This is a great example of getting what you pay for.If either of the cartridges has a problem, the machine becomes useless, you can't print a document in b&w; if the color cartridge has a problem. In this case the cartridge was fine, and had ink a few hours ago, now it suddenly has "expired". Not out of ink. Expired.So if you don't think ahead to have another color cartridge ready to go, and have to make a standard draft b&w; print quickly, you're out of luck.This has always been a tricky machine, with the usual lame scanning software from HP, that seems to have been frozen in time since 1998.Not recommended.