Digital BW, The Print

>All,

I've been following this group for...I think over a month now, and have 
been eating up digital BW information here and on the web voraciously for 
longer than that.  I'm getting increasingly frustrated with my options for 
printing in BW traditionally, since I have to go to the local college 
darkroom (which also means I have to sign up for a class), and am now 
firmly committed to getting a digital BW system after I move in 
December.  But..I'm a bit confused now as to what to do.  These questions 
are, in many ways, just more advanced versions of ones I asked when I first 
joined this board.

I was re-reading the Luminous Landscape review of the 2200, and noticed how 
a Piezography system was abandoned in favor of the 2200 with OEM inks, 
because of the clogging problelms on the old system but also because the 
quality was "that good."  Now there have been all these posts about 
horrific clogging experiences on all printers, ranging from 1160's to 2200's.

Now, I can't really afford to use ImagePrint, and Septones are out, too 
(not that they are nec. going to be less clog-prone, but they are a system 
designed for the 2200).  So I was going to go with a 1280 with Ultratones 
for BW only, and eventually upgrade to a 2200 for my color.  Is this now 
unwise?

Is it possible to use the 1280, with the UT inks, on a regular but not 
high-volume basis, and not have these horror-stories about clogging?  I was 
figuring that I probably would only print...5 prints a week.  I could space 
them out so that I printed 1 every day to day and a half, but that's about 
the highest volume I can get (between finding time to take pictures, to 
scanning them, to editing them and then printing, I just don't put out 
enough volume).  Am I sending myself up a creek without a paddle here?

sigh.
allan


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