Laser printers are very fast compared with inkjet models. At the same time, they give better quality print outs. While older laser printers used to be black and white, today such printers come with colour capabilities without compromising speed or quality. The Laser drum is a key component of the laser printer.
Most printers use a corona wire or a charged roller to give the drum a total charge. When the laser printer is at work, its drum rotates as the printer illuminates a tiny laser beam across its surface, essentially discharging affected points. The presence or absence of charge on the surface of the drum represents characters or images to be printed on paper.
After images or text form on the drum's surface, the printer mounts a coat of positively charged toner on the drum, which then settles on the negatively charged points (the images or text). Then, the printer sends a negatively charged paper to roll off the surface of the drum. The paper carries a stronger negative charge than that of negatively charged points on the drum. This makes it possible for the paper to “defeat” the drum and pick the positively charged toner images or text. The corona wire discharges the paper immediately after the image forms to prevent it from sticking to the positively charged drum.
At this stage, fuser rollers melt the loose toner powder and fuse it onto the paper fabric. The printed paper rolls out through the paper tray.
The drum surface exposes a light that illuminates on its entire photoreceptive surface, effectively erasing the electrostatic image. The drum is now ready for another round of printing.
Besides the Laser Drum, choose a good printer
While laser printers are more expensive than inkjet types, they guarantee the best print quality. However, you still need to consider a number of factors before buying your laser printer.
Your primary focus should always be your business printing needs. For non-complex printing tasks, the most important aspects to look at would include resolution, printing speed and compatibility with different paper media. However, for a network configuration and compatibility, you may look at factors such as printer's memory, server capacities etc.
Equally important, you will need to assess your business needs against budget. An environment for high volume outputs will call for a printer that is up to the task. This may include working out the correct toner cartridge size for you tasks. You will see how this compares with the size of budget you have for printing tasks. Use the internet to compare prices and go for the most reasonable deal. Here, you need to visit a number of internet destinations to make an informed decisions. For prices, you will get relevant info at websites for a variety of online retail stores. Most of the time, these too will give detailed specifications. Manufacturers' sites are also very helpful when it comes to comparing strengths and weaknesses of different laser printers. At the same time, customer reviews will also shed some light regarding quality, reliability, prices, and etc issues.
