Editing HP LaserJet (section)

==History==

===1980s===
[[File:HP C2053A C02.jpg|thumb|upright|HP Microsoft Font Cartridge for LaserJet 2000, IIP, IIIP, etc.]]
[[File:HP 33439P.jpg|thumb|upright|PostScript Cartridge for LaserJet IIP, IID, III, IIID, etc.]]
HP introduced the first laser printer for [[IBM PC compatible]] [[personal computer]]s in May 1984 at the Computer Dealers' Exhibition ([[COMDEX]]). It was a 300-[[Dots per inch|dpi]], 8 [[Printer (computing)#Printing speed|ppm]] printer that sold for $3,495 with the price reduced to  $2,995 in September 1985.<ref name="hall" /> It used an 8&nbsp;MHz [[Motorola 68000]] processor and could print in a variety of character fonts.<ref name="hp.com">{{cite web
 |url=http://www.hp.com/hpinfo/abouthp/histnfacts/museum/imagingprinting/0018/index.html |title=HP LaserJet Printer 1984
 |access-date=6 June 2011 |publisher=Hp.com}}</ref> It was controlled using [[Printer Command Language|PCL3]].  Due to the high cost of memory, the first LaserJet only had 128 kilobytes of memory, and a portion of that was reserved for use by the controller.

The LaserJet printer had high print quality, could print horizontally or vertically and produce graphics.<ref name="hp.com"/> It was ideal for printing memos, letters, and spreadsheets. It was quiet compared to other contemporary printers, hence people could use the telephone while sitting near the LaserJet.<ref name="hp.com" />

The first LaserJet was a high-speed replacement for text-only [[Daisy wheel printing|daisy wheel impact printers]] and the noisy [[Dot matrix printing|dot matrix printer]]s. By using control codes it was possible to change the printed text style using font patterns stored in permanent [[Read-only memory|ROM]] in the printer.  Although unsupported by HP, because the Laserjet used the same basic PCL language (PCL Level III)<ref name="printerworks.com"/> spoken by HP's other printers it was possible to use the Laserjet on [[HP 3000]] multiuser systems.

The LaserJet Plus followed in September 1985, priced at US$3,995.<ref name="hall" /> It introduced "soft fonts", treatments like [[Emphasis (typography)|bold]] and [[Italic type|italic]] and other features including a [[IEEE 1284|parallel]] ([[Centronics]]) interface. It also included 512 kilobytes of memory, which was sufficient to print graphics at 300 dpi that covered about 70% of the letter-size page area.

* In March 1986 HP introduced the LaserJet D+, which included the LaserJet print engine and formatter but with two paper trays.<ref name="hall" /> The original MSRP was $4,495.<ref name="printerworks.com"/> In 1986, [[desktop publishing]] came to the world of [[IBM Personal Computer|IBM PC]]s and compatibles, after its origin on the [[Macintosh|Apple Macintosh]] and [[LaserWriter|Apple LaserWriter]]. The LaserJet family, along with [[Adobe PageMaker|Aldus PageMaker]] and [[Microsoft Windows]], was central to the PC-based solution and while the design was more plebeian than Apple's product, this multi-vendor solution was available to a mass audience for the first time.
* HP introduced the [[mass market|mass-market]] laser printer, the LaserJet series II, in March 1987. The LaserJet II was designed as a laser printer with correct order page output as opposed to being leveraged from the Canon PC-20 personal copier.<ref name="hall" /> The LaserJet II used PCL4, improved features, more memory and fonts for a market price of $2,695.<ref name="hall"/>
* Also in March 1987, the LaserJet 2000 was launched. A high-end, networkable printer, the LaserJet 2000 offered a duty cycle of 70,000 pages per month and the standard 300-dpi output, initially priced at $19,995. In the same month, the company unveiled the [[HP ScanJet|ScanJet]], their first [[image scanner]].<ref name=beeler>{{cite journal | last=Beeler | first=Jeffrey | date=March 2, 1987 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SZ4AAehqfn0C&pg=PA4 | title=HP revamps LaserJet Plus, adds high-end unit | journal=Computerworld | publisher=CW Communications | volume=XXI | issue=9 | page=4 | via=Google Books | access-date=September 3, 2024 | archive-date=September 4, 2024 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240904001538/https://books.google.com/books?id=SZ4AAehqfn0C&pg=PA4#v=onepage&q&f=false | url-status=live }}</ref> It allowed them to round out their portfolio of desktop publishing products and itself was very successful commercially.<ref>{{cite journal | last=Schuster | first=Jonathan | date=June 16, 1987 | url=https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A4986217/GPS?u=wikipedia | title=Scanner market prognosis is healthy growth | journal=PC Week | publisher=Ziff-Davis | volume=4 | issue=24 | pages=108 ''et seq'' | via=Gale | access-date=September 3, 2024 | archive-date=September 4, 2024 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240904001614/https://galeapps.gale.com/apps/auth?userGroupName=wikipedia&origURL=https%3A%2F%2Fgo.gale.com%2Fps%2Fi.do%3Fp%3DGPS%26u%3Dwikipedia%26id%3DGALE%257CA4986217%26v%3D2.1%26it%3Dr&prodId=GPS | url-status=live }}</ref><ref name=visions>{{cite journal | date=August 1994 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=U88jAQAAMAAJ&q=%22scanjet+was+the%22 | title=Peripheral Visions | journal=Computer Buyer's Guide and Handbook | publisher=Computer Information Publishing | volume=12 | issue=8 | pages=33–47 | via=Google Books}}</ref>

