I bought one of the Harbor Freight HVLP guns.  I was going to buy the small one that was on sale for $ 8.00.....but bought a bigger one for about $ 20.  It works well, and just takes a little bit of learning.  In the past I have used a Binks #7. and it puts out a lot of paint and makes a very fine mist.  The HVLP blows out much larger paint droplets with very little mist.  The Binks #7 does a smoother job - but fills the air with the paint mist.  The HVLP makes for more orange peel - but you can put most of the paint on the surface.  When I am painting an old piece of farm equipment outdoors the HVLP works very well as the wind does not blow the paint mist away like it would if I used the #7.

If you are using a lacquer, epoxy or catalyzed paint that you can sand out the orange peel - the HVLP gun can do a great job.

The only problem I had with the HVLP gun was that there is a little adjustment for air flow at the bottom of the handle that is very easy to bump - and the first time I used it the thing worked great - then suddenly the flow was really crappy and it would not paint well.  Finally I found that valve and opened it up again.....and then it worked fine.  

One piece of advice I always tell anyone thinking about painting their own stuff. Follow the manufacturers mixing instructions to a "t". I've seen way too many new painters think they know more than the maker of the paint and over reduce, under reduce, "doctor" the hardener, etc, that can REALLY mess up your results. I worked with a guy (great airbrush artist, NEWB painter) that was trying to rush a clear job on a pick-up that he'd spent around 50 hours airbrushing (not cheap). The problem was that he only had hardener for HOT temps, so he added extra hardener, when this didn't work he added MORE hardener on the next coat, and then even more on the final coat. What he ended up with was a cottage cheese like finish that never dried, and he ended up having to strip the paint off. Then he rushed the airbrushing the second time because he was already "upside down" on the profit and the customer was NOT happy with the results.

Long story short, if you have any questions always get professional help, guessing will almost never work out.