Digital BW, The Print

All,
I have scoured the past several weeks of posts.  I have been 
scouring the web for information for several months.  I am usually 
quite good about searching and looking before asking.  
However...maybe it's because this is still a relatively new field, 
or because there are so many changes and new techniques, or 
whatever, but I am still not sure where to start.

What I know is that I'd like to be able to do black and white 
printing, with a broad tonal range, with some flexibility in tones, 
without dropping a huge amount of money (ie - getting a 2200 and a 
RIP is out of my range).  

My specific questions are:
1 - the 1280 seems to be the honda civic of printers in terms of 
after-market upgrade options.  is this a sound place to start as a 
base for the system, or am I painting myself into a corner, 
technology-wise?

2 - I think that I'm torn between a Piezography and an MIS VM 
system, with a CIS.  The Piezography is more expensive.  
How "dotless" can the Epson driver get with MIS VM inks?  

3 - Do I give up anything, tonal-range-wise, by going with one 
system over the other?  

I realize that most won't bother with such trivial questions, and I 
apologize for being a newbie.  But I'm trying. 

thanks in advance,
allan chen