The LaserJet IID was released in the fall of 1988, It was the first desktop laser printer capable of duplexing.<ref name="hall"/> It was also the first LaserJet with an HP-designed and manufactured formatter.<ref name="hall"/>

In September 1989, HP introduced the first "personal" version of the LaserJet printer series, the LaserJet IIP.<ref name=IIPNYT1989>{{cite news |newspaper=[[The New York Times]]
|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1989/09/19/science/personal-computers-a-milestone-in-laser-printers.html
|title=PERSONAL COMPUTERS; A Milestone in Laser Printers
|author=Peter H. Lewis |date=September 19, 1989 |access-date=January 12, 2023}}</ref> Priced at US$1,495 by HP, and half the size and price of its predecessor, the LaserJet II, it offered 300-dpi output and 4 ppm printing with [[Printer Command Language|PCL 4]] enhancements such as support for compressed bitmapped fonts and raster images. It was also the first '''no ozone''' print engine.<ref name="hall" />  Retailers predicted a street price of $1000 or less, making it the world's first sub-$1,000 laser printer. The LaserJet IIP (and its very similar successor, the IIIP) were reliable.<ref name=OLreliableIIPtechrepublic>{{cite web
   |url=https://www.techrepublic.com/pictures/cracking-open-hewlett-packards-iip-the-original-personal-laserjet-printer
   |title=Cracking open Hewlett Packard's IIP, the original personal LaserJet Printer
   |author=Erik Eckel |date=April 20, 2007 |access-date=January 12, 2023 |quote=years later it still worked}}</ref>

Aftermarket replacement scanner assemblies remain available today. {{Citation needed|date=January 2023}}

===1990s===
[[File:Laser,_Lens_and_Scanning_mirror_from_a_1991_HP_Laser_Printer.jpg|thumb|Laser and scanning mechanism from a 1991 LaserJet III]]
[[File:HP LaserJet 4.jpg|thumb|HP [[LaserJet 4]] series printer]]
In March 1990 HP introduced the LaserJet III, priced at US$2,395, with two new features: [[Resolution enhancement technology|Resolution Enhancement technology (REt)]], which dramatically increased print quality, and HP PCL 5.<ref name="hall" /> Thanks to PCL 5, text scaling became easy, and thus customers were no longer restricted to 10- and 12-point type sizes. This had a dramatic effect on [[Word processor|word processing]] software market.

The LaserJet IIID was the same as the LaserJet III except it had 2 paper trays and duplex printing. It sold for $4,995 in the fall of 1990.<ref name="hall" />

The first mass-market [[JetDirect|Ethernet network]] printer, the LaserJet IIISi, debuted in March 1991. Priced at $5,495, it featured a high-speed, 17 ppm engine, 5MB of memory, 300-dpi output, Image REt and such paper handling features as job stacking and optional [[duplex printing]]. The LaserJet IIISi also was HP's first printer to offer onboard [[PostScript|Adobe PostScript]] emulation as opposed to the font-cartridge solution offered on earlier models.<ref name=LaserJetIIISi17ppm>{{cite news |newspaper=[[The New York Times]]
	|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1991/03/10/business/the-executive-computer-if-superman-were-a-printer.html
	|title=The Executive Computer; If Superman Were a Printer . . .
	|author=Peter H. Lewis |date=March 10, 1991  |access-date=January 15, 2023}}</ref>

