My aging Epson 3800 has been acting cranky after about 7 years (leaking ink out of the PK cartridge, making occasional blobs on margins of prints, filling up the "maintenance cartridge," and emptying the PK cartridge rapidly even though the chip thinks it's still full).
Instead of having it repaired, since I need it for current active projects, I decided it was time to upgrade to the P800. I did so at B&H, because there is a $300 rebate good for purchases made by the end of August. There is also an additional, separate $50 rebate available if you list the serial number of an older Epson printer that you are upgrading from.
The new P800 has sat in my living room for a week and a half now while I crank out prints on the old faithful 3800. So i can't yet vouch for the P800 personally, but all I've read on the LuLa forum suggests that it is a worthy and reliable machine.
I checked Ebay for prices on used 3800s and saw asking prices ranging from $100 to $300.
Oh yes, switching from PK to MK ink and back, as suggested on the LuLa Forum, seems to have lessened the problem on the 3800. But it is old and is well past normal retirement age.
