If you care about printing from the iPad, then you probably want to make sure the printer is AirPrint capable. There are ways to make printing work with printers that are not compatible, but they would require some setup on your laptop. It's much easier to do with an AirPrint compatible.
This knowledgebase article will give you information about using AirPrint and which printers are compatible:
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4356?viewlocale=en_US&locale=en_US
Any on that list should work fine with your PC. You'll likely have to do an install to get it to work with the PC, but the printer should come with (or will have very easily downloadable) the install you'll need.
Beyond that - it all depends on what you really want. Some will be all-in-ones, providing fax and scanner capabilities as well as printing. Some will be better for photo printing than others.
The best thing to do is look at what's available, start narrowing down based on price/capabilities, and once you have a short list, start looking at reviews for them.
That being said, I have found that every time I've gone to get a new printer in the recent past, I've sworn I would NOT get an HP, because they require extra programs to do almost anything with the printer (instead of just being a plug-and-play and it works), and every time, I've ended up getting an HP. But we've gotten all-in-ones and wanted photo quality printing capability.
If you don't expect to print photos and just need very basic printing, then I would think almost any low-end model will suit.
Don't forget when deciding to check out what the prices for the print carts will be for the model you are thinking about getting. The prices on those can vary widely, and that is really the most expensive part about owning a printer. In a lot of cases, the printer itself is almost a giveaway because the real profit is in the ink cartridges.
ETA: Whatever you decide on, I would check the on-line prices at Amazon, MicroCenter, and NewEgg (at a minimum - or just do a search with the model of printer you are looking at and the words price and compare... you'll usually get a couple of searches showing the lowest prices at different locations). You can sometimes get a good sale price at Best Buy, Walmart, etc., but most of the time the on-line price is going to beat them. Same for the cartridges. If you belong to a warehouse club, check what they have - there's a lot less selection, but if they have what you want, they'll also carry the carts for that model, and it may be a good deal without having to do the on-line route.
[This message edited by osxgirl at 6:51 PM, June 20th (Thursday)]
