Depends what you are looking for, for reports and such a higher end
laser printer
works well, color ones are probably the best. Have always been partial
to Xerox Phasers. For display even the best lasers have too much
dithering. For cheap MIS associates (www.inkjet.com) makes a B&W ink
set for the Epson 8XC printers that has been well received, $80 for the
printer $53 for the B&W inks. Otherwise the Epson 2200, maybe the Epson
R series, and probably the HP Designjet 30 and 130.

Tom

Typically, ink cost estimates are based on 5% coverage per page,
which is not very useful when judging picture printing costs.
But a laser printer will print about 5000 pages with an $80 cartridge
versus a few hundred 5% pages with a $50 black cartridge in an
ink jet.  If you increase coverage to say 50% a laserprinter will
still provide 500 pages, but with an inkjet you'd be lucky to get 50,
depending on the machine you're using.
Ink jets will produce a better greyscale, but of course kill you
with the ink cost.  That's how they make their money.
Laser printers are far more economical but have (in the lower cost
units) limited resolution levels. But lasers can also print on lesser
grade paper stocks with greater fidelity than inkjets because laser
ink isn't "wet."  To get good results with an inkjet, you need glossy
picture paper which costs anywhere from $.40 to $2.00 a page,
depending on the quality and company.  
-Rich

For excellent quality low-cost B&W printing, I'm using an Epson C86 with
MIS EZ inks (see http://www.inksupply.com NAYYY).  I think you can find the
printer for about 80 bucks.  For paper, I mostly use Epson Enhanced
Matte...for more archival prints, Hahnemuhle Photo Rag.  

Look at Paul Roark's page for more info on the whole EZ system:
http://home1.gte.net/res09aij/C86-EZ-UT-Readme.htm

There is an active group on YahooGroups at
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint that discusses
digital B&W printing extensively...the discussion is largely
Epson-oriented, but others are discussed from time to time...you'll see
that there are a lot of options for good B&W printing...but IMO, the best
inexpensive solution is the C86/EZ combo.

Have fun!

Lee