I´m afraid I´m about to pose one of these infamous "unanswerable" questions here, but I have to get some more info and opinions.
First I have to describe my background: I am an old darkroom worker who has now completely defected to digital. The most difficult part of that was to get B/W prints that were the equal (or better) of my old silver prints. I bought an Epson 2100 when it was introduced, and with the regular driver I didn´t even come close; metamerism ruined the show unless I camouflaged it by toning the images to a ridiculous degree.
Then I discovered Roy Harrington´s Quad Tone RIP, and the problem was instantly solved. Only, the ink waste through Epson´s frequent cleaning cycles plus the arrogance ot those chipped cartridges bugged me no end. I should add that I don´t particularly like matte media; I use Epson Premium Semigloss and Ilford Galerie Smooth Gloss. There is bronzing, but that doesn´t bother me much: with glossy prints (both silver and inks) one automatically finds a looking angle that eliminates glare, and thus hides the bronzing as well.
I do print colour too, but I see it as far less demanding than B/W.
Now, with the Epson clogs getting more and more frequent, I feel it´s time to get another printer, and at present I see two possible candidates (the Canon ipf5000 is out due to its physical size): either the HP B9180 or (with extreme reluctance) the Epson SP 3800. Waiting for the smaller Canon expected in the spring is a possibility, of course, but I´d much prefer to replace that aging 2100 sooner than that.
I would love to get the HP and turn my back on Epson´s methods of maximizing ink waste, also to save a substantial sum on the printer itself, only I am uncertain if I will be able to get the B/W quality I get now from it. I understand the chances of a QTR version for non-Epson printers are slim, and while the HP does have a black-inks-only mode, it seems it cannot be used with glossy media (doh!), and B/W with all inks seems to be somewhat metameric.
So far, I haven´t been able to see this printer in the flesh, even less to see any carefully made B/W print from it. I have read most of the rewiews on the web (I´ve Googled extensively), but most of them aren´t specific enough about B/W quality. So I have to ask here:
1) Is there a workaround so black-inks-only can be used with glossy prints, and if so, will banding or other problems mar the results?
2) Would B/W with all inks be good enough to REALLY stand up to being exhibited beside a good silver print?
If I can´t trust the HP to deliver what I´m after, I´m afraid I´ll have to put up with Epson and get the 3800 after all (I´ve seen it and its output, and I´m convinced it can deliver). Only, I´d rather not, if there´s another way...