A new printer - which one?

I am considering buying a new printer, I currently have an Epson R300 which has served me well for upto A4 sized prints but I find the running costs prohibitive.
Could any one suggest a new printer for me to consider please, this time I would like one that is capable of printing prints that would be expected to be mounted on 50cm x 40cm backing board.
I would imagine it is the same old story i.e. cheap printers are OK until new inks are required and the corollary being that more expensive printers have larger ink reservoirs costing more but are actually cheaper to run on a print by print basis. Just to give an idea of usage I would imagine I may print 20 to 40 large prints per year and probably up to say 100 or so 7x5 prints... and maybe a few calendars. Your comments and suggestions would be most welcome.

I have the R800 Jonathan, very nice printer but only A4. But I rarely use it these days as I find that it is cheaper to send to a commercial printer, I have recently been using DSCL, they are very good and at prices that you could not match by home printing in my experience.

I am using a HP B9180 (13" x 19") and love it after using and becoming totally unsatisfied with Epson 2200 and 2400. I do like my Epson 4800 (with ImagePrint RIP) a lot for my 17" wide prints.

THe HP is sturdier and more industrial and stands up well to a lot of printing. Both Epson 2xxx printers carriage feeds would not do more then one sheet at a time. The Epson 4800 is large and $$$$ but performs excellent.

My Epson R1900 is rock solid... excellent printer at a good price.

Like my Epson 3880. It is more expensive to run than the 4800 as cartridges are smaller and you can't use roll paper, but it is a lot cheaper than the 2400 and others that take the really small cartridges.

Also, I found Epson series 4000 and up needed to be used often. If I wanted to make a print I had to do several test prints of colored boxes to make sure all print lines were clean. On the 3880 I can let the printer sit for 6 weeks, turn in on and the first print is excellent.

The Epson 2880 has been a performer for me. Only prints 13x19, but it works great. My experience is much Like Allan's; turn it on after a month and the first print comes out looking great. I ditched my HP 9180 because I had a never-ending series of problems with it.

Thank you everyone for your feedback - most helpful.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Doug Brown

The Epson 2880 has been a performer for me. Only prints 13x19, but it works great. My experience is much Like Allan's; turn it on after a month and the first print comes out looking great. I ditched my HP 9180 because I had a never-ending series of problems with it.

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Visa versa for me Doug.:2eyes2::p