Printers below $100 for Macbook Pro OSX 10.6.8

Question

I'm looking to finally purchase a printer, but am on a tight budget and am not tech savvy at all.  I prefer something that isn't too high tech that can print in color, maybe also scan and has low cost ink.  Any suggestions or pointers?

Answer 1

I'm with cricketernot and suggest using a laser printer for printing, and then take a USB thumb drive to a drug store (or similar) photo printing service if you want color prints.
Inkjet printers, especially color have down the road cost issues.  You have to buy multiple expensive ink cartridges and end up running out of just one color.  The inks you tend to get with the printer tend to be of limited capacity so that you quickly run out and need to buy more ink.
Laser printers tend to last longer on 1 toner cartridge.  And if you get a printer with Postscript support, these printers generally continue to work long after the manufacturer stops developing drivers for your printer, as generic Postscript drivers are generally always available as part of the host OS.
The next issue is how you intend to connect the printer to your Macbook Pro.  USB, which means you have to attached your Macbook Pro whenever you want to print.
If your home router also has a built-in print server, then you need to find out what printers your router supports, as not all printers will be supported.
If you are going to a printer with network support, then you need to decide if ethernet attached to your router is good enough, or if you need WiFi support in your printer.
If you are also getting Scanner/FAX support in your printer, you should check the reviews to make sure it works with Mac OS X.  The ability to scan over the network, generally requires that the manufacture provide Mac OS X drivers, and often they need to update those drivers with each Mac OS X major release.