Photo printer recommendations

[shouston at infinito.it]

Any recommendations are appreciated.

I am looking for a good photo quality inkjet and price is a consideration
(as usual). I am in Europe, so unfortunately any current great deals in the
US are irrelevant. 

We have 2 cameras, a Coolpix 5400 and a Kodak 4530, both 5-megapixel
cameras, a couple of Macs using both OS 9.2.2 and Jaguar (soon to be
Panther). No need for memory card reader in the printer. Will be printing
out 4MP and 5MP photos, up to A4 size prints, using high quality photo
paper. 
We have other printers (Lexmark X85 multi-function and Laserwriter) for text
printing, so the new printer will be used almost exclusively for photo
printing. 
Re. online photo printing, or taking photos on CD to local stores, once
again Italy is a little behind the curve, as prices are still high, stores
hard to find, shipping expensive, etc.

Printer prices tend to be higher in Europe and I've found the following at
local stores:

1) Epson 830U - 6 color printer, uses 2 cartridges: Euro 80

2) Canon i560 - 4 color printer, separate cartridges (I think): Euro 100

3) Epson R300 - 6 color printer, separate cartridges: Euro 150

4) Canon S900 - 6 color printer, separate cartridges: Euro 200

3-4 different price levels, don't know if they are also 3-4 very distinct
quality levels too. I like the idea of the separate cartridges, but then
again, if the 830U offers good quality, the 70 euro difference in price with
the R300 could buy about 3 cartridges. We don't really print all that much,
so 3 cartridges could be 18 months worth of photos! (On the other hand, who
knows what advances in inkjet printers, at lower prices, there might be over
the next 18 months...)

Also, I have a Canon 6200 printer, which I believe uses the same cartridges
as the i560 and S900 (have to check again to be sure), and I have several
new spares, so I could save some $ there if I bought the Canon. Canon
cartridges can be found at much lower prices than the Epsons: e.g. Euro 10
vs. Euro 20 for the individual tanks for 6-color printers, and Euro 25-ish
for the 830U color tank (with 5 colors in it).

I've read great things about the Canons, but I was never thrilled with the
6200, which is a 6-color printer; maybe I never got the color matching set
up right, but I found the output from a 4-color Epson 740 superior to the
6-color Canon 6200 (better colors, better detail), both printed on photo
quality Epson paper (which may also be a factor). Downside on the Epson 740
was that its print head clogged and is now useless.

I was hoping to spend max. Euro 200 and I couldn't find any of the other
"top-rated" printers for less than Euro 300 (Canon i950, i965, etc.).

Any help much appreciated.
Thanks.
Chris