The Technology and Advantages of HP’s LaserJet Printers

Over the past decade, printers have become some of the most in-demand technologies because of the amazing array of uses and advantages that they offer. More and more households and companies use printers of various types and have come to rely heavily on them. Certainly, when compared to office technologies of the past, such as the once-ubiquitous typewriter, today’s printers represent a vast improvement in every way.

Manufacturers have developed many different types of printers, and consumers are now faced with more choices than ever. While it’s always good to have options, it can also be a bit overwhelming at times, so let’s take a look at some of these offerings.

Dot-Matrix printers were the first printers to be widely used by consumers. These devices used ribbon cartridges not unlike a typewriter. Although they were reasonably reliable and useful at the time, they now seem quite noisy and painfully slow by today’s standards.

InkJet printers came along after the Dot Matrix, and are generally considered to be an evolved form of those first printers. InkJets use an ink cartridge and are a dramatic improvement over their predecessors.

LaserJet printers are capable of storing fonts and utilize what’s known as a xerographic printing process. At the forefront of printing technology, LaserJet Printers can read and store a bitmap type of format, and are extremely fast and accurate to use. We’ll look more closely at these in a moment.

Portable printers are for those “on the go”, and truly are just what they sound like: lightweight and portable printers that can you can take virtually anywhere. These often utilize more flexible power solutions such as USB-connected AC adaptors that allow for use when a power source is not readily available.

Plotters, on the other hand, are large units that are used to print large-scale documents, such as blueprints, photos, and advertising. These printers have very specialized uses.

They are many more variations of printers these days, including: Digital Photo Printers, which are designed specifically for high quality photographic printing; Network Printers that allow for multiple users; and of course the popular Multifunction Printers, also known as “All in Ones”, that conveniently offer scanning, copying, and even faxing, in addition to their printing capabilities.
There are even very specialized printers that utilize highly innovative technologies for specific industries such as banking and medicine.

Because LaserJets are so popular today, manufacturers are constantly evolving and developing the technology to stay ahead of the competition. Let’s examine how LaserJets work and just what makes them so efficient and reliable. It may be surprising to learn just how much goes on from the moment the print button is hit, to when the resulting crisp new page emerges.

After the data is sent to, and collected by, the LaserJet, the printer’s drum is prepared. This means that the drum becomes electrically charged in order to perform the next step, which in fact is the most important one, called “Drum Writing”. Since these printers use a laser technology (hence the name “LaserJet”), inks are not actually present. Instead, they write by shining a laser directly to the spot, utilizing the electrically-charged printer drum, which rotates past the laser. As the drum cylinder sweeps across the surface, it turns on and off to neutralize certain areas. This leads to the next process, referred to as “Toner pick up”. This is where the toner is applied to the drum while at the same time the paper is being drawn in by the feeder mechanism. The next step is the toner’s transfer to paper, at which point the printer drum rolls over the paper, transferring or “fusing” the toner to the paper. As the feed mechanism completes its’ cycle, the paper exits the printer, and the data materializes onto the printed page.

The LaserJet printer is the hands-down favorite for professional use because of its faster printing speeds, reliability, and excellent result with printed text. The permanent fusion of toner to paper makes it far more consistent in operation, and the results more professional looking; a dramatic improvement over most InkJets in overall print quality. Although it is not uncommon for the typical household user to opt for an InkJet printer, due in great part to the initial low cost of this technology, it is important to remember that owning a LaserJet can actually cost less over time. Typical InkJet cartridges offer a limited yield and can be very expensive to replace. This reduced output can mean substantially greater expense in the long run.

LaserJets are often larger in size than InkJets, however, HP now offers a portable LaserJet printer that is not only stylish, but also compact enough for even the smallest of home offices. And, when it comes to connectivity, HP printers are never a problem. In fact, they offer some of the most effective cabled, wireless, and networking solutions for printers on the market today, all in one user friendly package.



HP, a major player in the computer industry, has been developing and refining computers and laptops since the nineteen-eighties. HP entered the printing market when they first released their assortment of LaserJet printers in 1984. Since that time, HP’s technologies have remained state-of-the-art and consistently met and exceeded the demands of its users. The evolution of HP’s products is always well planned and buyers have a wide range of affordable options to choose from.

Over the years, HP has manufactured products that have proven to be among the most professional, environmentally friendly, reliable, and efficient components ever, and HP LaserJet printers, in particular, are top of the class when it comes to productivity, quality, and usability. Clearly, owning an HP printer can be very advantageous.