In October 1992, HP introduced the [[HP LaserJet 4|LaserJet 4]] featuring a Canon EX engine with native 600-dpi output and Microfine toner for US$2,199. This model also introduced [[TrueType]] fonts to LaserJets which ensured that the printer fonts exactly matched the fonts displayed on the computer screen.  (TrueType fonts could print on an original LaserJet Plus or later, but they would be printed as graphics, making the printing slow and restricted to a limited page area or reduced resolution.)<ref name="hall" /> Some competitors also utilized the Canon EX engine, including Apple (LaserWriter Pro 600 and 630), [[Digital Equipment Corporation]] (DEClaser 5100), and Canon.<ref>{{cite web
|url=https://visual.ly/users/driverhp123/portfolio
|title=TPW - EX Laser Printers Parts Catalog - Information}}</ref><ref>{{cite web 
|url=http://www.printerworks.com/Catalogs/EX-Catalog/EX-NewUsers.html |date=2014-11-29
|title=Printer Works, Inc  |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141129044103/http://www.printerworks.com/Catalogs/EX-Catalog/EX-NewUsers.html
|access-date=August 3, 2014|archive-date=November 29, 2014
}}</ref>

[[File:Hewlett-Packard JetDirect J2555-60001-48238.jpg|thumb|[[JetDirect]] J2555 print server card for connection to a [[Token Ring]] network]]
By installing an HP [[JetDirect]] print server card, a LaserJet 4 / 4M printer could be connected to a network, for example as a departmental printer in companies instead of the larger III&nbsp;Si and 4&nbsp;Si models.

In 2020 ''[[The New York Times]]'' wrote "by the 1990s, it was a staple of offices around the world."<ref name="StarkLaserNYT2020">{{cite news |author=Cade Metz |date=January 15, 2020 |title=Gary Starkweather, Inventor of the Laser Printer, Dies at 81 |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/15/technology/gary-starkweather-dead.html |access-date=January 12, 2023}}</ref> The flagship of the family was the LaserJet 4 SiMX, launched in May 1993. It had several network interfaces by default, both Ethernet, Appletalk and TokenRing.<ref>{{cite news |newspaper=[[InfoWorld]]
|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PTsEAAAAMBAJ&dq=hp%204si%20infoworld&pg=PA56
|title=HP ad in InfoWorld: Announcing the first network printer that adapts to multiple environments |date=May 24, 1993}}</ref> Instant-on fusing was introduced with the LaserJet 4L in the spring of 1993. It included a new low cost print engine.<ref name="hall" /> It sold for $1,229.

* In April 1994 HP shipped its 10-millionth LaserJet printer.
* In September 1994 HP introduced the Color LaserJet, the corporation's first color laser printer. The printer had an average cost per page of less than 10 cents. The Color LaserJet offered 2 ppm color printing and 10 ppm for black text, 8MB of memory, 45 built-in fonts, a 250-sheet paper tray and enhanced PCL 5 with color. It was priced at $7,295.
* In March 1995 HP introduced the [[HP LaserJet 5|LaserJet 5]] family of printers.<ref>{{cite web
   |url=http://www.hp.com/hpinfo/newsroom/feature_stories/2004/printerstimeline.pdf
   |title=Twenty Years of Innovation: HP LaserJet and Inkjet Printers 1984–2004|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070313204956/http://www.hp.com/hpinfo/newsroom/feature_stories/2004/printerstimeline.pdf |archive-date=March 13, 2007 }}</ref> They supported HP [[Printer Command Language|PCL]] 6, a printer-language which gave noticeably faster output – especially with complex, graphics-intensive documents. They also featured 600-dpi output with REt, and a 12 ppm engine. Prices started from $1,629. The models were updated next year.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.hp.com/peripherals/press/news/96apr29a.html
|title=New HP LaserJet 5, 5N and 5M Printers Provide Workgroups with Faster Graphics Printing, Improved Ease-of-use and Lower Price
|date=April 28, 1996|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/19970709175650/http://www.hp.com/peripherals/press/news/96apr29a.html
|archive-date=July 9, 1997
}}</ref>

The Color LaserJet 5 and 5M were introduced in March 1996, with 1200 dpi resolution.<ref>{{cite web
  |url=http://www.hp.com/peripherals/press/news/96mar18.html
  |date=March 18, 1995  |title=Color LaserJets: 5, 5M|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/19970709172007/http://www.hp.com/peripherals/press/news/96mar18.html |archive-date=July 9, 1997 }}</ref> The LaserJet 6P and 6MP were introduced October 1996. They included infrared technology, for wireless printing.

