In the past to save money, I had 2 printers. 1 cheap brother/samsung B&W laser printer, and a high quality inkjet for color. The B&W allowed me to print lots of documents for homework, brochures, and flyers cheaply using toner refills. The inkjet was used for the occasional photo's or graphics to include in my reports. This worked very well for me at the time.
Then I had money saved up so I bought a brother color laser printer, which was pretty cheap. I've used it for thousands of pages for my work and club activities. I love duplex printing and the speed of the printer. The negative is color printing on brother printers is poor across the lineup.
Now I'm looking to upgrade again so getting the HP M451 printer. Great photo quality which I'll use for my graphics design hobby now. However the toner and printer are more expensive than the brother.
Figure out exactly what you need, then figure out the best printer for your needs.