Digital BW, The Print

OK, time to stop lurking on this forum, and in my digital photo 
practice, and start printing B/W.

I got the 2200 'cause I believed the Epson hype on B/W.  Silly me.  I 
love the color prints it delivers, but when it comes to B/W, somehow 
just can't believe that even the IP RIP is actually going to give me 
B/W from color inks.  It's still just color dots, no matter how well 
balanced - maybe I'm a purist, but it's not Black And White.  I think 
I just have to bite the bullet and realize that one printer can't and 
maybe shouldn't 'do it all.'

As far as B/W Inks, from what I'm reading about 7 Ink B/W 
formulations for the 2200, it seems like overkill (and a lot of 
money).  Do I want such a degree of control over Warmth to Cool 
tones?  Me personally: no.  I was never much for toning in the 
darkroom beyond a little selenium here and there, so particularly at 
the beginning of this learning curve/experience curve, one excellent 
neutral archival carbon pigment B/W print would be great.

So what do I really need?  Should I convert my trusty 4-color Epson 
980 (I believe MIS still makes carts for it) to B/W?  Is the 
resolution of the 4-color Epsons sufficient?  Is Quadtone really all 
I need?  Or should I pick up a 1280 and go 6 inks?  Or is there that 
much more acuity to the 2200 for B/W work and I should trade-off on 
inks and clean seven nozzles with cleaner cartridges between B/W and 
Ultrachromes?

What's the consensus?

JT