Digital BW, The Print

I'm ready to buy a printer. I have only an Epson R200 right now, but 
for 100 bucks, I'm impressed. 

Is the 1280 with UT2 as good as the 2200 with UT7?

I am trying to decide between the 2200 and the 1280. I plan to do 
mostly B&W, but would like to print color occasionally.
If I were  only going to use 'standard' inks, or only do color work, 
I would definitely get the 2200. I would prefer to use a continuous 
ink system for B&W to save money on ink. 

It would be nice if I could swap inks with the 2200, and occasionally 
do some color work. I'm afraid that the factory carts would 'dry out' 
if unused for some time. Will they?
I could buy two printers, but desk space is very limited. I know I 
MIGHT be satisfied with B&W prints from the Ultrachrome ink, but I 
don't want to limit myself to that option. I guess what I want to 
know is which printer/inkset will give me the best B&W print? "Best" 
meaning no metamerism, unwanted color casts, or bronzing (if that's 
possible) and excellent archival quality.

I do want a variable tone inkset. I'm just beginning with digital 
printing, but I want to learn how to adjust curves to give different 
tones to different parts of the print. I have downloaded some curves 
that others have created, and used them with my R200. Are the UT2/UT7 
inks the best choice for this? I'm using the factory color inks in 
the R200 now.

I don't want to say that price is 'not a factor', but I am willing to 
pay what I need to to achieve what I want. I may even end up with two 
printers, if that's what it takes. 

Since the 1280 is a dye printer, will it have problems using pigment 
inks? I can buy a 1280 for a pretty good price right now. Later I 
could get a 2200 for color, but there's the desk space issue...
I'll just deal with that if I have to.

Should I be looking at some other printer and inkset?
Sorry this got so long, and complicated...
 I know that's a lot of questions, but my brain is getting overloaded 
with all the information I have been getting!

Anyway, if it's easy to swap inks in the 2200, and they won't 'dry 
out' when stored, that may be my best solution.

So... what do you folks think?