This of course is the hardest step. You’ve determined your budget and what is most important to you in a printer, and now you need to break down and buy it. My only piece of advice is not to pour over the decision at this point. You can spend hours and hours wondering about a $50 difference between two printers, and odds are that either printer will meet your needs just fine. Just close your eyes and pick one. 
I know that sounds like bad advice, but having researched many $100 to $500 items 10-50 hours before buying, I can say that all that time didn’t make for such a better purchase that it was worth doing in the first place. You might not get the absolute 100% best product for your needs, but you’ll be close, and you’ll have time to actually use that product and enjoy doing other things.
The flipside to the coin is that if you didn’t really NEED a printer right now, then just keep your eyes peeled to the deals sites mentioned early in this article, and you’ll likely end up finding an even better deal on a printer down the road.
One other suggestion is that because printers tend to be big and heavy, keep an eye on the pricing at your local Best Buy, CompUSA, Office Depot, OfficeMax, Circuit City, and Staples. You might come out ahead price-wise over buying online, and you’ll get instant gratification plus a cheaper and easier return method.
However, only buy your USB/printer cables online. Stores mark their cables up as much as 10x over cost. Newegg and ZipZoomFly have much more reasonably priced cables. Keep in mind that nearly all printers skip the USB/printer cable so you will need to purchase that seperately.
Conclusion
Buying a printer needn’t be a big headache, but you do need to factor in your needs and the long-term costs. There’s no use in spending $500 for a printer if a $150 one will work just fine. The best way to find out is to research and then jump in. And if you were wrong, just make sure the vendor you bought from has a generous return policy.
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