Key Differences: Inkjet is a type of printer that prints images by propelling droplets of ink onto the paper. These printers are the most common type of printers that are available in households. Deskjet is a brand of printers by Hewlett-Packard. These printers are a cheaper variant to the company’s Officejet printers. Deskjet is created for home usage, which means there are more compact, have less features and are cheaper. Laser printer is a type of printer that produces high quality text and graphics by passing a laser beam on plain paper. This process uses a xerographic printing process, which uses a cylindrical drum coated with selenium to print an image.

Inkjet, Deskjet and Laser printers are all types of printers that are available on the market. Inkjet and Deskjet are basically printers that use inkjet technology, while laser printers use completely different technology to print documents. The terminology used in many of technology is often confusing for many people that do not have hands-on experience with technology. However, once a distinction is made it is quite easy to understand which type of printer would be best for office use or home use.

Inkjet is a type of printer that produces images by propelling droplets of ink onto the paper. These printers are the most common type of printers that are available in households. They are usually small in size and can range in prices, depending on the company and the functions it can perform. More expensive models might also come with copy, fax and scan functions. The concept of inkjet printing was developed in the 19^th century, with the printer technology being developed in the late 1950s. Printers that could render digital images generated by computers were developed in the 1970s by Epson, Hewlett-Packard and Canon.

The inkjet printer works in a complicated way. It has a series of microscopic nozzles that spray a stream of ink directly onto the paper. The nozzles either have a high pressure pump or tiny heating elements behind them that helps deposit ink on the paper. There are two main technologies that are used in an inkjet printer: continuous (CIJ) and Drop-on-demand (DOD). In continuous technology, a high-pressure pump direct liquid ink from the cartridge through a gunbody and a microscopic nozzle, creating a continuous stream of ink droplets that are deposited on the paper. Extra unwanted ink is dropped into a gutter, which is recycled when the printer is active again. Drop-On-Demand is divided into thermal DOD and piezoelectric DOD. The thermal DOD uses a heating element to heat the ink in a chamber, which cools when applied to the paper. The piezoelectric DOD uses a piezoelectric material behind each nozzle instead of a heating element. In DOD, the printer cartridges fires ink only at special points on the surface that is required for creating an image.

Inkjet printers produce cheaper copies but prints slower compared to laser printers. These are also small and compact, with the printer fitting right on the desk or workstation. The initial cost of these printers is quite cheap, but Officejet is usually more expensive than the basic model as it incorporates other features. Inkjet printers are honed for their ability to print good quality and sharp text and images and to print on almost any kind of paper. Advantages of an inkjet include quieter in operation, high print quality, no warm up time and low cost per page. While, disadvantages are the ink is expensive (cheaper alternates are available from third party cartridges), ink is not waterproof, the nozzle is prone to clogging and the ink dries up if not used for long periods of time.

Deskjet is a brand of printers by Hewlett-Packard. These printers are a cheaper variant to the company’s Officejet printers. Deskjet is created for home usage, which means there are more compact, have less features and are cheaper. Deskjet printers are basic models and only offer printing capabilities. More features can be purchased with higher models, which cost extra. These printers also have slower printing speeds, with the highest Deskjet printer printing around 28 pages a minute. Deskjet printers do not even offer automatic double-side printing or wireless capabilities; features that are available in the company’s Officejet brand.

Laser printer is a type of printer that produces high quality text and graphics by passing a laser beam on plain paper. This process uses a xerographic printing process, which uses a cylindrical drum coated with selenium to print an image. Laser printers are quite huge and bulky and require fast paper feeders. These are most found in offices and commercial places that require high quality papers, printed fast. Laser printers are expensive units and require a dedicated place. Maintenance level is high for the device and is also expensive. Laser printers are more common in black and white, while colors printers cause extra. Laser printer was developed at Xerox in 1969 by Gary Starkweather. He modified an existing xerographic copier and fitted it with printing capabilities.

The printer works similar to a photocopier. The machine uses the data sent from the computer to create a raster line or scan line. The Raster Image Processing (RIS), typically built into the printer, creates a bitmap of the final image in the raster memory. After this, an electrostatic charge is applied to the photosensitive drum. The system also applies AC bias to the roller to remove any previous charges and a DC bias on the drum surface to ensure a uniform negative potential. A laser is then fired on the electro statically charged light-sensitive drum. The drum then attracts the toner in the places the charge is still present. The drum then becomes hot and fuses the toner to the paper, which then produces the image. Laser printers are quite extensive cleaning incase of jams and requires maintenance. However, one toner can produce up to 5,000 pages before replacement.

In short, inkjet and Deskjet are basically the same type of printer, with just a different name. A Deskjet is just a brand name of printers that are available by HP.  The company has placed printers in two categories: Officejet and Deskjet. The Officejet is aimed at office purposes and includes other features, while Deskjet is a basic printer that is cheap, affordable and easy to work. A laser printer is actually a completely different type of printer and also aimed for office use. These printers use a different method of printing and are usually bulkier.

Comparison between Inkjet, Deskjet and Laser Printers:

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