Why Printing yields so different?

How Many Pages Will A Standard Cartridge Print vs an XL Cartridge

Many printer cartridges come in two sizes standard and XL (extra large). A standard cartridge is designed for lighter printing needs. It is typically more affordable upfront, but will print less pages. An XL cartridge holds more ink or toner, usually 2 to 3 times as much as a standard cartridge.  This allows it to print significantly more pages before needing to be replaced. Where possible all the cartridges supplied by Affordable Ink are the XL cartridges as it does not make sense to us to sell a box half full of ink, when the extra ink costs only a little more to completely fill the cartridge.

As an example consider the HP 65 black ink cartridge. The standard version is rated to print 120 pages at 5% coverage, while the HP65XL version can produce up to 300 pages under the same conditions. That’s more than double the output, making the XL option a smart choice for those with higher printing demands.

How Many Pages Will Different Types of Printers Print

Every printer cartridge has a different page yield even from the same manufacturer.  Information regarding the page yield for a particular cartridge is available on the product pages on Affordable Ink.  A trend we have seen in recent years is the ink cartridges are increasing in size and the page yield has increased accordingly.  This is good news as it means the cartridges have to be replaced less often. 

Another noticeable feature is that the page yield for toner cartridges that fit laser printers are generally much higher than the ink cartridges for inkjet printers.  The trend in laser printers has been the reverse with smaller toners becoming available for home use.  Some of the smaller toners now print less than the larger ink cartridges.  Add in the recent introduction of tank printers such as the Epson EcoTank range and page yields soar into the thousands.  The EcoTank ET2850 is rated to print 7,500 black pages @ 5% coverage.

The number of pages you can print will depend on the printer you have and the cartridge it takes, the choice of standard or XL cartridges and also what you print.  If your documents include heavy graphics or photos, the higher coverage will reduce the cartridge’s actual number of pages printed below the standard of 5% coverage.