• Single File - An HTML "page" tends to be composed of many separate files.  This makes the document as a whole difficult to create and maintain.  A PCL document is normally a single file.
• No Conversion/Fast Turnaround without Proofing - Even relatively simple text formatting cannot be easily translated to HTML.  For example, the SwiftView Configuration Manual is 100% text, about 40 pages long, and is maintained in Microsoft Word.  Both Microsoft Word's Internet Assistant and QuadSoft's HotMetal Pro can convert it to HTML, but neither handles the indents, columns and a number of other issues properly.  The result is many hours of effort to "finish converting" it to HTML each time the manual is released.  The PCL manual can be "created" in less than 30 seconds without special software or special review: we just print-to-file and put it on our website.  This allowed us to easily split the manual recently, take a look at both.  The "creation" and upload can even be automated!
• True Formatting - The lack of true formatting in HTML can be a problem for many documents.  For example, what if your original document is a training or reference manual which says "see page 23 for details"?  In HTML, there are no pages without substantial, special work whose result is most often awkward to use.  With PCL, pages, page numbers, headers and footers are all preserved.  With PCL, the entire document is real and identical to the original, because it IS the original.
• Accurate Appearance - If you expect users to print pages, HTML cannot reliably reproduce the exact appearance of the onscreen page on paper.  PCL can, because it is the printer format.

PDF, due to its PostScript heritage, and ongoing development in the graphic arts industry, has many more features, especially in rendering color photos and graphics.  As a result, PDF is the language of choice for documents which require highly accurate color reproduction.  It also is MASSIVELY more complex than PCL, HPGL, or TIFF, making it difficult to reliably display and print any PDF file.

Because PDF is not an actual print format (except for a few very expensive, large production printers) most documents are printed to PCL office printers when proofing PDF conversions.  Because the PDF becomes PCL before printing, this additional conversion can and does introduce errors, altering the document's appearance and content, so documents must always be re-checked ONLINE with Acrobat for accuracy.  This is much harder than with a real paper copy.  Thus, PDF is best suited for single-version, graphics-intensive, high-color documents with few authors and many readers, supporting the extra proofing steps.  For most other applications: large reports, business-to-business communications, document sharing, and engineering drawings, PCL and HPGL are clearly better portable document formats.

PCL has several key advantages over PDF because:

PCL is the document print stream - it inherently maintains the document's true appearance
PCL is the standard stream of data accepted by all HP LaserJet and compatible printers - most office printers in the world.  Because it is a print format, you can simply copy PCL into a LaserJet any time from a DOS command line and you have the original document on paper again.  Because PDF is a converted version of the document and does print directly to your printer, PDF can and often does modify the original appearance of the document. For example, PCL files printed from documents that contain mixed page sizes, such as mortage closing packages and legal contracts, will always print on the proper sized pages (if the printer supports multiple paper sizes).  The same document in PDF, printed from Acrobat Reader, will not print on the correct paper sizes.  Furthermore, because PDF depends on Acrobat for printing, printing PDF is slow and error-prone.

Capturing PCL from your documents is free, easy, and zero-cost.
Any program that prints on a LaserJet printer can output PCL for free.  On Windows, capturing PCL is as simple as clicking the "print to file" box in the Windows print dialogue.  On UNIX systems, it's easy to redirect capture of the print queue.  Adobe Acrobat authoring software costs up to $449 per user, and is relatively difficult to implement on production systems.  Finally, and most importantly, since PDF documents are conversions, each must be carefully examined to ensure integrity, a time-consuming QA process. 

SwiftPublish allows you to automate capture of zipped PCL print files directly from Windows applications.  It also insures that the resulting PCL file is fully searchable (a problem in the Windows print environment.)

PCL files are generally smaller than PDF files, and always smaller when zipped
Zipped PCL files are up to 32 times smaller than PDF equivalents for normal business documents.  SwiftView directly views industry-standard ZIP-compressed PCL files.  Acrobat Reader cannot view zipped PDF. 

Even documents with substantial graphics—what PDF is best at—can be smaller in zipped PCL than in PDF.  This advantage translates to substantially faster document and drawing viewing, as well as reduced server and Internet connection loads.  On the Internet, the display speed of zipped PCL over PDF is dramatic, and is completely transparent to users: SwiftView views the file just as if it was unzipped, except much sooner!

PCL inherently renders more easily and quickly than PDF for many documents. 
Users printing large documents or many documents select PCL over PostScript or PDF because PCL's relative simplicity enables much faster viewing and printing speeds. 

PCL is an open standard
The most important definition of "open" is the ability to change vendors while retaining control over data.  Companies who adopt widely-used open standards like PCL and HPGL will always have a choice of vendors who drive one another to produce higher quality software because they are truly competitive.  Users of Adobe's proprietary formats must generally use only Adobe-driven technology.  Competing implementations for creating and reading PDF are weak at best, keeping PDF users captive to Adobe.  Acrobat Reader, like most free software, has few updates and support is nonexistent. 

Better, faster tools for real productivity
Of course one of PCL's biggest advantages is the SwiftView viewer!  But PCL's inherent speed and simplicity make other PCL tools better, such as the high-performance Direct Mail tools from Jet Letter and Mailing Innovations.  Most report and forms generators output PCL because it is very easy to take a simple text file and add PCL formatting to it.