Digital BW, The Print

I have been lurking on the list for a while and have a relatively 
basic question that I have not seen discussed.  (If it has been well 
covered in the past, I would appreciate it if someone would let me 
know off-line at kobrins@....)

I have been scanning negatives (typically Ilford fp4 or 5) into PS 
for a few years and printing PS tri- or quad tones, most recently on 
an Epson 1200.  While I am reasonably satisfied with the results, I 
am about to upgrade the printer to a 1280.  Most of the discussion of 
dedicated quadtone inks such as MIS or Piezio on the list seems to 
revolve around longevity.  I am a rank amateur and the print's life 
expectancy, while not irrelevant, is not my primary concern at this 
point.  Now the question: is there a significant difference in 
the "quality" of the output between a well produced PS quadtone using 
the standard Epson inks (1280) and one of the systems using dedicated 
quadtone inks?  In short, is it worth dedicating the 1200 to B&W and 
installing either MIS or Pieziographic inks?  I certainly have a long 
way to go in improving my PS workflow and a lot of experimenting to 
do with papers before I am even near getting the best possible output 
from Epson inks.  On the other hand, as I will have a spare printer 
after the upgrade, this is an opportunity to move to a dedicated 
system.  (I have also thought about a 2200, but given the 1280 
rebate, that is a lot more money at this point.) I realize this is a 
very subjective issue, but any help would be appreciated.  Again, I 
apologize if this has been covered previously, and if so just aim me 
in the right direction.

Steve
kobrins@...