You could label them as fast and furious. But honestly, the laser printers have actually saved the day for many organizations. The inkjet and dot-matrix printers with their slow as turtle speeds had many people tearing their hair out. When laser printers came along, they truly simplified lives, and goes without saying, multiplied productivity.

So how do you go about buying this must-have for your office/SOHO? The first criterion is the budget - how feature-rich the printer is will depend on how much you are willing to spend on it.

BUDGET
You may already have a budget in mind as to how much you would like to spend. Laser printers range from Rs 4,500 to Rs 3,09,999 depending upon the print speed and the print resolution. This includes both monochrome as well as colour printers. Monochrome laser printer starts from the price range of Rs 4,500 to Rs 228,000 whereas colour laser printers range from Rs 6,900 to Rs 3,09,999. The capacity also affects the price. Naturally, the high-end ones will have a larger print capacity than the entry or mid-level printers.

You also need to know the key factors that affect the price of the printer. This will help you take a call on the features and capabilities you want your printer to have.

PRINTER TYPE
Like in inkjet printers, laser printers too have two types – monochrome and colour. The monochrome is much less expensive, so if your work doesn't require colour printouts, then this is your ideal choice. Colour printers, on the other hand, are expensive but are absolutely essential for those who deal with graphics or require colour printouts of presentations, etc. The print quality is really good.

The other important aspect you need to consider when choosing a printer is the resolution. The resolution of a printer refers to its sharpness and clarity and hence is an important determinant of its quality. Printer resolution (the sharpness of text and images on paper) is usually measured in dots per inch (dpi). Most inexpensive printers provide sufficient resolution for most purposes at 600 dpi. Higher resolution (1200 dpi and above) offers better quality graphics and image sharpness.

• Basic Resolution (600X600 dpi and below)
Extra fast (more than 35 sheets per minute) for text printing or black and white graphics printing.

• High Resolution (1200X1200 dpi and above)
Fast (between 21 and 35 sheets per minute) or Regular (Less than 20 sheets per minute) for high quality colour printouts like brochures and posters, you can compromise on speed.

Here it must be noted that black and white printing is faster than colour printing and graphics printing. It is advisable to not just buy on the basis of a high-resolution figure. if possible, try taking a printout from the machine you want to buy. All manufacturers provide print samples on request and this will let you determine the effectiveness of the resolution.