sources Per Job 1 3 3

Mirror Image No No Yes

Negative Image No No Yes

N-up Printing 2 to 25 2 to 25 2 to 25

Overlay No No No

Paper Gauge No No No

Print and Hold2 No No No

Proof Print2 No No No

Quantity Selection 1 to 9,999 1 to 9,999 1 to 9,999

Reduction / Enlargement 20% to 500% 20% to 500% 20% to 500%

Resolution Modes High Quality

DraftCustom

High QualityProofDraft

Custom

High QualityProofDraft

CustomSave Settings Yes Yes Yes

Secure Printing2 No No No

Watermarks / Custom Watermarks Yes/Yes Yes/Yes Yes/Yes

1 According to Kyocera, a version of the drivers with the capability of detecting configured accessories will be available Summer 2005.2 These features are available when the optional hard drive is installed.

PCL XL Print Driver Properties Screen For Windows 2000

Print Drivers


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KYOCERA KM-2050 PRINT DRIVER FEATURES


Kyocera Command Center Web Utility

*Supplies cost per page could not be calculated, as the pricing for supplies is set by dealers.

Toner Cartridge Net Weight (In Grams)

Toner Yield(Impressions)

Impressions Per Gram

Toner Cost Per Page

Total Toner Cost Per Page

Supplies Cost Per Page

752.9 13,200 17.5 * * *

TESTED TONER YIELD / SUPPLIES COST PER PAGE


Toner Yield

the leading independent office products test lab and business consumer advocateBUYERS LABORATORY INC. 20 RAILROAD AVENUE HACKENSACK, NJ 07601 201-488-0404 WWW.BUYERSLAB.COM

Copyright 2005 by Buyers Laboratory. Reproduction without written permission from BLI is illegal and strictly prohibited.

CERTIFICATE OF RELIABILITYAWARDED TO

KYOCERA U.K. LIMITEDFor the performance of the

Kyocera KM-2050throughout BLI's in-house durability test.

This is to certify that when subjected to a 30,000-impression Buyers Lab durability test in a networked environment,

the Kyocera KM-2050 proved to be a highly reliable product.

T E S T E D

RELIABILITY CERTIFIED

BU

YER

SLABORATOR

YIN

CBU

YER

SLABORATOR

YIN

C

T E S T E D

RELIABILITY CERTIFIED

®ANTHONY F. POLIFRONEMANAGING DIRECTOR

DATE

April 2005

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