Digital BW, The Print

> Ability to print neutral tones is the biggest thing, followed by 
> normal image quality (whether the dots are noticeable, detail, 
> punch, longevity etc) and tonality in B&W (particularly how the 
> blacks render).

I've just purchased the R1800 and have run some initial tests on
greyscale images. Disclaimer- I am far from an expert B&W printer so
take my opinion with a grain of salt...

I am finding that to my eye the output is extremely neutral. However,
after printing some graduation test images I'm finding that RGB values
from approximately 25,25,25 on down are all printing as black- i.e.
the printer is printing too dark. I plan to experiment with
curves/levels adjustments and/or custom profiles to resolve this. I
have no doubt that I'll be able to get output that is good enough for me.

Color output is excellent, though also printing too dark. 

Once I make some progress I'll post my findings in the R1800 group.