Digital BW, The Print

Well, it's been a few days since my initial questions, and I've been 
letting all the opinions and information digest a bit.  I think I'm a 
lot closer to a decision thanks to all the good advice combined with 
my continuing to do my homework.  I'm still a little bit up in the 
air over a printer, though.  I've been thinking of starting off with 
a 13" printer and then working my way up to wide-format after getting 
in a good amount of practice working on a modest scale.

Nonetheless, a part of me is tempted to go for a larger format from 
the start, though I realize that my choice of printer might affect my 
choice of inket.  What I mean is that the more I spend on a printer 
the more I would probably not want it to be a dedicated B&W printer 
since it would get too expensive to also buy a separate WF printer 
for color work.  So, for example, if I spent $3000 on a 7600, I would 
probably want it to do color and B&W.

I've toyed with the thought of looking into a used 7500 and using it 
as a deicated B&W printer, perhaps with a CIS.  This seems like it 
would be a fairly cost-effective way of doing prints as large as 
24x30, but I'll admit I'm a little more leery of getting a used 7500 
than a new 1280, and I'm reluctant to consider spending $3000 for the 
7600, particularly, as I said, since it might end up being a 
decicated B&W printer.

So, any opinions regarding this option?  I'm not sure if it's how I 
would want to go, but it doesn't seem like too terribly expensive an 
option, and it would avoid my having to upgrade in the possibly near 
future.  Of course, it means more of an initial investment before I 
even try my hand at digital printing.  Investing a smaller sum of 
money on something totally new seems a little safer, though it may 
prove just very temporary.

Also, though I'm new to all this, I realize that the 7600 improved on 
the 7500 by a fair amount in some poeple's estimation.  I was 
wondering if there were any issues with the 7500 I should be aware of 
before I consider this option?  I've read some comments about banding 
issues for example.  Is this a concern?  Any other concerns I should 
be aware of?  Is buying a used printer perhaps a relatively risky 
thing?

Who knows, maybe I'll just grab a 1280 and get my feet wet for a 
relatively small inverstment and take it from there.  I think it'll 
be easier to commit to larger purchases once I've actually done some 
work and been happy with the results.  Nonetheless, I just wanted to 
consider all my options.  So, input, as always, is appreciated.

Mike