If you speak to various people in Photographic Camera Clubs they will generally agree that the Epson range of Photo printers reproduces photographs better than other manufacturers. In magazine reviews they quite often review other printers with awards based on speed, quality of black text, or ability to print on plain paper. This may well be the case but, if you want quality images, stay with the Epson Photo range.
If you have to use your printer for a lot of text or non-photographic images then you may wish to consider the Epson non-photo range, or an alternative make, as the single black cartridge in the Epson Photo printers is very small and slightly more expensive than the colour cartridge and will frequently need changing, but you won't get optimum quality for photos.
The only disadvantage with Epson printers is that you have to change the colour cartridge immediately when only one of the five colours has run out. When this happens change it straight away (always have a spare), to avoid the inks drying up in the print head. To get the head replaced is very expensive. For the same reason don't be tempted to re-install the cartridge to fool it into thinking it has a new one, just to get a few more prints out. This is now different with the latest Epson Stylus Photo printers and some of the non-photo printers now available
Shop around for consumables as the price can vary, sometimes by as much as £10 on a single ink cartridge!
Also take a look at the page on Inks.