Thank you, I will go check out Wal-Mart and see if they have a black ink cartridge for my HP. Going 6 miles instead of 50 would more than make up for any price differences in cost from print cartridge place. Also appreciate the information about color cartridges can be empty but still useful :-) Judith http://www.agoodread.com Sharing is the key to all our $uccess! Judith, one of my printers is Deskjet 812C. Wal-Mart carries a brand named Pelican to replace the black ink for app. $18, but they don't have the color cartridge in that brand. I think I got the color at Mr. Ink (online). But relating to your question, my color ran out once and when I removed the cartridge the printer wouldn't print at all. When I put the empty color cartridge back in, the printer worked, so both cartridges have to be in place for the printer to work. of the B&W only option, but I see I have grayscale so that's probably it. ~Glo -- <Please delete this line and everything below.> To unsub or change your email settings: //www.freelists.org/webpage/pctechtalk To access our Archives: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/PCTechTalk/messages/ //www.freelists.org/archives/pctechtalk/