In November 2002 HP released the Color LaserJet 5500 as the replacement for the LaserJet 8500 and 8550 (1998).

The 5500 is essentially a wide-format version of the 17 ppm Color LaserJet 4600 (June 2002), which was the first printer to use HP's in-line direct to paper technology, rather than four-pass printing. The 5500 prints color at the same speed as black-and-white (21ppm letter), and has a first-page-out time of 18 seconds (from a "ready" state).

The same single-pass engine (EP-86) is utilized in the 22 ppm Canon Satera LBP-2710/2810,5700/5800 (Japan) and ImageClass C3500 MFP (North America).

Both the HP and Canon models use four all-in-one toner cartridges, a fuser kit and an imaging kit. A chip is required on remanufactured cartridges for correct printer operation.

HP Color LaserJet 5550