Deskjet Printers

Deskjet printers got their start by Hewlett Packard, one of the most popular printer brands in the world. The deskjet is the brand name of a line of inkjet printers by HP. These days there are a variety of shapes, sizes and applications for the deskjet printer. You may recognize that the large models, like large format plotter printers are sometimes called a designjet printer.

Back in the late 1970’s HP created a printer using thermal inkjet technology. It took a few years, but the printer that was first dubbed deskjet was created in the late 1980’s and used black ink only. It came in a little cartridge and the printer retailed for almost one thousand dollars back them. Their competition in the market was laser printers. The first deskjet color printer made its debut on the retail market in the early 1990’s.

Thanks to strides in technology deskjet printers got cheaper and more popular with home computer users. As the prices went down, more and more home consumers started buying them for personal use in the home. Cheap deskjet printers started becoming the norm in the late 1990’s and in the early 2000’s. In addition, quality deskjet printers were being duplicated by other brands. However, only HP remains a true deskjet printer brand.

Deskjet printers have morphed over the years and are still widely popular. The ink cartridges at one time were considered throwaways until some people started figuring out ways to recycle them. Now there is a whole submarket for recycled and refilled cartridges. The colors and ink quality is better and the technology as become more advanced with the introduction of photo printers. With the new photo printers coming around, it is easy to find discount deskjet printers on the market.

Once upon a time, deskjet printers only really had one function – print on 8.5 by 11 inch paper. These days, you can print on legal or even ledger size paper. In addition, there are envelope trays and even duplexing features. In addition, the software and printer drivers have become more advanced with such features as determining ink levels in your cartridges and adjusting the quality of your print jobs from draft to best.