| Think of it as an instant 'electric' attraction. No, I'm | | | | your time and money. Which is why you could |
| not talking about the office heartthrob, but the | | | | think about the choice of toners on offer. HP |
| laser printer in the office. It's there, all day, | | | | black toner cartridges, for example, are designed |
| everyday, purring and turning out the pages, | | | | to give you reliable and trouble-free operation. |
| though few of us have a clue as to how it works. | | | | The company says its 'microfine toner provides |
| Apart from boffins of course, such as those at | | | | consistent black coverage and exceptional |
| Hewlett Packard. | | | | printouts' so you're in line for crisp, clear |
| HP laser printers follow a tried and tested model | | | | documents. |
| to do with static electricity, the kind that makes a | | | | That makes printing documents so much easier, |
| bolt of lightning strike the ground (or more | | | | with less wastage and no fretting over smudgy |
| prosaically, your clothes to stick together in a | | | | or faded prints. In case you're wondering how |
| dryer). Put simply, this kind of printer uses a laser | | | | many pages you can get from a single cartridge, |
| beam to project an image of your document | | | | HP says that the page yield is 'approximately |
| onto a rotating drum, which is then sent an | | | | 4,000 pages at 5% coverage'. In other words, |
| electrostatic charge. The toner – a dry | | | | taking a page to be A4 or letter size, the page |
| powder – is attracted to the charge, which | | | | count is based on 5% coverage of individual |
| varies according to colour (though white does not | | | | colours. |
| need a charge). Heat bonds the toner to the | | | | Whatever your print run, just remember one |
| paper and the drum rolls out the print. | | | | thing – in the end it is the electrical attraction |
| Now, if your toner is not up to scratch, you're not | | | | that keeps the printers purring happily. Much like |
| going to get a quality print and you'll be wasting | | | | people, really. |