Canon's LBP-5200 offers straightforward colour laser printing for a single machine or small workgroup. Unfortunately, you'll be struggling to get it to work with Mac OS or Linux

The FS-1030D comes well recommended with above average print speeds and quality. Its compact size means it's especially ideal for those with minimal office space.

If space is at a premium in your office and you aren't too concerned about print quality or page costs, the Samsung CLP-300N makes an easy-to-use, no-nonsense color printer.

The Konica Minolta Magicolor 2530DL is an economical choice for printing text and photos, if space and convenience are more important to you than print quality. It will appeal especially to professionals in need of quick, tolerable-quality photo prints from a digital camera.

With many photo-centric features such as film scanning, the easy-to-use Canon Pixma MP960 will appeal to photographers who work with both film and digital cameras. It performs most tasks quickly and makes superb photo prints.

While there are some minor flaws, Fuji Xerox's DocuPrint C1110 is a great colour laser printer with fantastic everyday colour quality.

The MFC-7840W improves on its cheaper counterparts with the addition of Wi-Fi connectivity. However, the extra $100 compared to the MFC-7440N hardly seems justified. This multifunction makes a good printer, but its scanning quality isn't great.

Oki's B4400n deserves credit for its performance and its sturdy design. Even the seemingly ho-hum monochrome printer category has hot competition, though, and other printers offer as many or more features for less money.

With fast performance and built-in Ethernet, the HP Officejet 7210 all-in-one is a top inkjet MFP for office. And it produces superb-looking photos to boot.

Although this versatile unit requires a hefty initial outlay and its upkeep will cost you close to $20 for each of its six ink tanks, the quality of its photo prints, scanning and photocopying is excellent.

This printer is definitely a good choice for the busy small office due to its speed, print quality and excellent range of connectivity options.