You realize how expensive printing is when you have to buy new ink. So I decided to figure out what it costs per page to print in color and black and white.

I assumed that laser printing would be the most cost effective way to print, since the toner cartridges can usually print thousands of pages and cost less than $100.

So lets look at laser printing and see how much one solution actually costs per page. The HP LaserJet P1006 costs about $99 and it prints 17 pages per minute.   The replacement toner cartridge is the $68 HP35A (CB435A),  and HP says it has a 1500 page yield.  So that comes out to costing us 4.5 cents per page  ($68 / 1500) .  Of course the big catch with this printer is that it can’t print color. 

For Color and some nice “All-In-One” features like scanning, fax and photocopying, the HP Photosmart C4480 All-in-One is a good value. Its only $99.  If you buy the HP 74XL  Inkjets, you can get your per page cost down to 4.6 cents. ($35/ 750)

OEM HP 74 (CB335WN) Black Ink Cartridge $15 for 200 pages. (7.5 cents a page)

OEM HP 74XL (CB336WN) Black Ink Cartridge $35 for 750 pages. (4.6 cents a page).

OEM HP 75 (CB337WN) Color Ink Cartridge $20 for 170 pages (11.7 cents a page)

OEM HP 75XL (CB338WN) Color Ink Cartridge $40 for 520 pages  (7.5 cents a page)

Ok so color printing is expensive part, which makes sense because those color cartridges are actually 3 ink tanks in one.

But the great thing about the HP 74/75 cartridges is that you can get them refilled at places like Cartridge World, or you can simply buy them refilled online at your favorite inkjet website. 

I was quoted around $20 for a refilled 74XL cartridge at Cartridge World — that brings the price down to 2.6 cents a page.

So let me summarize:  Look for a decent HP printer that takes the HP 74/75 cartridges, make sure to buy the large “XL” size cartridges, and you can get your combined average color & bw printing down to about 5 cents a page.