Almost a year ago, I threw out my HP B9180 and replaced it with an R2880 and wrote about the initial experiences. Since then, I started the Epson R2880 profile tracker page and have generally printed bucket-loads of photos.
The profile tracker is basically "done". All paper merchants, that I've managed to track down, have created R2880 profiles for their papers and there is little news to report. This is actually perfectly fine. It means the R2880 has become a reliable workhorse, like the R2400 before it. No surprises, stuff can just be expected to work.
It took a new comment on that original R2880 post, to remind me how long ago it has been since a bought it. The printer has been performing exemplary since I got it. In the beginning I was worried it would develop issues similar to the HP, but no.
Before each print run I print a quick test sheet, and if needed, run a cleaning cycle. Cleaning isn't necessary that often, and if needed, it pretty much never has to be run more than once.
The fact that I can buy ink at several stores, including one 200 meters from where I live, is also nice. It was necessary to order HP cartridges over the web, as no stores carried them. One hint here is to totally ignore the low ink warnings the printer throws out, until it simply refuses to print. I have done this for a long time now and never had trouble with it. It does however save you a lot of money, as you truly use all the ink in the cartridge.
All told I'm very happy with the R2880. It does what I need it to do, and does so without complaining. The results have been consistent and of high quality and regularly draw praise from people that see them.
If you're on the fence about buying this printer for some reason, get off it and buy one.