My Epson Stylus Color 600 has been dormant for 2 weeks now. After reading this thread, I just now plugged it in and tested it - all ok.
For my printer upgrade I was torn between the Epson Color Photo 925 and the Canon i950. The output from both is fabulous - you really cannot tell the difference between a lab-produced print and one of your own.
I eventually chose the Canon because my 'puter has the slots for all the camera cards, so don't need that facility on a printer. The Epson came at an OZ$150.00 premium for that un-needed feature, plus about $80.00 extra again for a tiny plug-in monitor to view your pics as you work with them.
I don't like to be plugging chips in and out of the camera - the pins are tiny and I think the risk of mechanical damage with repetitive removal/insertion is high. Far better to download images to a 'puter with software and print from there. And, of course, you have a full size monitor on which to view and manipulate your pics prior to printing.
Also the Canon has individually replaceable ink cartridges - you don't need to replace 5 to replace 1 empty one, which you do in the Epson. And it's heaps faster - a bit over a minute for an A4 edge-to-edge photo quality print on the Canon, vs 8 to 15 minutes (depending on what you read) for the Epson.
Not to say the Epson is not a good printer. I think the Canon came later and stole the march. For 20% less $.
AA