Best Printers - Types of Laser Printers

Laser printers use a laser beam to produce an image on a photosensitive drum. Whenever light hits this photosensitive drum it creates an electrical charge that also creates an image.

The drum is then rolled through a reservoir of toner that adheres to the electrically charged image. The image is then fused to the paper through heat and pressure.

As laser printers print an entire page at a time as opposed to just segments of a page (as is true with other printers) they are sometimes called page printers.

Laser printers are often classified by their potential to achieve a certain image resolution. The resolution is how many dots per inch (dpi) they can reproduce during a single printing. Resolutions range from 300 dpi at the low end to 1,200 dpi at the high end. By comparison, offset printing usually prints at 1,200 or 2,400 dpi.

You can also buy a color laser printer or a much more inexpensive standard monochrome laser printer. The standard monochrome laser printer uses a single toner and is a lot cheaper to operate in terms of printing expenses. By contrast color laser printers use four different colors of toner to print in full color. To put this in perspective, color laser printers tend to be about five to ten times as expensive as their monochrome siblings. For best printer buying guide check this website

Laser Printer Printing Speed

Is it true that laser printer printing speed is slow? This really does depend on the type of laser printer that you have and also its make. Usually the manufacturer’s specifications for the laser printer product will give you an idea of whether or not you are buying a slow or fast printer.

The average printing speed for most laser printers is about four pages a minute. You will find this speed referred to as “pages per minute” or ppm in any laser printer’s user manual or product specifications. This means that if you find a laser printer that prints faster than that which is sold at an affordable price then you have probably found a bargain.

As a general rule color laser printers tend to print slower than black and white printers. This is because there are fewer types of toners that need to be transferred and then fused to the paper as it goes through the laser printer’s rollers. Fortunately, all color laser printers have a function that allows you to print only in black and white so that you can speed up the process.

Another way of speeding of the printing speed of your printer is to adjust the quality mode. Some laser printers will allow you to choose a low, medium or high quality. If you choose a low quality speed with which to print out your documents, you will not only save on computer ink but the printer will also spew out your pages faster.

If speedy printing is a requirement of your business, then you are best to opt for a black and white laser printer or a middle of the line black and white inkjet printer (which is much faster than any laser printer.) The two types of machine are comparable in price and a good choice if you really don’t have the need to print out things in color.

Uses for a Laser Printer

There was a time when people used a laser printer for such banal needs as producing letters, spread sheets, office memos, white papers and other pedestrian business requirements. However now there are many more uses for a laser Printer. This is thanks to the advent of affordable and creatively inspiring color printers, the laser printer has become a business tool that is exploited more and more by small businesses and budding entrepreneurs.

The key to this explosion in creativity, where printers are used for everything from restaurant menus to printing post cards to book making is due to the expanded graphical capabilities of the laser printer. The simplicity and user friendliness of these new laser printers has brought desktop publishing to the general public. Also as is true with a lot of technology nowadays, the increase in the laser printer’s functionality has coincided with steadily dropping prices for the cost of a machine.

Perhaps the most popular use of a laser printer is to produce original and creative looking promotional materials. Color laser printers can customize anything with your logo include signs, welcome banners and book covers. The creativity that a laser printer affords the lay person allows them to easily brand any product with their log the same way a big corporation would. Even things like jars, boxes and other products can be set on store shelves with your own personalized labels that have been created by a color printer.

The type of printer that you should buy depends on your needs.  If text printing is what you principally need you might want to buy a low cost monochrome printer. If you need a basic color printer, then a low cost inkjet or laser printer might be best. Sometimes the right choice is the one that is the most affordable!