Personal lasers formed the bridge between early blasters and such things as neutron pulse rifles and sonic pistols. Today, of all the major manufacutures, only Drearian Deffense Conglomerate continues production of such weapons. Becasue of the fact that thier discharge is at the speed of light, unlike the typical blaster 1/500,000c velocity, they are easier to hit with at longer ranges. They also have no recoil, and require only power cells, not blaster gases. This has made them very desirable to forces who must work in low or zero gravity situations. It should be noted that they are about 10% bulkier than comperable blasters, and not as powerful. They also are not as power efficent.
They are not very common, and most of those that are out there in the hands of corporate security forces, the Imperial Navy, scouts, and (unfortuantley) pirates and Rebels.