Thanks Dave
The 7880 is the 'general' printer I have here at the moment, so I use it for B/W on non matte papers, however I have a 9600 that I still use for B/W printing on matte papers (using V6 ImagePrint via an old Mac) I keep the 9600 since I have a few preferred papers that produce very nice results.
Were I looking for a single replacement then it would need both blacks, so 79/9900 or the HP or a Canon.
Do remember that this is from having the HP and Canon for only a few weeks each...
I like the HP Gloss cover for some papers, but felt that for general use I might just give the nod to the Canon. Some of the B/W testing I did with it suggests that it might be a bit more flexible in getting the b/w look I was after. I have lots of profiling kit, so the spectro in the HP was not such an advantage.
That said, I felt both HP and Canon were less friendly to use with sheet fed media than my 7880 - Epson UK didn't have a 7900 to test :-(
As you see - very much 'it depends' (and one of the reasons I studiously avoid writing comparative reviews ;-) )