Jim, you didn't direct this question to me because I don't own a 7900 and haven't been faced with this situation. I do own a 4900 and it is in good shape. But putting my thinking cap on, your question challenges me to ask myself what I would do if I were confronted with a head replacement on my 4900. I did not buy an extended warranty, so it is my risk. Here's how I would think about it: my model is still current, I've heard no rumours that Epson or Canon are about to replace it with something better, the printer otherwise seems to be in very good shape: if those are the "initial conditions" it's really a matter of whether the total cost (hardware and service) of the replacement comes at what I would consider a satisfactory discount to the cost of a new printer, taking into account the value of all the ink provided with the new printer, which is considerable. So for example, if they want 1000 to repair it, the new printer would cost 2500 and the value of ink I get with it is say 1200 (I don't know what tank-fill comes with a new 7900, but just to illustrate the idea), the net cost of the new printer would be 1300. For the 300 more buying new rather than repairing, I'd be tempted to swing for a new printer. At a second-order level of consideration, one may also want to think about whether new printer performance risk is more or less than repaired printer performance risk. That could help sway a decision too.