Hi Wayne,
Thanks for your comments. As for the 4000 being ancient, I'm not as critical as most are. I'm satisfied with the output using Imageprint. My customers would be hard pressed to see any difference between HDR inks and anything else. My major beef with these Epson printers is reliability. I'm on my third one now and the constant has always been clogging and clogging at the most unfortunate times when I have to deliver something.
I have followed the progress of the Epson printers for a long time, and from reading the comments here and elsewhere, it appears that the new Epson's are still plagued with the same problems as my 1990's 660. In the end, I would gladly sacrifice a little gamut or a feature or two for reliability. It's quite apparent that most, if not every Canon user here, doesn't have the same problems as Epson users in terms of machine reliability. Back when I was a kid, when you bought a car, it was expected that you would take it back several times to get a few things fixed. If that occurs today, the car is doomed from the outset. With the Internet, product success is determined within nanoseconds. I believe that Epson is still in the business of selling ink and what better way of doing so by not addressing a major engineering a flaw in it's design that is 20 years old. History has proven this theory with respect to the Epson approach. Some times, companies are staunch in there believes and never move forward to counter negative comments believing that their customers will always be there. Look at Kodak for the most recent example of this thinking.
I looked at the 3880 but was advised by Epson against it because it wasn't robust enough for my needs. I was considering the 4900 but after reading all the negative comments and the usual issues, I passed on it. I agree with you about the 5300. I might just toil with this beast until Canon releases the updated version of the 5100. I'm curious to see what it feels like to be clog free. Turn it on, and print. Must be a nice feeling and something I look forward to. Although, your final comments about the 5100 leave me thinking again.
Is the the quality of the x300 series that much better than the x100 series? Is it worth the wait?
Thanks in advance.
Paul