Digital BW, The Print

Thought I'd mention a few more things to take into consideration 
about choosing a printer.  If you are Mac based, then OS X is in 
your future.  The 1280 has a native OS X driver which doesn't 
have the custom paper size feature.  The 3000 w/the parallel to 
USB adpater is totally unsupported.  Who knows if Epson will 
release a driver.

The differences between the Epson 1280/7000 and the 3000 are  
as follows.  The 3000 prints _very_ slowly. It takes 45min @ best 
quality to print on 13x19 paper an image that is about 11x15.  
The 1280 is much quicker in better quality - I don't have the times 
available.  This translates into allowing 2wks to print a show on 
my 3000.

The quality between the 1280/7000 and the 3000 is different.  
The newer printers frequently show teeny tiny bands which run in 
the direction of the head travel. I've seen this in the print 
exchange prints and (4) 1160s and my 1280.  The 3000 doesn't 
have this artifact.  When my 3000 works, I the print quality the 
best out of all the printers.

The 3000 for the Piezography driver I think is tempermental 
bugger.  Even after you get thru any head problems and pump 
problems, you can be left w/a paper feed problem.  Even after 
replacement of the paper platten, I have problems feeding paper.  
For example, my printer now feeds PR 308, but not Eclipse 
Satine.  Sometimes EAM is feed unevenly and sometimes it's 
fine.

Some people received wonderful 3000 and are probably 
wondering what I am babbling about.  However, the quadtone 
workshop I went to had 3 brand new 3000s and none of them 
worked well enough for the Pieozgraphy driver.  That says alot 
about Epson's quality tolerances.

Given the 20% flakiness factor in Epson's finished 3000, the 
glacially slow print speed, and the lack of OS X driver support, I 
would think long & hard about investing in a 3000.

Two other points, if you decide you simply must have a 3000, 
make sure there is a good repair center w/in driving distance of 
you.  And lastly, I found there is a big difference between 11x14 
and 16x20 prints in a wet darkroom.  The same difference exists 
going from 13x19 to 17x22 so I suggest starting on a 1280 until 
your skill increases to the point a larger print makes sense.