Every now and again you can score a good deal, right now some of the photo stores (B&H and Adorama) are having a special with a canon camera body and a pixima 9000/9500 mark II printer you can get either a 400 or 500 dollar rebate off a printer, so it turns a $450/750 printer to a $50/250 after rebate, very tempting. Since I'm getting a 7d in the next few days.
I printed three pics for a show on specialty paper, got 15-20 off per print and it still cost over $90 USD to get three large photos printed. They turned out great, and were printed on a specialty art paper. So 6-9 prints plus cost of paper would pay for a decent printer.
Printing can get expensive if you print a lot, have it also gives you the leeway to play with prints and compare. Even if you don't it can still get expensive. I think printer turnover isn't very high, so it could be a good purchase like the one listed above,
When you buy a printer new, it's usually only filled halfway with ink. I only know this from working at TigerDirect, they also nail you on the USB to USB-B connectors. A piece of wire for 20 bucks? You can find them online for about 3-5 dollars.