Help! I Need a New Printer!

Printhead on my Canon i850 needs to be replaced. My photog teacher (I'm a digital newbie) says I should buy an Epson 1280 but I've read so many horror stories about Epson printheads clogging. The Epson $100 rebate looks good, but why are so many on the market with rebates? This is an old printer; is it being phased out? I've always had Canons and liked all but the 5000. I don't know how many digital prints I'll be making and whether they'll be bigger than 8x10. I still need to print text for my job (the one that supports my photography addiction). All the posts I've read on Canon vs Epson are old. Any new advice? It will be much appreciated.

For what it's worth, I've had my Epson R800 for ten months and only recently had to do my first head clean cycle (a couple of magenta jets were not printing). It prints good as new now. Between about December of last year and maybe April of this year, it got very infrequent use. Most of what I've heard about the Epsons clogging were after non-use for a couple of weeks to a month, but it hasn't apparently happened to mine.

The recent clog that I did have occurred after running quite a few prints through the printer on an almost everyday basis for at least 3 weeks prior, so I don't think that particular clog was from dis-use. Considering I've only had to do that one cleaning cycle in 10 months (and about 15 cartridges), I think that's pretty good.

Most of the jet clogging problems with the Epson printers come from not parking the print heads. If you do not use the printer for extended periods, turn the printer off with the power button on the printer itself. This action parks the heads and prevents dry out.
I have had Epson printers for years, (and worn a bunch of them out) and have only had one problem with the heads, and that is when I used an off-brand of ink. Use the genuine cartridges, and you should have no problems

Thanks for your help. I really don't know much about Epson as have always used Canon. I know nothing about the new models of either. Is the 2200 a replacement for the Epson 1280?