The last time I painted a car was 30 years ago, and I swore I'd never do it again. But, after spending one too many late nights staring at the faded clear from a crappy repair on my 911, I decided it had to go.
After watching a lot of videos, I bought a mid-level Fujispray HVLP setup (about $900). Instead of 50-60 psi at the gun from a compressor, this thing runs at 8-9psi, from a series of turbines--no compressed air from a holding tank is involved. So it just sort of barfs up a huge gob of paint, which reduces overspray and the like.
Practiced a bit on my truck, and had real problem with paint running, but after a lot of experimenting and consulting with painter friends, I finally laid down a decent couple of coats on my 911.
The key seems to be to dust on a light coat first, then follow up with a fairly heavy coat just after it flashes. The sticky light coat "grabs" the heavier coat and holds it in place. Even still I got orange peel, which had to be wet sanded with 1200, then 2000, then compounded, then polished. I started remembering why I swore off car painting all those years ago. But the result was passable.
Also used the Fuji to paint a room in our house, this time with latex. It worked great for that--we were able to get by with about half as much paint as usual, and it left a nice finish.
Overall, I'm really impressed with the setup. It's relatively inexpensive, the gun is high quality, the whole thing is super small portable, and with turbines you don't have to worry about water in the lines from compressed air. If you've painted with high pressure systems, it will take some practice, but it's really good once you get the hang of it.