Laserjet Printer
date: label: date made
content: 1984
name: label: maker
content: Hewlett-Packard Company
notes: label: Description
content: The HP LaserJet was a pioneering desktop laser printer, introduced in 1984 at a cost of about $3,500. It it created a new printer market similar to what the HP-35 handheld calculator had done twelve years earlier. In the 1980s, with growing sales pf personal computers in both the workplace and the home, users wanted easy, direct access to printers. Exixting impact printers were either dot-matrix or daisy-wheel units, both of which were noisy. Moreover, dot-matrix printers had poor resolution, and daisy-wheels allowed only a limited number of fonts to be used. HP had worked with Canon on laser printer technology as far back as the 1970s. This background, coupled with HP's knowledge of inkjet technology, led to the introduction of the first LaserJet in March 1984. The new personal laser printer fit on a desktop and produced fast, letter-quality output quietly.
label: Description
content: As the primary printer for a small business or company department, the LaserJet printer was ideal for letterhead correspondence, memoranda, financial spreadsheets and other applications. It had high print quality, could print horizontally or vertically in a variety of character fonts, and could produce graphics. The disposable print cartridge could print about three thousand pages, and the print speed was eight pages per minute.
label: Description
content: This example of the printer is marked on the front: HEWLETT (/) PACKARD 2686A. It is marked on the back: 21040217. A metal plaque on the back reads in part: CANON.
label: Description
content: Reference:
label: Description
content: HP Virtual Museum, https://www.hp.com/hpinfo/abouthp/histnfacts/museum/imagingprinting/0018/index.html, accessed February 22, 2024.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
setName: label: See more items in
content: Medicine and Science: Computers
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Hewlett-Packard
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: 1993.0545.01
label: catalog number
content: 1993.0545.01
label: accession number
content: 1993.0545
objectType: label: Object Name
content: Printer
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: plastic. metal. (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 11 1/2 in x 18 1/2 in x 16 in; 29.21 cm x 46.99 cm x 40.64 cm