Reasonably priced digital printer for black and white

I know this has been asked in the past, but due to rapidly evolving technology, I thought it appropriate to ask again. Is there a digital printer (less than $5 000) which can produce prints that truly rival conventional black and white prin ts. In particular, I will be scanning 4x5 negatives on a new Umax scanner. I h ear the Epson 1200 printer does a good job within its size limitations. I would like to hear from people with experiences with new printers since information m ore than a year old is probably outdated except with respect to the very high en d printers. Thank you for your attention.

Hi Mark, We purchased the Epson 1200 and love it! We have only printed color to date. There are secondary markets that take the color head (6 color) and fill it with 6 shades of gray. It is to be archival... I have also seen the Alps MD-5000, really nice prints and about the same price as the Epson 1200. The Alps http://www.alpusa.com The ink http://www.missupply.com A review of http://www.tssphoto.com Happy printing, Bobbe ;^]