HP aims for more prints from laser printers with new cartridge

The company has developed an all-new cartridge based on a refined chemical formula that will make frequent replacing of cartridges less of a headache. The new cartridges will first go into entry-level LaserJets being announced Tuesday by HP, and then later this year into advanced multifunction printers.

Cartridges in HP's laser printers have particles that are melted and then infused on paper. The new cartridge -- also called HP Toner cartridge with JetIntelligence -- has a new chemical composition in which particles require less heat to melt. That could save energy and yield more prints per cartridge.

HP estimates that the new cartridges could print 58 percent more color pages and 28 percent more black-and-white prints compared to current cartridge technology, said Troy Browne, marketing manager for HP's LaserJet business.

The larger printer yield is also due to better efficiency in melting particles. The new cartridges give HP the flexibility to make laser printers smaller or offer increased printing capacity from cartridges the same size.

The print quality of the new cartridges will remain the same as its predecessors. The bad news: the new cartridges will work only on new LaserJets, not on older models.

The first LaserJets to get the new cartridge technology will be the low-end Color LaserJet Pro M252 series and the Color LaserJet Pro MFP M277 series, which will print up to 18 A4 pages per minute. Printer models in the series will be offered with Gigabit Ethernet, wireless connectivity and other options. The printers can print from Apple and Android mobile devices, besides PCs and Macs.

The new cartridge will also go into the mid-range Color LaserJet Enterprise M552 and M553 printers, which are targeted at work groups of up to 15 users printing up to 6,000 pages per month, HP said.

Prices for the new printers weren't immediately available.

Agam Shah covers PCs, tablets, servers, chips and semiconductors for IDG News Service. Follow Agam on Twitter at @agamsh. Agam's e-mail address is agam_shah@idg.com