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Earlier this year, Kyocera introduced its FS-C5200DN and FS-C5300DN color laser printers. Then, it added two new members of the same series, the FS-C5100DN and FS-C5400DN. Finally, it came out with the FS-C5350DN. All five models run at the same speed in color as in black-and-white. For the FS-C5100DN ($942) and FS-C5200DN ($1,424), the print speed is at 23ppm. For the FS-C5300DN ($1,739), it is 28ppm; the FS-C5350DN ($1,983) runs at 32ppm; and the FS-C5400DN ($2,593) has a speed of 37ppm. The two 23ppm models differ in terms of paper capacity and duty cycle.
As the DN suffix indicates, these models are Ethernet-ready and have standard automatic duplexing. PostScript and PCL are standard, and PDF and XPS files can be printed directly. All those features indicate that these are serious workgroup machines.

The processor runs at 533MHz on the FS-C5100DN and FS-C5200DN models. On the FS-C5300DN, it runs at 667MHz; 600MHz on the FS-C5350DN; and on the FS-C5400DN, it is 733MHz. Memory starts at 256MB, and it can be increased to a total of 1,280MB. A 40GB hard disk is optionally available on the FS-C5300DN, FS-C5350DN, and FS-C5400DN for $336. Aside from Ethernet, there is a standard USB port, as well as a USB port that can be used for printing from flash drives.

These models have respectable paper-handling capabilities. They support letter- and legal-size output. All models feature a standard 150-sheet multipurpose tray. The FS-C5100DN comes with a 250-sheet main tray, while the others have a standard 500-sheet paper tray. On the FS-C5100DN, you can add two 500-sheet trays for a maximum of 1,400 sheets. On the FS-C5200DN and FS-C5300DN, you can add up to three 500-sheet trays for a total of 2,150 sheets, while on the FS-C5350DN and FS-C5400DN, you can add a fourth 500-sheet tray. The multipurpose tray holds stock up to 120lb. index, while the other tray holds paper up to 28lb. bond in weight. Automatic duplexing, as noted above, is standard on all models.
Kyocera gives you a choice between two slightly different 500-sheet add-on paper drawers: one is called a “Multipurpose Feeder” ($399, each) and can handle card stock up to 120lb. index, labels, and coated stock. The other drawer type ($299, each) handles stock up to 28lb. bond. You can mix and match both drawer types.
On the output side, there is a 250-sheet tray, expanded to 500 sheets on the FS-C5400DN. We think that’s too little given the input capacity, but it’s typical in the industry.

Kyocera products typically feature impressive consumables costs, and these machines are no exceptions. These machines have four toner cartridges and a drum to replace. The black-and-white cost per page is very good for a color printer. For the FS-C5200DN, its cost runs at 1.8¢, while it costs around 2.1¢ for the FS-C5100DN. Cost per black-and-white page is around 1.3¢ on the FS-C5300DN, FS-C5350DN, and FS-C5400DN. Those costs would be very good for black-and-white-only printers, but among color printers, it’s extraordinary.

The color per-page costs are even better. While for the FS-C5100DN, color costs 12.7¢, it comes in at a little over 7¢ a page for the FS-C5200DN. The figure is around 5.8¢ for the FS-C5300DN and FS-C5350DN and 5.4¢ on the FS-C5400DN. At almost half the industry average for desktop color printing cost, that alone makes these printers standouts.

Like many Kyocera printers, these have a relatively high initial cost. But if you print a lot of pages, the value of the low cost per page will make a major difference. The official duty cycle given by Kyocera in two forms, the maximum and a range for recommended monthly use is:

• For the FS-C5100DN, 60,000 pages maximum, 1,000 to 5,000 recommended
• For the FS-C5200DN, 100,000 pages maximum, 2,000 to 7,500 recommended
• For the FS-C5300DN, 130,000 pages maximum, 2,500 to 10,000 recommended
• For the FS-C5350DN, 140,000 pages maximum, 2,500 to 10,000 recommended
• For the FS-C5400DN, 150,000 pages maximum, 3,000 to 30,000 recommended

Kyocera can provide accounting and remote administration utilities as well. It also boasts of excellent green credentials, thanks to the minimization of waste through high-capacity consumables.

