My son went to college in 2006 and has had the same HP printer since he started. I think we have only bought ink for it three times in that span and he is a junior now! And on top of that the printer itself wasn't that expensive. It was easy to install on his computer too.
He loves it because of its sleek design and it the fact that it is not complicated at all to use. It is also small and well all know that college dorms do not have the most space. It is an HP 5440 if anyone is interested. I know that he is really happy with this printer and it was low cost which is every college kid's dream.