What Ink Does the HP OfficeJet 6500A Use?

by William Elward Last Updated: October 14, 2026

Quick answer: The HP OfficeJet 6500A, 6500A Plus and the earlier OfficeJet 6500 all use four separate HP 920 or high-yield HP 920XL cartridges: black, cyan, magenta and yellow. Castle Ink stocks remanufactured 920XL Black, Cyan, Magenta and Yellow, or all four in a 920XL 4-pack.

Unlike most home HP printers, the 6500 series keeps its printhead in the printer, so the cartridges are just ink tanks. That makes them cheap to replace, but a failing printhead is a separate (and more serious) problem.

CastleScore · October 2026

69/100 — Situational

HP OfficeJet 6500A

Pillar (weight)	Score	What it is based on
Owner ratings (28%)	—	No retailer rating with enough reviews to use.
Expert reviews (18%)	—	Reviewed by Expert Reviews and Macworld, without a numeric score we could verify.
Cost per page (24%)	91	About 2.5¢ per page blended (black + color) with our remanufactured 920XL (1,200 black / 700 color pages).
Reliability (13%)	66	Most-reported problems: 'Ink System Failure' (0xc19a0013) and 'Missing or Failed Printhead' errors that a new printhead doesn't always fix; Wi-Fi drops on the Plus model
Features (12%)	76	Print, copy, scan, fax, 35-sheet document feeder, Ethernet. The 6500A Plus adds Wi-Fi, auto two-sided printing and a touchscreen.
Value (5%)	74	Running cost and owner satisfaction

Limited data: We could not find enough owner ratings or published expert scores for this printer, so those weights are spread across the other pillars. With neither owner ratings nor a published expert score, we cap its CastleScore at 69 (Situational) under our methodology.

Discontinued. HP stopped selling the 6500A around 2012. Original HP 920 cartridges are getting hard to find; many retailers show them out of stock.

CastleScore is Castle Ink’s own editorial rating, built from retailer star ratings, expert reviews, real cost per page and owner complaint patterns, checked October 14, 2026. It is not a customer review. See every ranked printer or how the score works.

The cartridges, pictured

Our own remanufactured cartridges, photographed in-house.

What Ink Cartridges Does the HP OfficeJet 6500A Take?

Cartridge	HP part no. (standard / XL)	Approx. yield (standard / XL)	Castle Ink option
HP 920 Black	CD971AN / CD975AN	~420 / ~1,200 pages	Remanufactured 920XL Black
HP 920 Cyan	CH634AN / CD972AN	~300 / ~700 pages	Remanufactured 920XL Cyan
HP 920 Magenta	CH635AN / CD973AN	~300 / ~700 pages	Remanufactured 920XL Magenta
HP 920 Yellow	CH636AN / CD974AN	~300 / ~700 pages	Remanufactured 920XL Yellow

Yields are from HP's OfficeJet 6500A datasheet. We also stock standard-size remanufactured 920 Black and 920 Cyan, Magenta and Yellow.

Is HP 920XL Worth It?

Yes, and original 920 cartridges are getting hard to find. On October 14, 2026, Staples showed every Original HP 920 cartridge out of stock (920 black listed at $34.99, 920XL magenta at $30.49), and Quill lists the 920XL black as no longer available. Our remanufactured 920XL cartridges are $9.95 each (under 1¢ a page for black), or $27.99 for the 4-pack.

How Do I Replace the Ink in the HP OfficeJet 6500A?

Turn the printer on and open the ink cartridge access door.
Wait for the carriage to stop and the printer to go quiet.
Press the tab on the front of the cartridge and pull it out.
Unwrap the new cartridge and push it into its color-coded slot until it snaps. Don't remove or touch the printhead.
Close the door. The printer may run a short priming routine before printing.

Which Other Printers Use HP 920?

The OfficeJet 6000, 6500 (E709), 6500A (E710a), 6500A Plus (E710n), 7000 and 7500A.

What OfficeJet 6500A owners ask

These are the questions that come up most for this printer in HP's support community and owner reviews, answered in our words.

It says "Ink System Failure" (0xc19a0013). Is that the ink?

Usually not. That error and "Missing or Failed Printhead" point to the printhead. Turn the printer off, unplug it for a minute, reseat the printhead and cartridges, and clean the printhead contacts. If it returns, owners report that even a new printhead doesn't always fix it.

What's the difference between the 6500, 6500A and 6500A Plus?

All take HP 920 ink. The 6500A Plus (E710n) adds Wi-Fi, automatic two-sided printing and a touchscreen; the plain 6500A (E710a) connects by Ethernet or USB.

Can I print if one color runs out?

No. All four cartridges must be installed and contain ink.

The Wi-Fi keeps dropping on my 6500A Plus.

Give the printer a fixed IP address in your router, keep it on a 2.4 GHz network and update to HP's last firmware for the model.

OfficeJet 6500A quirks worth knowing

HP released the 6500A around 2010; Icecat lists an end-of-life date of July 2012.
The 6500A Plus is rated at 10 ISO pages a minute in black and 7 in color.
It prints, copies, scans and faxes, with a 35-sheet document feeder and a 250-sheet tray.
HP recommends 200 to 800 pages a month, with a duty cycle of 7,000.

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