In November 1996 HP introduced the network-ready LaserJet 5Si,<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.thefreelibrary.com/HP+Introduces+World's+Most+Advanced+Network+Laser+Printer%3B+LaserJet...-a017547438 |title=LaserJet 5si |date=November 6, 1996 }}{{Dead link|date=July 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> a major revision and upgrade to the 3Si (IIISi) and 4Si, which had used the Canon NX engine.  The 5Si, based on the Canon WX engine, could thus provide 11"x17" printing at an unprecedented 24 pages per minute and at 600 dpi with resolution enhancement.  An internal duplexer enabled full-speed double-sided printing.  Automatic personality switching (between PCL and PostScript), a feature that first appeared on the 4SiMX, was standard on the 5SiMX.  The 5Si series were true workhorses, but initial production models were somewhat hobbled by a vulnerability to slightly low voltage (i.e. crashing if mains voltage was less than 120 Volts) as well as a weak clutch in Tray 3 (thus resulting in paper jamming for Tray 3 as well as the optional 2,000-sheet Tray 4), and also a weak solenoid in the manual feed tray (Tray 1).  These paper-handling issues were easily dealt with, and many 5Si LaserJets remain in service today.  The HP 5Si Mopier, a 5Si equipped with all available options, was marketed as the first network printer that was optimized to produce multiple original prints (mopies). It had a 100,000 copies-per-month duty cycle, and 24 ppm print speed.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/19970605114035/http://www.hp.com/pressrel/nov96/11nov96f.htm HP Press Release 11 November 1996] HP Introduces World's First Mopier</ref>
 
In 1997, HP introduced the [[HP LaserJet 4000 series|LaserJet 4000]] family of printers.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/19981203155103/http://www.hp.com/pressrel/nov97/10nov97.htm HP Press Release 10 November 1997] HP Introduces LaserJet 4000 Family of Printers</ref> They included features from the LaserJet 5 plus higher resolution of 1200 dpi.  These are mostly used in offices, and most recently in people's homes mainly to replace the LaserJet 4/5 series if the user had them previously. In 1999, HP released the LaserJet 4050 series, which was identical to the HP 4000 but with a faster formatter and an easily accessible paper registration area (where the paper is stopped, registered, and then advanced for printing; a flip-up cover here made clearing of this component easier.)  The 4000 series, as well as the 4050 and the 4100, used partly external duplexers.<ref name="HP4050LAT2007">{{cite news |author=Amber Dance |date=August 1, 2007 |title=Printing could be hazardous to your health |newspaper=[[The Los Angeles Times]] |url=https://rpgmaker.net/users/driver-hp/ |access-date=January 15, 2023}}</ref>

The world's first mass market [[Multifunction printer|all-in-one laser device]], the LaserJet 4101 MFP, debuted in April 1998. Users could print, fax, copy, and scan with a single appliance. In July 1998 HP shipped its 30-millionth LaserJet printer.

In February 1999, HP introduced the LaserJet 2100 printer series {{Citation needed|reason=please give a reliable source for this release date, as I bought one of these in summer 1998.|date=January 2011}}
– the world's first personal laser printers in their class{{Which|date=November 2009}} to offer high-quality 1200x1200-dpi resolution without significant performance loss.

In the network laser-printer market, the 5Si series was succeeded by the 8000, and later by the 8100 and 8150.  The 8000 brought 1200x1200-dpi resolution, which was continued in the 8100 and 8150.  The 8100 and 8150 brought faster printing (32 pages per minute), but this speed was only realized for single-sided (simplex) printing; double-sided printing remained at 24 pages per minute.  These models, which used the Canon WX engine, provided durability and good maintainability.

===2000s===
[[File:LaserJet1012.jpg|thumb|[[HP LaserJet 1012]], a low-end personal laser printer]]
[[File:HP Color LaserJet CP1510 software install disc.jpg|thumb|HP Color LaserJet software installation disc]]
In December 2000 HP shipped its 50-millionth LaserJet printer.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.hp.com/hpinfo/abouthp/histnfacts/museum/imagingprinting/0018/index.html |title=HP Virtual Museum: Hewlett-Packard LaserJet printer, 1984 |publisher=Hp.com |access-date=November 2, 2010}}</ref>

In September 2001 HP entered the low-end laser printer market with the introduction of the LaserJet 1000: the first sub-$250 LaserJet and the lowest-priced monochrome (black and white) LaserJet printer to date. It offered 10 ppm, an HP Instant-on fuser, 600 dpi with HP REt boosting output effectively to 1200 dpi, a 2.5-cent cost per page, and a 7,000-page monthly duty cycle.

