For what it's worth I have put up my learning with the 9180 here.
It's collection of my own findings and things I have picked up on the net.
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Delighted to hear from you all - I really did start to think that I had an odd take on things, getting that machine!
I´m very happy with it for b/w but do not really get the colours I want from it. My only comparison is with two much cheaper Epsons that I had/have. The first one C82, did quite nicely in colour - not that good in b/w, and that with office chemicals: DuraBrite inks. When it died I replaced it with an even cheaper C66 and its colour is also rather pleasing.
The place that the cheaper units do better is with the warmer tones. I´m thinking here of a set of shots I did on the D200 of parts of a rusting old commercial fishing boat. On Epson, the rust looks good whilst trying to get the HP set to work is getting nowhere - it is printing in a very gingerish sort of way which doesn´t look good at all. Changing that - toning it down a shade, only serves to make the other colours go unpleasant.
Reading here about the larger Hps I gather that there is a problem with the reds - and I have to agree that that is my experience too. I did a series of very out-of-focus flower shots and where the blurred reds are alive on the monitor, they are like bad plums on the print. Yes, I´m well aware of the difference between transmitted and reflected images and I don´t feel it´s a matter of over-expectations.
I´m using Hahnemuehle Photo Rag Bright White on the HP and it was Epson Heavyweight Matt on the Epsons. I have to say, I tried downloading a profile from Hahne (or was it HP?) and that was even worse than the built-in profile for HP Smooth Fine Art that comes with the printer, and which I´m currently using.
It´s little fun gathering this huge pile of test A5s!
Rob C