Alps has recently introduced an inexpensive (about $450) printer for use
with PC's or Mac's that is claimed to produce photo-realistic output with
colors that are resistant to fading, smudging, and running when wet.
From a brief encounter with prints made by the Alps, HP, and Epson
printers, these are my observations (and opinions):

Black and white:
- With high contrast material (no grey tones), the Alps is the clear
winner, and printouts (1200x600 dpi, on high-quality paper) look very much
like those of better laser printers (really excellent, with smooth curves,
no bleeding, and very fine detail). The Epson (not the IIs) Stylus color
(720 dpi, using special Epson paper) is reasonably close in quality, but
shows slightly better black density, and slightly less regular edges.
The HP black edges show bleeding.
- With continuous-tone material, the Alps prints show a dot pattern
similar to those in B & W reproductions and laser printers. The Epson
can do a random dither pattern that is more satisfactory in simulating
continuous tone. Very subtle broad banding can be seen in continuous-tone prints from both the Alps and the Epson. The Epson B & W photos are
reasonably good in quality (but they are short of being truly photo-realistic). (The HP was not checked.)

Color:
- With color graphics, both the Alps and Epson printers can produce
nearly even color areas, but the Alps can produce more satisfactory
smooth color blendings. Both show very slight edge irregularities
when printing color, but nothing like the bleeding of the HP.
- With continuous-tone material and photographs, the Alps, Epson,
and HP could all do a good (but not truly photo-realistic) job.
The Epson appears to have the most natural color (and skin tones).
The color in the Alps and HP prints appears slightly less accurate,
and somewhat more saturated than with the Epson. The Dithering in
the light tones of the Epson prints, while noticeable, is a bit
more acceptable to me than the regular dot pattern of the Alps.
BUT - the Epson inks run when wet, and fade with alarming speed...
The Alps colors appear to be waterproof, and are claimed to be fade
resistant (we shall see... - the Alps fade test starts Monday).
The Alps also offers the option of using additional colors easily
(gold, silver, metalic magenta, and metalic cyan can be substituted
for the basic black, cyan, magenta, and yellow colors).
Additionally, the Alps printer can be had (for about $200 more)
with a built-in 600x600 dpi (optical resolution) scanner!
Hope This Helps