The B9180 would simply trail off if a printhead went wonky during the course of a print, ruining the print that was underway. I used that thing for years-well, several of them-learned all its peccadilloes the hard way, and made some flat-out gorgeous prints with it, yet never truly got it 'on song,' meaning, such that it just dependably worked.

(It still makes printers.) So my struggles with the HP B9180, a fantastically frustrating device capable of really gorgeous results on paper, turned out to have been a struggle for its maker, too. No less a company than HP, after making some brilliant high-end products, fled the photo-printer field. I seem to recall that Kodak tried to market a line of printers for which the ink was reasonably priced-I presume that meant with nothing more than a pedestrian 200% markup or some such-but they were basic printers with dye-based inks and I guess that wasn't good enough. I never felt that way about photo paper and darkroom chemicals. I should be able to be more rational about it. It just goes against the grain that I'm being exploited and price-gouged for ink, and that I willingly put myself in the way of their scheme-it can overwhelm the pleasure I take in making prints. It's partly because over the course of my life, I've spent more time as a freelancer, dependent on my wits and luck, than I have working for a company for a steady salary, and I went through a 'personal depression' from about 2003–2006 during which time I probably wouldn't have been okay were it not for help from a family member. My problem with ink gouging is essentially neurotic. Gaaah! I was especially incredulous when a printer manufacturer representative once told me that using aftermarket, off-brand ink wasn't recommended because it might cause their printers to clog.heck, THEIR inks cause their printers to clog!! So what's the difference?! It's particularly galling that not only do they charge hugely marked-up prices for ink, but the printers are designed to clean themselves by.using up ink. Much has been made of the high cost of printer ink-for the price of one gallon of ink, you can buy 2,250 gallons of milk, and ink is more expensive than champagne, Chanel perfume, and human blood. I also have a psychological block with the practice of 'ink gouging'-the typical model of selling printers cheap but ink dear. I have to admit that when I look back on my history of home printing without blinders on, it's pockmarked with failure. It's an expensive business, really too expensive for a home enthusiast. My Stylus Photo R2880 is still going and will have to see me out, I think, as long as I can still get the inks. I guess professionals can recoup the cost, but it's out of the question for me.

But a set of inks for these printers totals AU$711. The Epson P800 is still on sale here, for AU$1,596 = US$1,005. Reader Peter Croft, who lives in Australia, said yesterday:

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