If you plan to use the printer up to those volumes, and you need inexpensive black printing as much as color printing, these are great bets. Kyocera is usually the leader in total cost of operation, and these printers follow in the same tradition. We believe that these are very solid small to midsize workgroup printers, and they get our Editor’s Choice Award.

Sum-up: Outstanding per-page costs make these models stand out.

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2. Get a search application

The second part, once you have searchable files, is to get a program that will help you retrieve them. You can link it into a high-end document management solution, of course. But before you take that step, you can do just fine with inexpensive software, such as Google Desktop.

Google’s search engine (as we’ve all experienced) is amazingly fast, and will allow you to find and bring up a list of relevant searchable PDF documents for any search term. It’s a familiar interface that every user can jump right on, and experienced Google users already know how to focus their searches. The best idea is to keep the searchable files on a server, under a specific file folder, and start adding files.

3. Rethink faxing

Let’s face it — faxing is almost a Stone Age technology in the age of digital transmission and scanning-to-e-mail. But faxes are still important parts of some businesses, thanks to tradition, comfort, inertia or whatever. For example, most pharmacies use fax to get prescriptions from doctor’s offices.

If you need to handle faxes, there are two good approaches. You can take the paper copies and scan them into PDF, as you would other paper documents, and send them by e-mail. Or you can get software (such as eFax) that assigns specific fax numbers to each user, intercepts incoming faxes, digitizes them, and e-mails them to the user. This approach can cut down on the problem of lost or misrouted faxes. Of course, it lets you send files on your PC directly to their fax machines. It also allows users who are not physically present in the office to receive (and send) faxes.

4. Combine analog and paper documents

In most companies, some information is in paper form only, but an increasing amount is in digital format. These may include Word files, Excel spreadsheets, e-mails, or a wide variety of other formats. These may reside on users’ desktops or on one of several servers, local or remote.

As a result, interactions with one client may include printed invoices and bills, paper waybills, signed contracts, a long email exchange, a few faxes with notes written on them and various digital proposals and reports.

So even after you have scanned in the papers, it may be difficult to find key documents that maybe had never been printed or were printed but lost. The task of searching through several desktop PCs and servers, for information in a number of file formats is daunting.

Fortunately, you can use the same software that converts scanned paper documents into searchable PDFs to convert a variety of digital files into the same format. Usually, this is accomplished using the Print command, and having it use a conversion driver rather than a driver for an actual printer. Most of us are used to doing this for making everyday PDF files.

Having all these documents at hand will make it easy to put together a report for management, for sales people, or for the client, a report that combines a variety of documents that trace the history of a set of transactions, whether the background on a specific order, a billing and payment history, or a progress report on a long-term project. Using today’s technology, it is easy to combine pages from a wide variety of sources into a single PDF file that can be delivered electronically or printed out as needed.

5. Gradually drive paper out of the process

There are several factors at work here. Today’s monitors are larger, making it easier to read a full page at one time. Younger workers especially have grown up expecting to complete most transactions online, even when the screen is no bigger than an iPhone or a Blackberry. Electronic signature technology and security keeps getting better. Finally, even the business world is changing, so that bid proposals, pricing quotes and confirmations are going more and more digital, so companies that want to win have to jump in fast — in many cases, there’s no time for printing, packing and FedExing. The need is for now.

Of course, these are basic steps. If and when you want a more elaborate system, you can work with high-level document management systems, production scanning, and more elaborate security and backup strategies. The best thing is that this approach, with searchable PDF, can be easily incorporated into any more elaborate system with no wasted effort.

Get information on eCopy Desktop here. There is a full function, trial version available if you want to experiment with it.

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