Digital BW, The Print

I have an Epson 1280 which I really like for color printing, but I'm 
not sure which way to go for b/w printing. About 2 years ago I was 
putting together a portfolio and I tried MIS Quadtone inks but could 
never get it quite right and got frustrated and gave up. I'm not sure 
if it was that my monitor was never quite calibrated right (I don't 
have a spider or anything, just the "colorific" software that came 
with my monitor) or it could be my photoshop skills were not quite 
developed at the time & I missed something in the setup. 

I'm starting to do more photo retouching, for friends/family right 
now but hoping to make a little extra money on that in the future.

I'm interested in the new MIS inks, especially since they seem to 
have been extensively tested with the 1280. Does anyone know an 
average cost per print using cartridges? I'm also interested in the 
new HP printers possibly as a dedicated b/w considering the low cost 
of the printer itself and (I may be way off here..) ease of setup/use.

Any suggestions appreciated!

Thanks,
Ericka Menchen