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Standard Ink vs. High Yield Ink Cartridges
Selecting the correct cartridge type is crucial when choosing the best ink cartridges for your printer. However, there will be the additional choice between a standard ink cartridge and a high yield ink cartridge for some printers.
So what does XL mean on ink cartridges and what is the difference between XL ink and regular ink cartridges?
This article will help you decide whether standard and high yield cartridges are the right ones for your circumstances. We’ll also show you examples of HP’s extensive range of inkjet printers that support both cartridge types to help you navigate your options when selecting your next ink-based printer. Looking at how many pages an ink cartridge can print will also help when deciding.
Standard Ink Cartridges
A standard HP ink cartridge is not just a container full of ink; it includes the complete mechanism for transferring the ink onto the paper within the printer. A microchip within the ink cartridge communicates with the microprocessor within the printer. The printer tells the ink cartridge when and how to discharge ink. In addition, the ink cartridge informs the printer how much ink it believes is left based on how many pages it has printed.
When the printer tells the ink cartridge to print, it releases tiny droplets of ink from its ink chamber through a print head. The ink emerges from a nozzle plate onto the paper from several nozzle positions. The microchip determines how much ink to discharge through each nozzle. The print head controlled by the microchip determines how the ink is transferred onto the paper to create different shades and intensities of deposited ink.
This intelligence and complexity within the ink cartridges allow the printers to be relatively inexpensive relative to the cost of replacement ink cartridges.
It is also why inferior ink cartridges that may not perform as required or use more ink than necessary are not recommended over a high-quality ink cartridge.
Standard HP ink cartridges are available either as black ink or colored ink. The black ink cartridges are straightforward; they contain a single ink chamber full of black ink. The colored ink cartridges are more complex. They have three separate ink chambers that contain cyan, magenta, and yellow ink. The cartridge microchip releases one or more of these different colors in varying quantities to create the actual color requested by the printer.
For example, magenta and yellow mixed together without cyan create red. Cyan and yellow mixed together without magenta makes green. Magenta and cyan mixed without yellow create blue.
High Yield Ink Cartridges
A high yield ink cartridge has a larger ink chamber than its equivalent standard ink cartridge. Although both contain a microchip and print head, the larger ink chamber stores more ink, so the cartridge can print more pages than a standard cartridge.
High yield cartridges are identified with the letters XL after the model number for HP inkjet cartridges. So, for example, the high yield equivalent to the standard HP 301 ink cartridge is designated HP 301XL.
The two cartridges also have different part numbers to help distinguish them; in this example, part number CH561EE#UUS for the HP 301 black ink cartridge and part number CH563EE#UUS for the HP 301XL black ink cartridge.
Standard Ink vs. High Yield Ink Cartridges
High yield ink cartridges contain more ink than their standard ink cartridge equivalents. This difference offers users savings when a printer is used frequently for producing large volumes of materials. The cost per page is lower, the disruption to print runs to replace empty cartridges is less, and the time spent ordering and replacing cartridges is lower.
So we hope now you understand what XL means on ink cartridges and what the difference is between XL ink and regular ink cartridges.
However, if you use your printer infrequently and only print a few pages, there is a risk of ink drying up within cartridges and becoming unusable. In this case, it makes sense to use standard ink cartridges as the potential volume of wasted ink would be lower. It is important to note that any wastage will depend on the environment where you locate your printer. Higher ambient temperatures can exacerbate issues, while factors such as humidity and exposure to direct sunlight can play a part.
If you are an infrequent printer user, you may find that your ink cartridges do not work correctly after prolonged inactivity due to ink drying. Cleaning the print head of the cartridge will generally solve any problems. HP printers come with a self-cleaning option to save you from manually removing the ink cartridges to wipe the print heads with a suitable solvent.
HP Inkjet Printers
If you are looking for a new Inkjet printer and you have decided you want to have the option of choosing between standard and high yield ink cartridges, the following suggestions all meet these requirements.
HP DeskJet 3755 All-in-One Printer: Home printer
The HP DeskJet 3755 Wireless All-in-One Printer is a superb basic and affordable home printer with an impressive list of capabilities. It can wirelessly print, scan, and copy documents and photographs from Apple, Android, and Windows devices. In addition, it can print pages at speeds of up to 8 pages per minute (ppm) for monochrome and 5.5 ppm for a color copy.
This printer uses the HP 65 range of print cartridges, the printer requiring one black ink cartridge and one tri-color cartridge.
HP ENVY Inspire 7955e All-in-One Printer: Advanced home printer
The HP ENVY Inspire 7955e All-in-One Printer is an excellent, highly capable home all-in-one printer with a 35-page auto-feeder for automatic double-sided printing and copying. It can print pages at speeds of up to 15 ppm for monochrome and 10 ppm for a color copy.
This printer uses the HP 64 range of print cartridges, the printer requiring one black ink cartridge and one tri-color cartridge.
HP OfficeJet Pro 8025e All-in-One Printer: All-in-one office printer
The HP OfficeJet Pro 8025e All-in-One Printer is an excellent example of an affordable home office all-in-one printer with an impressive list of features for everyday use. HP has designed this printer to produce inexpensive, professional-quality color materials with reasonable throughput for the typical home office environment. It can print pages at speeds of up to 20 ppm for monochrome and 10 ppm for a color copy.
This printer uses the HP 910 range of print cartridges, the printer requires one black ink cartridge, one cyan color cartridge, one magenta color cartridge, and one yellow color cartridge.
HP OfficeJet Pro 8210 Wireless Printer: Basic office printing
The HP OfficeJet Pro 8210 Printer is an excellent example of a professional inkjet printer for general business use. It incorporates wireless and automatic double-sided printing on various materials, from standard A4 paper to envelopes. It can print pages at speeds of up to 22 ppm for monochrome and 18 ppm for a color copy.
This printer uses the HP 952 range of print cartridges, the printer requires one black ink cartridge, one cyan color cartridge, one magenta color cartridge, and one yellow color cartridge.
Summary
Inkjet cartridges are complex devices in their own right, so choosing the right Inkjet printer is an important decision. However, don't forget to factor in the availability of standard and high yield ink cartridges into the decision-making process. If you are going to be printing lots of pages regularly, high yield cartridges can offer significant cost savings.
However, standard ink cartridges can be more practical for infrequent low-volume printing. The critical thing is to understand precisely what you will be using your printer for before deciding which is the best option. Knowledge is power when it comes to making the right choices.
