NEC announced two network-enabled laser printers that attained very high print speeds with the use of multiple print controllers. The MultiWriter 6050 could be expanded up to four controllers and had a maximum A4 print speed of 62 pages per minute. The MultiWriter 4050 had a maximum print speed of 40 pages per minute when driven by two controllers. Not only did the printers print quickly, they reduced running costs so much that instead of printing one copy of a document and making duplicates on a copier, it was possible to output all copies at their original quality from the printer. The printers also offered many post-processing features, such as collating and, with the optional finisher, large-volume paper receiving and stapling.
- The MultiWriter 6050 / MultiWriter 4050 had the following features:
- (1) Multicontroller offered high-speed printing and flexibility
- The multicontroller, which used multiple 64-bit RISC CPUs as controllers, parallel processed print data for much faster print speeds. The MultiWriter 6050 supported up to four print controllers for applications that required more complex data processing. In this way, the printer could be flexibly tailored to meet faster printing needs.
- (2) Rich paper handling
- The MultiWriter 6050 came with a standard job separator function that collated sheets by alternately outputting A4 sheets horizontally and vertically. And with the optional finisher unit attached, it could receive up to 2,100 sheets. The finisher also had a multi-stapling function that offered three stapling patterns, a paper folding function, a first for a Japanese laser printer, that made Z-folds, squash folds, and creases, and a hole-punch function that made holes for inserting the pages in file folders. The MultiWriter 4050 had an offset delivery function, which collated outputs by offsetting them left or right. And with the optional finisher unit attached, it could receive up to 2,510 sheets and staple pages.
- (3) Low running costs
- The toner cost per page was 2.2 yen for the MultiWriter 6050 and 2.5 yen for the MultiWriter 4050.
- (4) Durability
- The MultiWriter 6050 had a service life of 5 million A4 sheets, and the MultiWriter 4050 had a service life of 1.5 million A4 sheets.
- (5) Standard support for 100BASE-TX and 10BASE-T interfaces
- Because the printers came with a LAN board (TCP/IP), they could connect to high-speed networks without any additional investment.
| MultiWriter 6050 | MultiWriter 4050 | |
|---|---|---|
| Print process | Laser beam xerographic printing process (semiconductor laser) | |
| Resolution | 400 x 400 dpi and 600 x 600 dpi (command switching) | 400 x 400 dpi and 600 x 600 dpi (command switching) Able to specify printing at 1000 x 1000 and 1500 x 1500 dpi equivalent resolutions |
| Print speeds | A4 portrait: 〜62 ppm | A4 portrait: 〜40 ppm |
| Paper | Cut sheets (paper weight between 55 and 70 kg): A3, B4, A4, B5, A5, letter Postcards and reply postcards (both size and thickness equivalent to prepaid postcards) Overhead transparencies (processed on both sides and suitable for dry plain-paper copiers) Label sheets (where the backing sheet is completely covered by labels and suitable for dry plain-paper copiers) Thick paper (paper weight of no more than 90 kg, must be fed via the tray) Envelopes (You 4, inner flaps, glue-less, MultiWriter 4050 only) |
|
| Operating conditions | 10 − 32.5｡C, 20 — 80% RH | |
| Power consumption while printing | 1350W max. | 1180W max. |
| External dimensions [mm] | 777 x 735 x 1,070 (w x d x h) | 642 x 532 x 486 (w x d x h) |
| Weight [kg] | 190 | 42 |
