Digital BW, The Print

Dear Paul,

 Thanks for the most informative response. 
I have decided to upgrade my B&W printing to a 2400. I've got the
budget to do so. 
I wonder if you would compare the B&W print quality on the 2400 with
the stock Epson inks vs. 3rd party. If 3rd party (MIS?) would be a
significant upgrade, I'm wondering what set you recommend? (I had just
read an article by Clayton Jones speaking of the virtues of black only
printing.)
 I'd really appreciate your expert input.
  Thank you
  Ginny


--- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com, "Paul Roark"
<paul.roark@...> wrote:
>
> Bob Frost wrote, in part:
>  
> > ... As the 1280/90 was designed to work with DYE inks, it isn't the
> > least bit surprising that it won't work properly with pigment
inks, as you
> > and others have found out...
> 
> If the 1280-90 were the only samples of dye ink printers that we've used
> with pigments, I'd have to agree that maybe dye printers ought to be
avoided
> for pigment ink use.  Some have great luck with the 1280-90, but my
personal
> experience is that it is the least reliable Epson I've used with MIS
inks.
> (Note that many of the 1280-90 problems relate to bad continuous flow
> systems and carts, but I'm excluding that discussion here.) 
> 
> The 1280-90 problems, however, may not be representative of all
Epson dye
> printers.  My 3000 and 1160 lasted for years with pigments.  The 1160
> finally died, but the 3000 was sold as is probably still pumping
pigs with
> good reliability.  The 1160 was also used by me as a test bed, where
I even
> printed with water-color pigments.  So, it had a tough -- but long
-- life.
> Many high-volume printers have used the 3000, 7000 and probably
other dye
> printers for years with pigment inks.
> 
> Now I'm using an R220 -- another printer designed for dyes -- with
complete
> reliability with MIS pigments.  
> 
> So, while I can imagine that Epson might use finer screens or
passages in
> the heads of printers designed for dyes as opposed to pigments, I
suspect
> the problem may be more unique to the 1280-90 than an across the board
> problem with Epson dye printers.
> 
> Of course the bottom line is that with the third party inks one can
simply
> achieve better B&W and more lightfast prints for less money even if the
> printers don't last as long.  The ink price difference is so
dramatic that
> it's cheaper to throw away a printer occasionally than pay Epson's
prices.
> 
> But for those using the 1280-90 with Eboni, be sure to rinse the
dyes off
> the parking pad.  Eboni and dye are not compatible.  My experience
with an
> old 1280 and Eboni was that I had to clean the surface of the head off
> routinely until I rinsed the dyes out of the parking pad.  Then the 1280
> worked for about a year without trouble.
> 
> Paul
> www.PaulRoark.com
>