A multifunction printer that also scans, photocopies, and even sends faxes can be a welcome space-saver for a crowded office. For maximum efficiency, your company needs a machine that can shave precious seconds and minutes off of long paper-handling projects. These laser prodigies print, scan, and copy pages faster on average than their rivals--and most cost less than $500.

In CNET Labs' tests, each of these picks achieved laser text printing speeds of around or above 15 pages per minute (ppm). Two Brothers were the fastest printers in the bunch; both the MFC-8220 and MFC-8440 created good text and fair grayscale graphics prints, though the MFC-8440 did a downright grim job with color scans.

In some cases, speed can sacrifice output quality--not so with the excellent prints and good scans of the Samsung SCX-4720F. Among this collection of devices, you can expect speed averages of about 5.4ppm for grayscale scans, 3.5ppm for color scans, and 6ppm for photocopies.