Spending $2000 on a “desktop” laser doesn’t mean you have to settle for hobby-grade results—but it does mean you need to shop like a pro. Below are the specs, accessories, and service questions that separate machines you’ll outgrow in three months from units that can actually pay the rent.

1. Tube Power ≥ 45 W (Real, Not Marketing)

• 40 W is the floor for 1-pass 3 mm plywood.
• 45–55 W lets you cut 10 mm acrylic or 12 mm birch without slowing to a crawl.
• At $2000 you can land 50 W (OMTech Polar) or even 55 W during xTool P2 promotions—both are genuine glass-DSP tubes, not diode “equivalents” .

2. Work Area & Z-Height That Fit Real Stock

• Bed size: 500 × 300 mm is the practical minimum for A2 signs or 12″×20″ craft ply.
• Pass-through: Look for a motorized slot; hand-sliding a door doesn’t count. xTool P2 feeds 118 in (3 m) stock, Glowforge Basic has no slot at all .
• Z-clearance: 50 mm is okay; 70 mm+ (P2 with Riser) lets you drop in pre-made boxes or 30-oz tumblers without removing the base .

3. Rotary or Ready-for-Rotary

Cylindrical goods (tumblers, growlers, insulated bottles) carry the highest margin per minute of cut time.

• Bundled rotary: P2 55 W bundle includes RA2 Pro (chuck + roller) at $1999 street .
• Retrofit cost: Adding a rotary later runs $300-$450 plus mounting brackets—factor that into any “bare-bones” machine.

4. Software Freedom

• Cloud-only (Glowforge) means no internet, no job—plus file size caps.
• Offline + LightBurn (Polar, P2) gives you layered settings, node editing, and repeatable libraries—critical for batch production .

5. Speed That Shows Up on the Clock

Engraving speed is what kills or saves you on large fill areas.

• 140 mm/s (Glowforge Basic) vs. 600 mm/s (P2, Polar) equals a 4× difference in real time; a 200 × 300 mm photo at 300 DPI finishes in 9 min vs. 38 min .

6. Optics & Focus That Forgive Beginners

• Dual cameras (wide + macro) let you trace a hand-drawn shape in seconds and auto-correct for curved surfaces—huge for slate coasters or pre-shaped wood.
• Auto-focus plus air-assist (built-in on P2, optional on Polar) keeps edges caramel instead of charcoal.

7. Warranty & Stateside Support

• 12 months is standard (Glowforge, xTool).
• 24 months (OMTech) can pay for itself if a tube or power supply dies in month 18 .
  Check that replacement tubes ship from your own country, not from overseas with $150 freight.

8. Hidden Cost Checklist

Add these to the headline price before you click “buy”:

Typical 2025 street price after coupons .

9. Safety & Certification

• Class 1 fully enclosed = safe for classroom or home office.
• Panic button, auto-shutoff lid, fire-suppressant gasket are not gimmicks—insurance inspectors look for them.
  P2 adds an internal temp sensor that pauses the job if the cabinet exceeds 55 °C .

10. Upgrade Path

Ask: “What happens when I outgrow this?”

• Glowforge: no bigger tube, no bigger bed—you buy the next machine.
• xTool / OMTech: you can keep the chassis and slide in a 70 W or 80 W tube, or add a fiber hybrid later.

Bottom Line—Pro’s Scorecard Under $2000

• Best all-around package → xTool P2 55 W bundle when on sale ($1999)
• Best warranty & support → OMTech Polar 50 W ($1999)
• Easiest learning curve → Glowforge Basic ($1699), but budget another $900–$1000 to match P2’s out-of-box capability.

Buy the machine that eliminates the next upgrade, not the one that only meets today’s wish-list—because in the laser game, downtime is the real four-letter word.