Digital BW, The Print

Alan,

I am a novice at this but I would highly recommend that you check out
Clayton Jones website and read EVERYTHING and go to the MIS ink
website inksupply.com and look at all the information on B&W printing
and check out the site that Paul Roark put together. I've used the MIS
EZN inksets with an Epson C86 and had a lot of fun with it. I now have
an Epson R220 and am making very satisfying prints with BO (black
only) printing. The C86 and R220 are limited to letter size prints. 

If you have money to burn and want to print larger the conventional
wisdom with Epson users is to get the 2400 and print in ABW (advanced
black and white). If you want to spend less, get a used  Epson 2200P
(no longer sold by Epson as I found out when I went to buy one after
paying my holiday bills) and the MIS inks. As far as HP goes, there
have been really good reports by people using the HP B9180 for B&W as
well and that will put you somewhere between the price of the Epson
2400 and a used 2200P.

Sometime in the next year I am planning on going with one of the three
larger format printers I just mentioned. If I were you I would start
small and see if you can still get an Epson R220 if you like mat
prints. Epson no longer carries them but Ritz Camera still does-that's
how I got mine. Get the MIS neutral inkset (I tried the warm and it is
too warm for me) try full ink printing and BO printing. If you like
glossy or semi-glossy prints go with a C88 and get the MIS EZN inkset
but I found that BO didn't work well at all with my C86. If you go
with an Epson the refurbs are a great deal!
 
I know there are more experienced users out there and they may have a 
different take on how to get started. Hope I didn't step on anyones toes.

Scott