Congrats on the 800. They seem to run forever, are inexpensive to use and easy/cheap to repair. But after the 800, ink and parts get a bit more pricey. I don't know if you'll ever find a printer that works as well as the 800 and is as inexpensive to maintain.
Don't know about the rubber band thing.
You might want to look for a Designjet 5500PS 60". These do beautiful photo work and are, I think, reasonable to operate. They came in both UV and dye ink. To switch from dye to UV ink you need to replace all the printheads, ink tubes and ink cartridges. Gets expensive. HP used to supply a change-over kit but no longer. But you can still buy them on Ebay. There's a company in CA that I've used several times for complete ink replacement kits. (Tubes only, no ink or printheads,) Runs around $300 with trade. You can start checking Ebay for ink prices (hp 81 dye, HP 83 UV). The ink tanks are quite large (680 ml) compared to the 800 but they last for a very long time.
Where you might run into expenses is on the printheads since they're beginning to get harder to find brand new. Uses 6 total, one per color.
I've used Designjet 5000 and 5500PS models for years. Have repaired quite a few. Easy to work on, easy to find parts and full service manual is available for download PDF. And used models are pretty easy to find, depending on where you live.
But be aware these are very large machines. Almost 7' long if I remember correctly. Weighs around 275#'s.
I see quite a few Desingjet Z6XXX 60" printers for sale also on Craigslist and Ebay. I think the last one I worked on was a Z6100PS 60" that did very nice prints (better than the 800). Only available in the Dye ink though. Need a total of 8 printheads because it uses the wide swath printing feature so that can be expensive.
Be sure you're looking at a PS model since it does photo work better than a non-PS and interfaces with Mac machines. If you are using a Mac you will want to check the HP website for compatibility of operating systems. HP doesn't support newer Mac OS. But these printers will run on Win 11 and all they way down to Win XP, possibly even Win 95.
Here's a link to a sample on Ebay of the 5500PS 60". Needs to be fixed but comes with both ink systems. (If they were closer I'd consider buying them and fixing for resale myself.)
2- HP Designjet 5500PS Large Format Inkjet Printer 60" UV Inks | eBay
If you're in CA, here's a pretty good deal on a pair of Z6100PS models:
HP Designjet Z6100ps, working condition, needs supplies. BONUS second printer! | eBay
They probably both need work but are not hard to service. Parts are available but printheads are pricey and you need 8.
I think other techs will want to chime in as to repair costs/procedures. I see quite a few of these getting trashed because no one wants to work on them because the owners don't want to pay repair costs but for a few hours of your time and a fistful of dollars, you can get one of the working and enjoy printing some beautiful photos. These shouldn't be hard to find used in your area. Check Ebay and Craigslist.
BTW, thanks for the link to the coated paper on the HP forum.
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