HP Toner Cartridges: Which One Fits Your Printer

You need a toner cartridge for an HP laser printer and the shop is asking which number. This post lists the HP cartridges most commonly found in Indian offices, the printer families each one serves, and how to confirm the match before money changes hands.

The HP toner cartridge list for common Indian office printers

HP names its mono laser cartridges with a number and a letter — 12A, 88A, 05A — and each cartridge serves a family of related printers rather than a single model. These are the pairings you will meet most often in Delhi NCR offices:

• HP 12A (Q2612A) — the LaserJet 1010, 1012, 1015, 1018, 1020 and 3050 family. These machines are old now, but so many were sold in India that the 12A is still traded everywhere. Rated at about 2,000 pages.
• HP 88A (CC388A) — the LaserJet P1007, P1008, M1136, M126 and M1213nf family. Probably the single most common cartridge in Indian small offices. Rated at about 1,500 pages.
• HP 85A (CE285A) — the LaserJet P1102, M1132 and M1212nf family.
• HP 78A (CE278A) — the LaserJet P1566, P1606dn and M1536dnf.
• HP 36A (CB436A) — the LaserJet P1505, M1120 and M1522.
• HP 05A (CE505A) — the LaserJet P2035 and P2055 workgroup machines. A high-yield 05X exists for the same printers.
• HP 80A (CF280A) — the LaserJet Pro 400 M401 and M425 family, also with a high-yield 80X.
• HP 26A (CF226A) — the LaserJet Pro M402 and M426, with a 26X high-yield option.
• HP 17A (CF217A) — the LaserJet Pro M102 and M130 family. These machines also have a separate 19A imaging drum, so a fading M130 is not always a toner problem.
• HP 30A (CF230A) — the LaserJet Pro M203 and M227 family, paired with a separate 32A drum.
• HP 106A (W1106A) — the newer HP Laser 107, 135 and 137 machines. These are chip-sensitive; more on that below.

All quoted yields are HP's rated figures, measured at a standard low page coverage. Real-world yield depends on what you print — dense pages with logos and tables consume toner faster — so treat rated numbers as a basis for comparison between cartridges, not a promise.

Colour LaserJets work the same way but take a set of four cartridges, one per colour, with their own numbering. The same verification steps below apply.

How to confirm the right cartridge

The list above covers the common cases, but the printer itself is always the authority. Three checks, in order of reliability:

1. The old cartridge. The model number is printed on the cartridge you are removing. If it says CC388A, buy a CC388A. This is the check that cannot go wrong.
2. The label inside the machine. Open the cartridge door. Most HP lasers carry a sticker inside listing the supported cartridge.
3. The manual or HP's own support page for your exact model number — not a similar-looking one. The P1007 and P1008 share a cartridge; other pairs of neighbouring model numbers do not, so never buy on resemblance.

The exact model number is on a label at the back or underside of the printer. Photograph it before you go to the market. At Nehru Place, a shopkeeper asked for "toner for an HP LaserJet" will make a guess; asked for a CC388A, he cannot.

A and X: same fit, different capacity

Where HP offers two versions of a cartridge — 05A and 05X, 80A and 80X, 26A and 26X — both fit the same printers. The X holds more toner and carries a higher rated yield, at a higher price per cartridge but usually a lower cost per page. For a machine that prints in any volume, the X variant is generally the better arithmetic; for a lightly used printer, the A avoids paying for capacity that will sit in the machine for a year.

The chip problem on newer models

Cartridges from roughly the 106A generation onwards carry chips that the printer checks more aggressively than older machines did, and HP firmware updates have at times changed how the printer treats non-original chips. Two practical consequences:

• A compatible or refilled cartridge that worked last month can be refused after a firmware update.
• A "supply problem" message on these machines is often the chip conversation, not the toner itself.

Older families — the 12A, 88A, 85A era — are far more relaxed, which is one reason toner refilling is so routine and economical on those machines in India. If you run a newer HP Laser 100-series and rely on refills, ask your refiller specifically how they handle the chip before committing.

Counterfeits and how to avoid the obvious ones

The Indian market carries genuine HP, legitimate compatible brands, refilled cartridges sold as such — and counterfeits sold in convincing HP boxes. Cartridges priced dramatically below every other seller are the ones to question. Buy genuine cartridges from authorised sellers, or buy compatibles and refills openly as what they are from someone who will stand behind them. A counterfeit sold at a genuine price is the worst of both worlds.

Storage in Delhi conditions

Toner cartridges keep well if kept sensibly: sealed in their bag until needed, away from direct sunlight, and not in a cupboard that bakes through a Delhi summer. Monsoon humidity affects paper far more than it affects sealed toner, so a spare cartridge bought early loses nothing by waiting. One spare per machine you rely on is the habit worth keeping.

When to call a technician

If the correct cartridge is installed and the printer still refuses it, prints faintly, or throws a supply error, the fault is usually the chip contacts, the drum, or the machine — not the cartridge number. Toner Vision repairs HP lasers across Delhi NCR with a 4-hour average response; if a new cartridge has not solved it, our HP printer repair service will find what actually has.