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View Full Version : Miscellaneous Grey import? Fake? Konica Minolta (Bizhub) 885L = Bizhub C450?


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siradlib
03-16-2011, 01:53 PM
Hi there,

some years ago, we bought a Konica Minolta Bizhub C450 (with IC-402 Fiery)- at least I think we bought that machine. The machine was bought from a vendor A together with a support contract with rather low click/printing prices.
After some time, vendor A went insolvent and was closed up, so vendor B took over our support contract.
We have had quite some problems with our Bizhub C450, mainly image quality problems.

A few days ago, a salesperson from vendor B spoke to me and said, they have multiple customers like us that have a so called "Konica Minolta 885L". This "885L" type seems to be a grey import (or a fake) of a Bizhub C450. Salesperson was very unclear here, but said now he knows how vendor A could have been that cheap on support.

Actually, ever since I call up service at vendor B Iīm asked if our machine is an "Konica Minolta 885L" but I never made up my mind about that. On our machine itself thereīs a sticker clearly identifying it as a "Bizhub". The web (Google) knows nothing about an 885L.
Our local KM salesman also doesnīt know about a KM 885L.

In general, support and technicians from vendor B are rather friendly and I donīt distrust them.

Does anyone here know about a KM 885L machine? Our is this just a trick to push us onto a new machine/support contract (with higher pprofits for vendor B)?
How can I safely identify our machine?

cheers,
siradlib

ineo+6501
03-16-2011, 06:07 PM
I for one have never heard of an 885L. There are several brands out there which "re-badge" Konica Minolta equipment and call the things other than bizhub, but I don't think any of them use a model number like that, and the certainly can't be referred to as Konica Minolta. DEVELOP, Oce and Olivetti are those brands who re-badge.

If you look at the serial number sticker on the back cover of the machine it should say "Model name". Have a look there as to the correct model of your machine.

Just to help a little further, the C450 is a very cheap machine to run if using generic toner and "chipping" or "fusing" the unit consumables so it wouldn't be unheard of to find very cheap click contracts for that model.

ni311
03-16-2011, 06:20 PM
Indeed, you can do service very cheap with toner "for use in.." and using the units more than one time. But as you already noticed, the copy quality will suffer. But you cannot tell if the machine is fake or not only on how it is printing; Anyway, it is for the first time when I heard about this model and I'm not sure I've heard before about a fake KM machine. But I've heard that from China you can buy almost anything from fake Mercedes to IPhone and so on. I believe you can buy a fake KM too...

siradlib
03-16-2011, 10:54 PM
Thanks to both of you, your answers (and those coming!) are greatly appreciated as Iīm really puzzled about the whole thing.
Iīll happily look for the serial number sticker tomorrow and will report. But is a serial sticker really a sign of genuiness as I guess it can easily be tampered?

Is the exact model in some way inherent in serial number?
Or is the serial number also placed on a second location that is more tamper-proof than a sticker?

Mr Spock
03-16-2011, 11:10 PM
I think if you hit the utility button then meter then details it should show the serial number above the meter chart. check this verses the sticker on the back.

siradlib
03-17-2011, 10:35 AM
Hi Mr. Spock,

there isnīt any serial number shown in the "details" screen, just the usual printing statistics.
However in "tech" mode (STOP-00-STOP-01) it shows correct serial number, at least compared to the number that is on the backside.

I have take a picture of the sticker on the back. (Excuses for bad quality!)
Does this look genuine?

I have uploaded a picture to Google Picasa: https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/JTKDn-_Mgk4HGLKxZaE_SU8TnCx3MeTzlzbBKM-0NtE?feat=directlink

https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/JTKDn-_Mgk4HGLKxZaE_SU8TnCx3MeTzlzbBKM-0NtE?feat=directlinkhttps://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/JTKDn-_Mgk4HGLKxZaE_SU8TnCx3MeTzlzbBKM-0NtE?feat=directlink

ineo+6501
03-17-2011, 12:11 PM
Yes that looks like a genuine sticker.

siradlib
03-17-2011, 12:45 PM
Thanks for your confirmation!

Now I ask myself: Whats the point in giving a Bizhub C450 this "nickname" 885L?
Iīm quite sure this nickname was invented (?) by the original vendor, as our service partner also is clueless where this "885L" derives from. At least he says he is.

Any other thoughts are welcome!
Tomorrow a local KM salesperson will look at the machine, Iīll report.
Very very strange all this...

johskar
03-17-2011, 02:22 PM
Even the location of the sticker looks genuine.

Hansoon
03-18-2011, 06:04 AM
This looks like a re-import from Germany. It has German language on it.

Hans

siradlib
03-18-2011, 08:58 AM
This looks like a re-import from Germany. It has German language on it.


Hi Hans,

I donīt know if our machine is a re-import from Germany of course. But I find it quite normal to have it labeled in German, because weīre actually located in Germany! :D
I didnīt look at other machines from KM here in Germany but wouldnīt be surprised if all/most of them have German language stickers.

Hansoon
03-18-2011, 09:09 AM
Hi Hans,

I donīt know if our machine is a re-import from Germany of course. But I find it quite normal to have it labeled in German, because weīre actually located in Germany! :D
I didnīt look at other machines from KM here in Germany but wouldnīt be surprised if all/most of them have German language stickers.

Great! Based on your "Name" I assumed your location East-Asia or so.

Viele Grüßen

Hans

siradlib
03-18-2011, 11:09 AM
Okay, salesman from KM direct was here: He inspected the machine visually and found nothing unusual.
I then called up at vendor B and he could say nothing more than he can read "885L" in his computer and has no clue about its origin.
I guess this is somewhat of a hoax... :confused:

stevelau
03-20-2011, 10:34 AM
Not to worry, it is confirmed that your C450 is genuine and it is not Fake! This is the first time I heard of 885L! Think u should report this to KM sales rep.

siradlib
03-21-2011, 11:27 AM
This is the first time I heard of 885L! Think u should report this to KM sales rep.
I already did- this was in fact the reason for the KM sales rep to visit us. :)

eg101
03-22-2011, 03:32 PM
[QUOTE=siradlib;206442]Thanks for your confirmation!

Now I ask myself: Whats the point in giving a Bizhub C450 this "nickname" 885L?
Iīm quite sure this nickname was invented (?) by the original vendor, as our service partner also is clueless where this "885L" derives from. At least he says he is.

It wasn't common but I used to see dealers put their own brand name or model numbers on machines. It kept competitors from easily beating prices. Go to Office depot and try getting toner for your 88SL.

siradlib
03-22-2011, 04:04 PM
@eg101:
That would be an explanation of all that fuss... :)
Thanks a lot!

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