Most scanners they sell these days are flatbeds: you lay the photo down on top of the glass and close the cover to scan, like a photocopier. You can probably still get handheld scanners, which are more portable, but those are just a unit that you drag over the photo by hand, so usually the scan quality is lower. Scanners aren't normally built in features on computers (not yet, anyway!
).
I have a laptop (though, for the most part, I use it like a stationary PC), and I have a three-in-one printer, scanner, photocopier. I just plug it into one of the laptop's USB ports to scan to a file, or I can use the printer by itself to copy a picture in colour or black and white. The three-in-ones are very convenient -- and take up less desk space than would several separate units -- but, if you already have a good printer, a three-in-one may be more than you need.
As for brands, I'm sure someone else could give you better information than I can. I have an Epson, which I'm pretty much happy with, but Lexmark has a good reputation, too.