From: "Donald Specker"

Seems that the Epson 2200 and Canon i9900 are in the final running for me.
Any comments on merits of each? I want the best looking output for
potential gallery use, shows.

Print quality from either of these is excellent.

Epson 2200 prints are rated to last about 3x as long as the Canon prints, per
Wilhelm Research. This is because it uses pigment inks instead of dye inks.
If you're selling fine art prints this is probably the deciding factor.

Epson 2200 prints very well on softer watercolor "fine art" papers. In
particular the Epson Velvet - Fine Art is an incredible paper for display
prints. Epson has better support from the makers of expensive fine art papers
like Arches Infinity or Hahnemuehle Photo Rag, with full ICC support for their
papers, while color managed support for the Canon printers is far less
wide-spread.

Canon i9900 is a couple hundred bucks cheaper and is a faster printer, though
this is rarely a concern for fine art prints. The dye-based printers like this
one do a better job on glossier papers than the 2200, which tends to show
'gloss differential' in large areas of black ink, so if you're planning on
printing mostly glossy then the i9900 is probably a better choice. We sell a
fair number of portrait prints on the Premium Luster paper using the 2200 inks
(actually using the 4000, same inks as the 2200 but 17" wide carriage) and
these look fine, but for glossy prints the dye ink printers do a better job.
The dye-ink printers *don't* do as well on the softer fine art papers though,
for various reasons.

For my money better fine-art watercolor paper support and the longevity issue
are the best arguments for the 2200, while speed and better glossy prints are
the best arguments for the i9900. Depends on what's important to you.

Below is a link to a comparison of the i9100 (previous Canon equiv to the
i9900), Epson 1280 and Epson 2200 from someone who sells all three ... good
background info. Personally I'd try to get a sample print of a couple of
images from each printer and check them carefully before plunking down the
bucks since tastes vary ... nothing like seeing prints side-by-side to cut thru
the fog.

http://www.inkjetart.com/news/archive/IJN_04-18-04.html ... scroll down a
couple of screens to "Q: What are my choices for 13" wide photo inkjet
printers, and which is best?"

Bill