well, well, well, well. Look at the mess I created. LOL! Welder, I was in EXACTLY the same boat as you, but I gathered the information and talked it over with momma and she couldn't ignore the facts.
Another plus for the 8300 is that it has the 80G hard drive built in. What does this do for you?, you may ask. Well, pull up a chair and let me tell you - put please keep in mind that I am far from an expert. Any of you experts out there PLEASE correct me if I am leading this man astray ( or deluding myself! ). LOL
As I understand things based on my limited experience and research, Once the job is processed by Photoshop or whatever you are using and it is sent to the printer, it is in the printer specific language (GARO in the case of Canons). So, what? You may ask. Well.....if I'm not mistaken it means this:
The printer saves the job on an internal log. This log is easily accessible via a web-page type interface. The default folder for all new jobs is labeled "00". I don't recall how many jobs this folder will hold, but 100 comes to mind. There are an additional 29 folders available on the printer and they are all easily accessible and renamable via the interface. I just got done renaming one of these folders to reflect the nature of the jobs I just printed and the year. I then moved the jobs (already printed) from the "00" folder into the renamed folder. Well, whoopdedoo - why is this guy so excited about this?
Remember me saying that these jobs are already in the GARO language? This means that if this job were re-initiated, the printer would have no choice but to respond EXACTLY as it did the first time. Sooooooo, if you reload the same paper. AND if the printer is recalibrated occasionally. One ought to be able, 3 years from now, to go back into the appropriate folder for 2010 and find the original print job and re-intiate it thereby printing out an exact copy. And I mean an EXACT copy of the original job! I don't know if this is important to you, but as a guy who is hoping to get into printing limited editions for myself and other photographers, this is huge!
I'm sure this capability has been around for awhile on other printers, but I am coming from having only a 5100 and I am thrilled by the additional capabilities, the additional features, and especially the lower effective cost of the 8300. If you can afford the additional initial outlay, have the room for the printer, and have a way to get the printer to the intended destination this is a no-brainer.
Good luck on convincing momma. Keep us posted