Stardate July Something 2009, entering Black Hole of Printers!

The Printer Monster!!!

I've been researching printers to make high quality reproductions to have some more affordable items in my shop and it is KILLING ME. There is so much info and models that my brain is being eaten alive. Pigment inks, archival inks, dye-based inks, 6 color, 8 color, wide format, glossy, matte, different ink colors, how much ink it uses, buying different ink and screwing up the printer. When I look at forums, the model numbers are different in each country so it's impossible to tell which one you are reading about until you notice the person is in Australia and that's why it looks like that printer doesn't exist. I'm a stickler for quality! I want to know I'm printing pieces that are rich and will last! I'm going to try and find a local store that has several on display that I can look at and maybe see the difference of dye or pigment inks - if there is any! I thought dye inks didn't last as long, but now someone told me that epson's dye-based inks are archival and will last. I know, blah, blah, blah...