For the consumer market, the best photo quality still comes from inkjet printers. Laser printers would be the better choice for B & W as far as cost per page. As for durability, that comes with a price and so your $150 budget isn't going to promise you years of reliability. You're mention that your printer will see limited use also works against you with an inkjet printer. You will waste a lot of ink due to cleaning cycles and risk clogging of the print head due to drying of the ink. As well, that $150. just gets you a printer and "starter" cartridges which means they are not full and produce only a few pages. Your major cost will be in ink. Perhaps you'd be better off to figure cost per page or cost per print. If it weren't that you wanted the best print quality, I'd suggest a color laser type. Their text quality and their color quality for brochures and such will be quite good but photo quality will be lacking when compared to good inkjets. Laser printers also don't need cleaning cycles and don't dry out between uses. It does sound as though your purposes would be better suited by an inkjet printer but be prepared for the higher cost per page. As for brands, I've always used HP color inkjets and have an HP B & W laserjet that's been running well for 8 or 10 years. HP made printers long before they made PCs and do a decent job (IMO) in that market. Epson and Canon also do well. One thing you will also want to consider is the availability of ink locally. Check out your office supply stores to see what ink stock they carry. A good price on a printer without ink readily available isn't a good deal. Best of luck.