Laser based 3d printers (largely Selective laser sintering and stereolithography) also tend to be far, far more expensive than FDM (extruder based) machines. There are some pretty good FDMs that are approaching the point where you can't see or feel the individual layers in the print.
I have seen a little bit of work in the area of people using laser engravers (you can get one for about $2k out of china) as minimal SLS machines. Other than that I don't think there is any SLS printer in the hobbyist arena.
