HP OfficeJet Pro K550 question

Hello:

Somebody gave me the above printer - without the 4 (1 black, 3 color)
cartridges.
To buy all four of them would cost me $ 50-90, depending on OEM or
remanufactured.
But I rarely print in colors.

My question is: Does anybody know whether this printer works with the black
cartridge alone?
The User's Guide I checked online doesn't mention this possibility.

One the one hand I don't want to spend my money on all four cartridges. On
the
other I would hate to bring this very goodlooking and sturdy printer to the
landfill.

TIA for your reply and thoughts.

Petrus Tax

"Petrus Tax" <petrustax@earthlink.net> wrote:
>Hello:
>
>Somebody gave me the above printer - without the 4 (1 black, 3 color)
>cartridges.
>To buy all four of them would cost me $ 50-90, depending on OEM or
>remanufactured.
>But I rarely print in colors.
>
>My question is: Does anybody know whether this printer works with the black
>cartridge alone?
>The User's Guide I checked online doesn't mention this possibility.
>
>One the one hand I don't want to spend my money on all four cartridges. On
>the
>other I would hate to bring this very goodlooking and sturdy printer to the
>landfill.
>
>TIA for your reply and thoughts.
>
>Petrus Tax

The printer will not work with any of the ink cartridges missing. What concerns
me is whether the printheads may have dried out, probably not because the ink
is transferred from the ink cartridges to the printheads through tubes and so
long as the tubes have some ink in them the printheads should be OK.
This printer will take the larger cartridges (#88XL), these are better buys and
cost per page will be lower if you do that. If you only want to print black
then the standard colour carts and the larger XL black cartridge would be the
best way to go.
Tony
MS MVP Printing/Imaging