Top Ten Copiers of All Time

Think about this,  a digital copier that can scan up to A3 (up to 11x17), and only print or copy onto A4 size (letter or legal).  You don't see that feature with today's digital copiers. ( I wrote this a 5 years ago, figured I would update, there are a few of these available new today)

I for one believe many of today's copier manufacturers are missing the boat on this, however, that's a blog for another day.

MITA

Back in the early nineties, we were selling the Copystar (Mita) line of copiers.  For a small dealership, the line was acceptable because the systems were manufactured by Mita.  At one time Mita was a pretty big deal with copiers, although they never came close to the market share that Canon & Sharp enjoyed.

Right, back to that special copier.  The Mita DC-1255 was so cool,  the copier offered a non moving platen (top glass) that would hold an original as large as 11x17!  This system offered a lot of versatility for the end user with an affordable price.

SPEED

The copy speed was 11 pages per minute (can you believe only 11 pages a minute), offered only one universal paper tray which held 250 sheets of statement (5.5 x 8.5), letter and legal.  The by-pass tray was limited to one sheet of paper. Customers could by additional paper trays if needed, but only one at a time would fit in the copier.  For the life of me, I can't remember if the system offered zoom reduction or enlargement (I'm thinking no, but could be wrong).

Why do I rate this as one of my favs? 

The best feature with the DC-1255 was that you could place an 11x17 original on the platen and then have that document reduced to letter or legal size.  Thus, the talking point to the customer was why pay more for a copy machine that could copy 11x17 size for size when you could reduce the 11x17 originals to letter or legal. In fact, the additional talking point was that reduced copies kept all of the documents the same size and were much easier to file. In addition reduced copies would take less space, and letter size copy paper was half the cost of 11x17!

Thus, a simple little feature that allowed for the reduction of 11x17 documents to letter or legal allowed us to compete and steal business away from other manufacturers that only offered an A3 copier.

FAB

In the old days, we were taught FAB.  Feature, Advantage and Benefit.  You would tell the customer the feature which was 11x17 reduction to letter, the advantage was they didn't have to buy 11x17 paper any more, and the benefit would have been the lower cost of the system when compare to the higher priced 11x17 models.

I guess all those years ago, Mita had it right that the future was A4 devices. If anyone has a brochure for the MIta DC 1255, please email to me so I can add to our catalog of brochures!!!

-=Good Selling=-

I entered the copier business in 1981, so I don't have much knowledge about most copiers prior to 1977.

I started out as a tech and was quickly offered a sales job when the owner of the dealership realized that I had some issues with putting copiers back together.

For the next ten weeks, I'll list all ten systems.

Minolta EP 300 (yes, I know the picture in the header is a Minolta 310, but I can't find a picture of the EP 300).

Thinking back, the first copier that stole my heart was the Minolta EP 300. It was the first copier launched when I started my copier sales career. Customers would ask me what EP stood for, and I'd give them a funny answer: "Eny Paper." The EP actually stood for Electrostatic Process.

The EP 300 in the early eighties was "state-of-the-art technology." It's funny that now, when we refer to copiers, I can't remember the last time I pitched one as having "state-of-the-art technology." In the eighties, Minolta was known as a fantastic brand for cameras, and we used that in our pitch since the Minolta EP 300 had the best lens in the business. Back then, the paper you put on the glass was illuminated with a light, bounced off two mirrors, and the image was then captured by the lens. Having the best lens in the business meant that you were going to have the best image quality. Back then, it was all about image quality!

I believe the copier retailed for about $2,500, had only one paper tray which stuck out on one side of the unit. The top (platen glass) moved back and forth for each copy, and the speed was a blazing 10 pages per minute (I think). When you had to add toner, you would pour it into the toner hopper, and when you had to add paper, you would have to take the paper tray out of the copier!

There was another consumable required: fuser oil! How many of us remember that? We found many other uses for fuser oil. It was great for cleaning covers and the power cord, awesome for getting a shine on black rubber (tires on the car), and if you used just a tiny bit, it would give your black shoes an unbelievable shine!

Other than making up 99 copies at a time, the Minolta 300 was much like its successor, the Minolta EP 310. I think I remember the Minolta EP 300 best because it was the system that paved the way for all the other copiers I sold!

BTW, if anyone has an old Minolta EP 300, please scan one and email it to me!

-=Good Selling=-