Labs

The P2014 is one of this month's less sophisticated printers: there's no duplex, no LCD screen, and the one-year warranty obliges you to return the unit to base. But it's pleasingly compact and sturdy, it's this month's quietest printer (though admittedly not by much), and there's plenty to like about the way it works.

For one thing, it's fast, whizzing out pages at the very respectable rate of 23 per minute - the second best score of the group, behind only the Lexmark. HP's 'Instant On' system nearly lives up to its name: just eight seconds

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elapsed between our hitting Print and the P2014 waking up and getting to work.

HP printers also tend to deliver exceptional output quality, and the P2014 didn't disappoint on this score. Text was crisp and very readable even at small sizes, and our test images came out with lovely smooth gradients, sharp detail, and perfectly even shades of grey.

At £126 the P2014 isn't remarkably cheap, but nor is it expensive by laser printer standards, and it does come with a full 3000 page toner cartridge in the box. Once this is gone, though, running costs are on the high side, with additional 3000 page cartridges costing around £60, or 2p per page. The high-yield cartridges are much better value, at around £80 for 7000 pages, but even so the HP is nowhere near the top of the value rankings.

Despite that, the P2104 is a hugely likeable printer, and it's tempting to overlook its slightly high running costs in light of the excellent print quality and performance - especially if you won't be printing huge amounts. Before you take the plunge, though, check out the Brother HL-2140, which is nearly as good and costs a lot less.