I constantly print with heavy color usage as a Junior in a graphic design/interaction design BFA program. After painstaking research, I bought a Canon and some refillable ink cartridges. I pay more for paper than ink, which I get for about $15/liter! The print drivers don't accept CMYK— they only accept RGB and do their own internal conversion— so exact color correction is a challenge. Even still, it's passable for proofing/critique prints without fussing or even decent prints of photographs. It would absolutely meet the needs of a casual user.
The thing is pretty cheaply built so it's janky as all get-out, but ink included, I haven't touched the expense of the cheapest laser printers— maybe half. I'll upgrade when its limitations outweigh the benefits.
(watch out— it won't work on every model. It looks like some cartridge companies sell refillables for models they know won't work without official cartridges, so do some reading!)
The thing is pretty cheaply built so it's janky as all get-out, but ink included, I haven't touched the expense of the cheapest laser printers— maybe half. I'll upgrade when its limitations outweigh the benefits.
(watch out— it won't work on every model. It looks like some cartridge companies sell refillables for models they know won't work without official cartridges, so do some reading!)