I have been using Epson paper with my 1280 but I wonder if there are any less expensive papers out that are just as good.

I don't know about cheaper, but I do like Ilford Gallerie paper which I use with my Epson 1290 Printer matched with Epson Inks. I think the important thing when trying out different paper is to make sure that you set up your print options to match the paper and ink.

As Kurt has said, Ilford Galerie is a great and relatively inexpensive paper. I use Smooth Pearl, which is a cross between glossy and matt, and the results are great, especially using the correct paper profile (downloadable from Ilford's website).

I am reading a test of A4 photo paper made by Test-Achats, a Belgium consumer organisation .

I give you a summary of the results for 3 printers:

For the Epson Stylus photo 925 (Ink epson T026 black, T027 colour):
* best paper is Pelikan Inkjet photo professional (1€/page)
* runner up is FNAC photo paper glossy (0,7€/page)
* Epson premium glossy is third at (8,8€/page) and better than the Epson photo paper glossy.

For the Canon I950 (Ink black BCI-6BK,BCI-6C, 6M, 6Y, 6PC, 6PM):
* best paper is again Pelikan Inkjet photo professional (1€/page)
* runner up is Avery inkjet photo paper premium glossy (1€/page)
* FNAC photo paper glossy (0,7€/page) and Canon photo paper plus glossy PP-101 (0,6€/page) are third

For the HP photosmart 7350 (Ink HP 56 black, HP 57 colour, HP58 photo)
* best paper is Canon photo paper plus glossy PP-101 (0,6€/page)
* runner up is Avery inkjet photo paper premium glossy (1€/page)
* TDK Professional Grade glossy photo paper is third at 8,8€/page

Hope it helps,