Digital BW, The Print

Hello, first post to the group...

I have an aging but still okay Epson 1270 that I use for color prints. 
At one point a few years back there was a lot of experimentation going 
on with B&W printing using this and similar printers with both standard 
and specialty inks. But the process was flawed because of difficulties 
with tonal gradations and neutrality, and I sort of left the idea on 
the back burner.

I'm hoping someone can briefly bring me up to speed on recent 
developments. Are people using the 1270 to get good B&W prints? Are 
there new inks and papers that have addressed the issues? Or are there 
new printers that do the job better? What about letting a lab do the 
printing? (Someone in another forum suggested mpix.com).

Thanks for any input.