Printer advice, please! (re: project life)

[MathGoddess]

Hello,

I am an avid papercrafter, but I have never gotten into the swing of scrapbooking. I am gung-ho about Project Life this year, although I will likely do a bit of a hybrid of the kit and my own stash.

My question is: do you use a photo printer at home? I think it would make the project easier if I didn't have to run out and pick up photos all the time. So, I am looking for something that

a) will print 4 x 6 (I understand that some of printers don't give a "true" 4 x 6)

b) has multiple colour cartridges so that I don't have to replace the whole thing for one colour

c) is under $150

d) is not necessarily an all-in-one, since we do have a fairly good wireless laser printer. It also doesn't need to be wireless as I will be printing from my laptop on the desk beside the printer. From the little bit of research I have done, it seems that it is not more expensive to get an all-in-one, but will I be sacrificing the quality of the photo printing to get the other tools?

Any models, makes you love, or avoid?

Of course, I would love a 12x12 printer and have drooled over the EPSON that I see Ali Edwards is using, but at $500, not likely something I can convince DH we *need*.

Thanks again!

[Yvette.S]

I just bought the Epson Charm, it only prints 4x6, but it does a fabulous job! I am really impressed with this little unit. I also have a large format Epson, but I think it's just about done (it has been a workhorse for over 6 years, so no complaints).

[JanTInk]

I love Epson printers and will use nothing else for scrapbooking and photographic printing.

I have the Epson PictureMate (the Charm's predecessor) and while the cartridges are not separate, they last a long time.

I also have the Epson Stylus Photo 1400. It's not that expensive (only $199 or thereabouts) and the ink is not too expensive if you buy it from Amazon. You can print up to 13 x 19, which is what I do to print layouts, then I trim them down. But it can also take a smaller sized paper. The ink cartridges last a long time and do not gel and clog if they sit for a while unused , which is a problem I've always had before with other printers.