I made a lot of nice canvas prints on my Epson 10000, that still look very good. I only sold it because of no 64 bit driver. I think the 10600 does have 64 bit xp drivers available that will probably work on Windows 7 and 8. I was a very reliable printer, but not always so great on glossy papers, because it was tough to eliminate the banding. Canvas and thick fine art papers did not show banding at all.
I upgraded to Canon IPF8300 a few years ago, and the gamut is obviously better in the greens and somewhat in the reds. Canon is more of a pain to load rolls and sheets. The Epson could have 2 rolls ready to go, and the top loading sheets were easier IMHO.
As far a being a time and creativity time-suck, I think ALL large format printers can be, but the learning curve can probably be applied to the 9880, so not all will be lost.