Laser Printers Buyer's Guide

Compatibility

Most offices with IBM-compatible PCs will want to look for a printer that uses PCL5.

This language, originally developed for Hewlett-Packard printers, is the de facto standard in the industry. Watch out for low-cost printers using older PCL versions such as PCL4; these printers are fine for basic text, but will not handle some complex images.

The most popular alternative to PCL is called PostScript. This is a very powerful language that will produce the same image regardless of the equipment it utilizes. However, printers equipped to handle PostScript are usually quite a bit more expensive than PCL printers.

Look for a PostScript-compatible printer if your office regularly sends work to service bureaus for outputting, or if your network includes any Macintosh computers.

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