Digital BW, The Print

>... Are ultra cheap printers viable at least for the very short 
> or limited term?

Yes.  I think they even hold up about as well as the more expensive
printers.  If you like the best matte prints, the R220 would have the edge.
It has the light inks, and compared to my C86, the 220 had a better matte
paper dmax.  (The C86 had a better glossy paper dmax.)  I'll have a C88+
soon as a replacement for my old C86, so I'll update this comparison soon. 

Paul
www.PaulRoark.com