I am considering getting an Epson 3800 printer so that I can make 16 x 20 prints. I'm also interested in the archival quality of the prints. My Epson 1280 prints have held up pretty well on my walls, but some I made for my daughter have faded badly after a couple of years.

One problem is that I may not be able to use it as much as I would like. Various ailments---mainly in my spine---sometimes limit how much I can get out to take pictures or whether I can sit at my computer massaging images. This would be mainly for personal use because although I make prints for friends or relatives, I have no interest in displaying or selling them at present.

As a result, it is possible the inks will sit in the printer for an extended period of time. I can probably manage periodic cleanings, and I would also use the printer for routine printing tasks such as a document every few days. Under those circumstances, how long before the inks would go stale? Since a complete change of ink cartridges will run over $500, this seems an important considration.

Any other comments about costs as they might apply to someone like me would be appreciated. I'm sure it would be cheaper just to send out large prints to a commercial lab, but I like to be in control of every stage of the process.