In 2002, the 8150 was discontinued and was replaced by the 9000 series, which produced 50 pages per minute and used an internal duplexer. Meanwhile, the 4100 was replaced by the 4200 (later 4250) and 4300 (later 4350), which brought speeds of up to 55 pages per minute. In 2003 HP shipped its 75-millionth LaserJet printer.
 
In November 2003, HP entered the $24-billion copier market with the LaserJet 9055/9065/9085 MFPs(multifunction printers), a copier-based line of high-volume multifunction printers.

In 2006, total LaserJet sales had reached 100 million.<ref name="hall" />

{{As of | 2007}} HP has several lines of monochrome and color printers and multifunction products (copy, scan, and/or fax included) that range from 20 to 55 ppm and range in price from $149 to several thousand dollars.

===Evolution of control panel===
[[File:LaserJetPlus ControlPanel.jpg|thumb|HP LaserJet 500 Plus Control Panel: the original LaserJet two-character display provides a wide range of feedback, status, and error messages]]
[[File:LaserJet 4 Control Panel.jpg|thumb|[[HP LaserJet 4]] Control Panel: the two-character ready code "00" is a carryover from the original LaserJet display shown above, but the display now features 16 alphanumeric characters, allowing 13-character descriptive messages (after the number and a space).  Many options, such as font selection, paper size and tray selection, I/O settings, and test prints are also available at this control panel through a menu system.]]

The 1992 [[LaserJet 4L]] marked the transition between a control panel evolved for an informed operator and one evolved for a casual user. The 4L's predecessor, the IIIP, had an array of buttons and a cryptic numerical LCD. The 4L shipped with 4 LEDs, each with an icon to indicate a different condition, and a single pushbutton whose purpose varied depending on context (i.e. Hold down during printing, the printer will cancel the job. Hold down when off, the printer will power up and print a test page including total number of pages printed. A short press would provide a form feed or tell the printer to resume from a paper jam or out-of-paper condition. The actual application of the button was supposed to be far more intuitive than any possible written description – basically, the button tells the printer "whatever you're doing now, do the next most logical thing"). This interface was supposed to be easier for new and casual users to understand and use, but it was also much less powerful, as in any case there is only one thing a user can make the printer do. Until the user becomes familiar with the printer's behavior, they have to guess what that one thing is, or else consult the manual.

A 4L's four status LEDs will also light in unusual patterns to indicate service requirements; for example, a lit error light and a lit ready light would indicate a fuser problem (usually just needs to be reseated – most 4L problems can be resolved by simply disassembling the printer, cleaning it, then reassembling it).{{Citation needed|date=June 2010}}  This was much more cryptic than the alphanumeric display of earlier models like the II/IID III/IIID, IIP, and IIIP, as it was impossible to determine the meaning of the patterns of LEDs without comparing them against a manual (or having their meaning memorized, which some technicians exposed to them often might actually do, intentionally or not).  The 4L used early light pipes, with surface-mounted LEDs on the control board on the left side of the printer, and plastic channels to conduct light from the lit status LEDs to the top of the printer. The LaserJet 4/4 Plus/4M/4M Plus retained an alphanumeric display, and in fact upgraded from the LCD displays of earlier models by using a 16-character alphanumeric dot-matrix vacuum fluorescent display.  To this day, professional-grade LaserJets retain more comprehensive displays.

Before the 4L, the control panel typically had buttons with names like Online, Menu, Shift, Continue, Reset, +, -, and Form Feed.  It also included status indicators like Online and Ready.  Users without a technical background, especially those who had not used a printer before the late 1990s, might not understand these indicators, or might think they are conflicting or ambiguous.  It may not be intuitive to new users that a printer that is ready but offline does not print, and while being able to take the printer off line (effectively disconnecting it from the computer) without shutting it down can be very useful, this distinction may appear as an extra complication to users who want to casually use the printer merely as an information appliance.

