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It is one of those things that most of us really dont think about. How does a laser printer work? Well, you click print?and it works, right? For most of us that is all we need to know or would care to know. But, in reality, it is something you should an understanding of if you are going to be buying a laser printer for the office network or shelling out a decent amount of cash.

Chemistry isnt that bad

Most people have horror stories about chemistry class, me included. But when it comes to figuring out how a laser printer and chemistry work together it is not all that bad. Whether it is a HP, Epson, Cannon or Dell laser printer it works the same way, positive charges and negative charges. The old saying actually applies, opposites attract.

Getting charged

Within the laser printer there is a drum that slowly turns. As it turns it is given a charge by a wire (charge corona wire) or, in some cases, another roller. After the drum is charged the printer shoots a laser at the surface of the drum discharging the drum in certain places. These places end up looking like letters and numbers on the drum.

To get these discharged letters and number shapes off the drum and onto a piece of paper the laser printer covers the discharged shapes with charged toner. It then hooks them up with an oppositely charged piece of paper. As makes sense the toner is attracted to the paper and there it is, toner on paper. If you have ever changed a toner cartridge you can attest that the stuff loves to attach itself to just about anything. The process so far just makes the toner attach itself in an ordered fashion or letter and numbers.

Getting toned

The process is just about complete at the most basic level. What needs to happen to finish off the process is for the toner to be fused into the paper permanently. To accomplish this the laser printer rolls the paper by a heat roller to melt the toner into the fibers of the paper. As the laser printer does this it real eases the charge with yet another roller.

Ultimately, when the process is in synch there is no muss and no mess. But everything needs to be timed just right. In the end, there is a warm static free piece of paper with all the words fit and unfit to print.

James Kara Murat from PrintCountry.com, the contributor of How Printer Works?. A longer version is located at How do Laser Printers Work?, and related resources can be found at Samsung CLP-510 Laser Printer.

Broadband has been a huge success in the UK, with half of all UK homes now with access to a connection.

But with a consumer call for a faster and more reliable service, and connection speeds falling behind countries like Japan and Sweden, suggested changes raised in a recent summit in London to discuss the future of broadband in the UK are still dividing opinion.

Plans for a future download speed of 24Mbps may seem fast for us, but with other countries around the world offering broadband deals, with connection speeds ranging from 40Mbps to even 100Mbps, could a change in infrastructure prove a turning point for broadband in the UK?

With the current broadband network based mostly on ADSL - a copper wire network designed to handle telephone calls - the demand for an increase in broadband speed could push the hardware to its limits. Other issues include noise on the line and falling connection speeds - causes for such disruption can include distance from the exchange and an increase in traffic on the network.

One of the issues facing any future plans for a fibre network in the UK would be ensuring that it would be open to all ISPs in much the same way as with LLU (Local Loop Unbundling) - which allows other cheap broadband providers the chance to put their services in BT telephone exchanges.

But even getting to that stage has been a long and complicated process, and with the demand for more cheap broadband increasing each year - a change in infrastructure could been seen as a way forward and ensure that the UK is compatible with the ever-changing Internet.

A new method of unbundling - known as sub-loop unbundling - could be necessary to the introduction of a fibre network, but would require operators to share space in street cabinets, which some believe to be unfeasible. There are also concerns that fibre networks would create another digital divide - much like the current scenario when it comes to rural broadband technology.

Wireless solutions such as Wimax could be seen to be a temporary solution, but there has been a widespread call for more government funding to help the progression of UK broadband, particularly to those in remote areas of the UK. Fibre connections would provide opportunities for a faster connection that would be welcomed by online gamers, networks which share video content, as well as the chance of delivering high-definition content - such as HDTV - via a broadband connection.

But with a number of problems still to be sorted within the existing broadband network - such as complications with ISP migration and actual connection speeds promised in broadband deals - the future of broadband in the UK remains an area of uncertainty.

Compare a range of broadband providers to find a cheap broadband deal that suits you.

Broadband has been a huge success in the UK, with half of all UK homes now with access to a connection.

But with a consumer call for a faster and more reliable service, and connection speeds falling behind countries like Japan and Sweden, suggested changes raised in a recent summit in London to discuss the future of broadband in the UK are still dividing opinion.

Plans for a future download speed of 24Mbps may seem fast for us, but with other countries around the world offering broadband deals, with connection speeds ranging from 40Mbps to even 100Mbps, could a change in infrastructure prove a turning point for broadband in the UK?

With the current broadband network based mostly on ADSL - a copper wire network designed to handle telephone calls - the demand for an increase in broadband speed could push the hardware to its limits. Other issues include noise on the line and falling connection speeds - causes for such disruption can include distance from the exchange and an increase in traffic on the network.

One of the issues facing any future plans for a fibre network in the UK would be ensuring that it would be open to all ISPs in much the same way as with LLU (Local Loop Unbundling) - which allows other cheap broadband providers the chance to put their services in BT telephone exchanges.

But even getting to that stage has been a long and complicated process, and with the demand for more cheap broadband increasing each year - a change in infrastructure could been seen as a way forward and ensure that the UK is compatible with the ever-changing Internet.

A new method of unbundling - known as sub-loop unbundling - could be necessary to the introduction of a fibre network, but would require operators to share space in street cabinets, which some believe to be unfeasible. There are also concerns that fibre networks would create another digital divide - much like the current scenario when it comes to rural broadband technology.

Wireless solutions such as Wimax could be seen to be a temporary solution, but there has been a widespread call for more government funding to help the progression of UK broadband, particularly to those in remote areas of the UK. Fibre connections would provide opportunities for a faster connection that would be welcomed by online gamers, networks which share video content, as well as the chance of delivering high-definition content - such as HDTV - via a broadband connection.

But with a number of problems still to be sorted within the existing broadband network - such as complications with ISP migration and actual connection speeds promised in broadband deals - the future of broadband in the UK remains an area of uncertainty.

Compare a range of broadband providers to find a cheap broadband deal that suits you.