Rating exceptionally well in the TCO portion of our analysis, the PagePro 1200W scored almost twice the average for purchase price due to its incredibly low retail price. Don’t be fooled by the price tag though, this unit features plenty of qualities some other more expensive printers can only dream about.

HP has a huge range of laser printers, stretching from enormous 50ppm A3 corporate behemoths with full finishing capabilities to diminutive 10ppm personal lasers. Of all the printers in its considerable arsenal, its biggest seller by far is the LaserJet 4100 series...

Despite the recent flood of low-priced, high-quality inkjet printers, theres been comparatively little movement on the budget laser front, with Kyoceras FS-1000 (reviewed issue 34, p85) dominating our A-List since September last year.

Canon's S820 has persistently fought off numerous challengers and remains one of the best photo printers on the market.

A tiny, fast personal laser printer with a temping price and great quality.

One of the most impressive printers we received, it features plenty of well-thought out and logical technical features. One of only a handful of printers we tested that had an LCD for displaying print information and settings, the B4300 has eight single press buttons allowing you to view menu options, change values and cancel print jobs.

We originally debated whether or not to include a multifunction unit in this roundup as we feared it would not have been an apples with apples comparison, or that the print quality could not compare with the other printers on test. Given the performance of the SCX-4216F though, we were proven wrong.

It is all well and good selecting expensive printers based on the quality of the photo prints they produce, but the general home user often wants something that can do basic print jobs well, and make the kids' homework look good.

Epson has two current specialist photo printers and the model which takes care of the lower end is the $399 Stylus Photo 810.

For a laser printer manufacturer, GCC has an unusual history. Formed in 1981, the company originally developed enhancements for coin-operated video games such as Ataris Missile Command and also brought us PacMan.

Impressive print quality, a good turn of speed and decent features, but it simply costs too much to own.

Yet another solid HP laser, but it’s beaten by ?rivals in virtually every key area.

A great printer for the road with a microscopic footprint, but average performance holds it back from greatness.

Good print speed, high expansion potential and quality colour output makes the C9650n a great total printing machine.

One of the largest form factor printers in our roundup, HP’s Colour LaserJet 1500L has a giant footprint. Although not unattractive, with a purple ramp-like front cover, be prepared to sacrifice a reasonably sized piece of office real estate for this printer.

The market for specialised compact photo printers remains relatively small, but as prices come down for printers and digital cameras, they are becoming more popular. As digital camera prices come down and more cameras have direct printer connectivity, a small photo printer becomes a viable accessory.

As most of the devices we tested consisted of inkjet units, we were interested to see how the laser printer in the MFC-4600 stacked up. Relatively lacking in features, the MFC-4600 is geared toward productivity, performing well in our speed tests.

Output quality is an undoubted strength, as are its looks, but most businesses will find the lack of capacity annoying.

A compact workgroup laser suited to high-volume colour and mono printing, but delivering average photo quality

Quality, speed and a huge array of features go some way to justifying the price