Most people who are printing photos at home would only consider inkjet printers. IMHO color lasers are not well suited to this task. The major advantage inkjets have over lasers is the media (ie. paper) available on which to print photos. The Epson 820 I have prints photos almost indistinquishable from photos finished from film. Color lasers are faster and well suited to printing such things as Power Point presentations on plain paper.

Another option is the new dye-sublimination printers coming out under the $1000 mark. Upside they are continous tone on archival photo paper. Downside is supplies are pricey, and you wouldn't use it for the letter to Mom.

Olympus has a couple of models. Considering a couple years ago dye-sub prices were at $30,000, they are now affordable for home use. If you going to do lot of photo printing and need very high quality, Don't mind having a dedicated photo printing taking up desk space, second printer for text, layout proofing, etc... Take a look at them.