Our lab on campus has an HP designjet ($20,000+) that we have used to print a lot of parts this year (such as encoder mounts). It prints nice parts.
Our mentor has a Makerbot that we used to print several parts & mini robot prototypes during the design phase to use on a mini pyramid. It does a decent job of printing.
I would suggest you look into the
MakerBot Replicator 2 (or
Replicator 2x if you want 2 heads for 2 colors).
Hope this helps you make your decision. Contact
CoreyBrown if you have any questions about the MakerBot.