HP is still the best-known name in laser printers and the LaserJet P2014 is a mid-range device intended for personal use. Its straight-cut, beige lines are functional and modern without being a design statement. Just two buttons, to start and stop a print job, are set into its top surface and a column of six indicators provides status information.

At the bottom of the front panel is a 250-sheet paper tray, with a 50-sheet multipurpose tray positioned directly above that. Paper feeds to a deep indent in the printer's top surface. At the back are sockets for USB 2 and parallel connections; there's no internal network option for this printer, either cabled or wireless.

A large button on the top panel releases the cover to the drum and toner cartridge and this single-piece unit is the only consumable. It's available in 3,000-sheet and 7,000-sheet capacities and is supplied pre-installed, though you have to remove it and pull off a packing cover before you can use the machine.

There are three criteria to consider when choosing a mono laser printer: print quality, print speed and print cost. The quality of prints from the LaserJet P2014 is remarkably good. Text is clean, sharp and densely black, but the surprising thing is that photographic prints are also well reproduced, with little apparent banding and good levels of detail. It's unusual for a mono laser to be good in this area.

Print speeds are also very acceptable. HP quotes a top speed of 23ppm for the LaserJet P2014 and we achieved 17ppm under test. Considering that we always measure the processing as well as printing times, it says quite a bit about the LaserJet's instant-on fuser, which requires very little warm-up time. This is important in a printer that will only be printing infrequently, as you will most probably be starting from a sleep state - when this printer is only drawing a commendable seven watts.

If you shop around, the 7,000-sheet print cartridge can be had for just over £85, giving a page cost of around 2p, with 0.7p of that the cost of paper. This cost per page is slightly higher than average for a printer at this price. However, a 7,000-sheet capacity in what is primarily a personal laser, means you won't need to replace the cartridge often, and this helps keep overall cost of ownership down.

Although inkjet printers have taken the lion's share of personal printer sales in the last few years, there's still a market for a no-nonsense mono laser that produces good quality print, quickly and at reasonable cost. That's what the LaserJet P2014 does for under £150, so it should be well up your shortlist of possible SOHO printers.