Get a cheap consumer black and white laser printer and never look back. I can't think of any time I've needed or wanted to print color. For photos and such send them off to be printed with real photo printers.
I print my occasional shipping label et al. at work (shh!), but did the same for my parents. I don't like Samsung with anything creative, but their simple black and white laser printers seem great and even have official Linux support.
We came to the same conclusion. My wife is a teacher and we often print her notes, tests, homework assignments, and worksheets to be copied at school. The B&W laser "just works" and is both fast and economical.