When a Windows PC controls a LaserJet, the "Form Feed" button seldom does anything when pressed. It has a small indicator light, and was usually used with very simple DOS programs that did not eject the last page after sending data to the printer, though it could also be useful to print the data in the printer's memory if a program failed in the middle of sending a page to be printed. (In certain cases, this might be the only way to recover one's data in the event of a system crash that occurred while printing.)  The Form Feed button would print whatever was remaining in memory and prepare the printer to accept any new data as the start of a new page.  For at least some LaserJet models, notably the LaserJet 4[M][Plus], the printer must be switched off-line before the Form Feed button will work.  Most users of dot-matrix printers in the 1980s probably found the Online and Form Feed functions obvious, as most dot-matrix printers had these buttons and they worked similarly.  The indicator on the Form Feed button illuminates when there is received data in the printer's buffer; this makes it much easier to predict what will happen if the printer is put online and a new job is sent to it, or if sending of a job in progress is resumed.

Also, the "Online" button is actually a toggle switch, such that if the printer is already online, pressing Online makes the printer go offline and can be used to stop a runaway print job. Pressing Shift-Reset will then reset the printer, clearing the remainder of the unwanted document from the printer's memory, so that it will not continue to print it when brought back on line.  (Before resetting the printer, it is necessary to make the computer stop sending data for the print job to the printer, if it has not already finished sending that job, through the computer's software.  Otherwise, when the printer is put back online, it will start receiving the job from somewhere in the middle, which will likely cause the same runaway problem to recur.)

But by 1999 personal computers had embraced the [[Windows 95]] era and many of the original manual control buttons like Form Feed were no longer necessary, because the Windows 95 print-spooler subsystem offered even simple Windows applications a much greater control over the printer than was available to DOS applications, which had to each independently rebuild and re-engineer basic printer management systems from scratch. This new Windows-oriented interface was highly intuitive and obvious to the casual user, who needed little familiarization with the printer to use it effectively.

Raw, unformatted, text-only support still exists, but the professional LaserJet printers{{Which|date=November 2009}} keep it hidden away. Most professional LaserJet printers include a PCL menu where the number of copies, the font style, portrait or landscape printing, and the number of lines-per-page can be defined. These settings are ignored by graphical PCL/Postscript print drivers, and are only used for those rare situations where a LaserJet is used to emulate a lineprinter.

[[File:HP LaserJet 4000n Control Panel.jpg|thumb|upright|[[HP LaserJet 4000 series#LaserJet 4000|HP LaserJet 4000]] control panel, with backlit LC-display and a more intuitive user interface]]

With the advent of the [[HP LaserJet 4000 series|LaserJet 4000]] in 1997, the control panel was completely redesigned. The '''Shift''' button,  which might have been confusing, was gone. There was a '''Menu''', an '''Item''' and a '''Value''' button. Each of these might be clicked left or right. There was a '''Select''' button, a large green '''Go''' button, and a small orange '''Cancel Job''' button. Configuration through the control panel was easier and more intuitive: menus could be navigated with the '''Menu''' button. Then, items within the menu selected with the '''Item''' button. The '''Value''' button – which had '''-''' (decrease) and '''+''' (increase) indications – could be used to select a specific setting or value. The '''Select''' button was used to select or confirm a particular choice. The display was adapted to a blue-backlit two-line LCD display.

Newer models such as the LaserJet 600 series now include a full color LCD display. Two directional arrow buttons and a '''Ok''' button replace the multiple menu navigation buttons of the 4000 series.<ref>{{cite web|title=LaserJet Enterprise 600 M601, M602, And M603 Series Printer User Guide|url=http://h20628.www2.hp.com/km-ext/kmcsdirect/emr_na-c02677203-7.pdf|access-date=20 February 2014|page=28|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140223220444/http://h20628.www2.hp.com/km-ext/kmcsdirect/emr_na-c02677203-7.pdf|archive-date=2014-02-23|url-status=dead}}</ref> A numeric keypad and other specialized buttons are also included for job storage, copy, and fax usage on models with those features.

===Key innovations===
{{Div col}} 
* Spring 1984 – First HP LaserJet
* Summer 1994 – First HP Color LaserJet
* Spring 1997 – First printer-based multifunction device
* Spring 2006 – World's smallest-footprint LaserJet
* Summer 2011 – HP Extraordinary Colors
* Spring 2015 – JetIntelligence
{{Div col end}}

===Industry firsts===
{{Div col}} 
* Spring 1984 – Personal laser printing
* March 1991 – Ethernet network printing
* April 1993 – Web Jetadmin
* November 2005 – Universal Print Driver
{{Div col end}}