The other nice thing about a laser printer is they’re really fast and the print doesn’t smudge. If you can live without color, a laser printer has lots of advantages. My thinking is I’ll just go to Kinkos if I need color prints. So far in three years that has happened only once. The rest of the time having this fast, tiny, inexpensive monochrome laser has been perfect.
I have thought the same thing on many occasions. When we design cards for Christmas, I usually just have them printed at Sam's Club or Costco. The price is cheap, they come on nice paper with nice envelopes that fit them, and they look spectacular. The only disadvantage is that it is a little unpredictable if you are using photos, how well the color will match your computer screen. There is usually some type of profile that you can use to try and calibrate, but there is nothing quite like seeing an actual example in your hand.
So being a bit of a photography enthusiast it is hard for me to not have a color printer.