Digital BW, The Print

In my workflow I shoot film, scan and print digitally.  When I'm 
thinking about the technical issues I spend most of the time  thinking 
about the quality, sharpness and resolving power of my cameras, lenses, 
scanner and scanning software but not much time thinking about the 
printer.

This is a bit of a shotgun question but I am interested in people views 
on the printers contribution to the quality of the print and how 
important changes to the printer and drivers are relative to cameras, 
lenses and scanners.

1. Does anyone know what the resolving power of the Epson printers are 
(4 lp/mm 10lp/mm, 20 lp/mm)?
2. Is there a substantial difference between the different epson models 
(eg: 3000 vs 1280) in terms of resolving power?
3. Do different printing methods make a significant difference in these 
resolutions.
4. Do papers have a significant impact on resolution/sharpness number 
of tones rendered and tonal transition

Thanks

--
Kevin Gulstene