No its not the "SIZE" Issue! (freak..) nor the weight which is a hefty 27 pounds! it is a excellent printer let me tell you (and we bought them new)but the quality was not that much different than most other & CHEAPER photo printers. when using it for text it does not perform so great at small fonts lets say a bold font size 6. It gives small jagged edges. $699 for a picture printer only is kind of steep. The only good thing I like about it is the roll paper feeder that lets you do larger prints and panoramics. but you will run out of ink at around 8 prints in the largest highest quality mode. and thats a hefty $85.00 to fill it's 7 ink slots. I bought my Wife a Epson Stylus C82 and believe it or not the quality is the SAME if not better it has a higher DPI than the 2200. and guess the price? just $129. Dell has it for $99. the inks a pigment base with a lifespan of 120 years archive life on Matte paper. 4 ink slots instead of 7. set back $35.00 it prints only upto 8x10 but its super fast and also prints text in the finest mode upto size 4 with out any jagged edges. an 8 x 10 takes 4 minutes on the 2200 and on the C82 just 2 minutes 33 seconds. I would hope you test it at the store agian and again before you buy it for after a few prints the magic goes away and you don't see the big deal about it any longer. We have bought a couple of things off ebay such as 12 flat screen 19 inch monitors, but look at a persons feedback if you feel they are honest and offer a good return or a guarantee then go for it using paypal verified program is a 100% safe transaction or even escrow which hold the money untill your satisfied with the purchase. But of course like you said make sure you have "TOUCHED & TESTED" it at a store before you buy it. The monitors would have set us back at $925.00 each and the ebay deal brand new with 3 year warranty set us back $375.00 per monitor. Now you could always save an extra grand and get yourself that plotter that printes from 8x10 upto 9 feet museum quality but again imagine the ink that S*it takes... :O)