Digital BW, The Print

Lawrence,

Actaully you brought up some good points which I wasn't aware of, 
such as the durability and quality not being as good as the piezo 
prints. I am also leaning towards the 1280 with the Pizeo inks since:

1. The quality and results have been proven to me
2. The software and ink sets are more mature
3. It's a cheaper combination

I'm ready to buy and get starting printing now, so I'd rather not 
wait around for some number of months to see if the more expensive 
2200/Imageprint combination really works well. That's always 
something I can consider later on after I sell prints and recoup some 
of my equipment costs.

I also recently received the PizeoTone samples from Inkjetmall, and I 
am very pleased with the results. I am either going to get the 
Selenium Tone ink set, or the Selenium Tone *and* Warn Neutral ink 
sets. However, I'm not sure if there is too much cost or ink wastage 
associated with switching back and forth. The Selenium ink's blacks 
are better, and I don't see the eggplant or magenta cast which has 
been previously mentioned.

thanks for your help,
Mike

--- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@y..., "lawrencetrek" 
<ltitle@h...> wrote:
> I hear you.  I am facing the same problem.
> 
> I have sat on the sidelines for 2 years, scarred off by clogging, 
banding etc. 
> with the original Piezo inks.  Then, the prospect of the 2200 
seemed like it 
> might be a perfect solution to produce neutral B/W prints, toned 
prints, and 
> color with one machine.  The problem with the 2200 remains:
> 1)metamerism (better than prev. Epson printers, but still there)
> 2) longevity relative to the piezo inks
> 3) durability (matte black apparently can rub off art papers fairly 
easily)
> 4) print quality (under a loupe still not equal to piezo; tonal 
separation etc.)
> 
> Even with custom profiles, or GB software most of  these problems 
remain.  
> Then, came the prospect of the 2200 with Imageprint 5.0. 
> 
>  Hopefully, this RIP may provide what we both want: a printer than 
can 
> produce quality neutral, or toned B/W prints or color, without the 
problem of 
> metamerism.  That is, if we believe the excitement of the 
digitaldog.  Problem 
> is, the mac software is apparently still buggy and OS X solutions 
are pending.  
> As well, the 2200 driver is still be worked on.  So we have to wait 
for a while. 
> Another big problem is that it is $495 on top of the cost of the 
2200.  Maybe, 
> this could be bundled in the future according to Andy.  It would be 
nice.
> 
> Then, yesterday I received my PiezoTone samples images in the mail 
and 
> they are great.  Much better than anything I have seen from the 
2200 so far.  
> But, if I go that route, I can't do arbitrary toning etc.  Plus, I 
would need a 
> separate color printer.  There is no perfect solution ... yet.  I 
am happy to wait 
> for the next month to watch this Imageprint story.  But, I am 
starting to sway 
> towards the 1280 with PiezoTones.  Then, I can't decide which gray 
tone 
> selenium vs. warm neutral.  Even if I go this route, some are still 
advocating 
> that Imageprint 5.0 is a better driver for the hextone B/W inks 
than the piezo 
> plugin.  Interestingly, as I pointed out this morning, this 
software is now for 
> sale on inkjetmall.   This is getting to complicated.  I am going 
to go home and 
> open some good red wine.
> 
> By the way,  I don't really see the magenta, eggplant, etc in my 
selenium print 
> sample that much.  Perhaps the sample image doesn't have enough 
midtones 
> to see these colors.  But, the blacks are significantly better than 
the first 
> sample I ever got from inkjet mall a few years ago with the 
sundance inks.  It is 
> night and day.  
> 
> I didn't answer your question, but may have left more questions 
unanswered.