Mark, you summed up DIY printing nicely. There is plenty of room to accommodate all views on printing yourself/using labs etc. In the end we just choose what's best for us.
Anyway, I see we've veered way off target from the original post

. Funny thing is I've not been disappointed by very many printers at all. More likely I've been blown away by the print quality. One of the few areas of photography where new technology equals getter quality

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