I apologize in advance if I am reading into your post wrong. I think it might be better for you to start off with transfers instead of
dtg. Your statement asking about what is the cheapest printer kinda seems like you know only a little bit about
dtg printing and the equipment. Most of these machines new start over $12k and used ones are $6k (for first generation machines being sold on ebay) and up.
You really should not start off asking about the cheapest machine since the technology is still faily new and is going through the developmental cycle of a product. This would be like going to the hospital and asking for the cheapest artifical heart implant. If the machine goes down, your are not printing and if this is your only means of decorating clothing...your business is down.
I would suggest checking out all the
dtg machines straight from the manufacturers first. Do a search on google for the following:
DTG, Fast T-Jet, Flexi-Jet, Anajet and Brother GT-541 to get started. There are a couple of other ones as well listed on this forum and at
Digital and Screen Printing University On-Line Forums for Digital Garment Printing, Screen Printing, Embroidery, and more..
Then, do some research on inkjet transfers, sublimation transfers and plastisol transfers. You will find there are positives and negatives to all the different types of decorating techniques. Some take less of a capital investment compared to others.
Hope this helps.
Mark
Cheapest printer 
