Printer Woes

I have an Epson 2200 that appears to need a new print head. I've done the Match Patch cleaning procedure which revived it a year or so ago but this time to no avail. It will cost me about $350 to replace the heads. I'm considering buying a R2400 or R1800. I can get a new R1800 for about $400 and a new R2400 for about $700. Questions are as follows:
1. What is the print quality difference between the R2400 and R1800 for color. I know the R2400 is supposed to do superior B&W but I do almost zero B&W so that's not a significant factor for me.

2. Is repairing the 2200 a good option considering that its ink is cheaper than the R2400?

3. What other 13" printers should I consider?

Bill, if you make a moderate amount of prints where ink costs make a difference in total cost of ownership, I would actually suggest a jump to the 3800. The larger ink tanks will save you money in the long run and you get the full set of K3 inks.
The R1800 is great for coated papers (better in some ways than the R2400) but doesn't perform as well on matte papers due to lack of matte black ink.

Guy

Bill, I own the R1800 and I've been very pleased with the print quality. I print mostly on luster papers. After owning it for close to a year I have found nothing to complain about. Though I do wish to also own a printer capable of better black and white images, and also the capability to print larger wouldn't hurt

I may not completely understand what Guy has mentioned about the R1800 lacking a matte black ink, but my 1800 does utilize two black cartridges and one is marked Matte Black.

Oops.. Robert is right. My mistake.

Here's a comparison from Epson:

http://www.epson.com/cgi-bin/Store/Landing/CompareR1800R2400.jsp?BV_UseBVCookie=yes

Guy

The obvious answers for what other 13 inchers to look at are the HP B9180, and the Canon PIXMA Pro 9500. (I'm assuming you want to stay with pigment inks. With dye inks, you could also consider the Canon PIXMA Pro 9000). They fall in the same price range you're looking at and have some very nice features. Here is a comparison review that covers all three of the main players.

I sent my Epson 1800 into one of their recommended repair shops. They fixed it so it could print text, but It never worked right again for photos. I should have put the repair money into a new one. Replaced it with a 2400. The first was a lemon and Epson replaced it for free under the extended warranty I had purchased through CompUSA. It has held up nicely and is doing heavy duty. We'll see if this one lasts over a year.

I own the Stylus R1800 and have had no problems with it. Strangely enough I use it primarily for matte prints and get good results. It does require a saturation boost that lustre does not. No one has ever questioned the quality of my prints at shows (even the photography nuts like us). I bought in the pigment printer drought before the release of the 2400 and no 2200s were available anywhere and I needed a pigment printer.