HP 124A

Compact color lasers put the HP 124A family on a great many desks. The set is four cartridges — black Q6000A, cyan Q6001A, yellow Q6002A and magenta Q6003A — and the black also comes as a two-pack, the Q6000AD, for desks that burn through black long before the colors move.

What makes this family unusual is how many printer lines share it: the Color LaserJet 1600, 2600 and 2605 machines, the CM1015 and CM1017 multifunctions, and the CP1215 and CP1515 generation after them all drink from the same four cartridges. Like its contemporaries, the family was sold in a single standard size with no high-yield X variant, so a cartridge that fits one of these printers fits them all — the full model list is at the bottom of this page.

Toner Cartridges for HP 124A

Cartridge	Color	Page Yield
Q6000A	Black	See product page
Q6001A	Cyan	See product page
Q6002A	Yellow	See product page
Q6003A	Magenta	See product page

Sets, bundles and packs for this family:

Which cartridge should you buy?

The interesting decision in this family is how you buy black. A text-heavy desk can empty two or three black cartridges for every color set, and the Q6000AD two-pack exists precisely for that pattern — stocking black in pairs keeps the most-used cartridge from ever being the one that stops a print run. Colors are the opposite story: buy them singly as each fades, or take the Tri Color bundle when all three are drifting low together. The 4 Color Set is the full-refresh option. There is no X size to weigh in any of this; capacity was never split in this family. Compatible cartridges here are backed by a 1-year warranty and 1-year returns.

Chip, toner and everyday use

Small machines notice small mistakes. Pull the sealing tape out in one steady motion — a torn tape end left inside a compact printer is hard to fish out — and push each cartridge home until the door closes without force. If the printer reports a cartridge it cannot read, the chip contacts are the first thing to check: power down, reseat the cartridge, and let the machine re-register it. Spares for a shared desk printer are best kept in the box, in the drawer under the machine, so the next person finds the right code without a hunt.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I verify that 124A cartridges fit my printer?

Match the code on the cartridge you are removing — Q6000A for black, Q6001A to Q6003A for the colors — and then find your model in the printer list below. If both agree, the cartridge is the right one; if the code differs, trust the code over the family name.

Do all four cartridges have to be replaced together?

No. Each cartridge is independent, and the printers in this family track them separately. Replace the black when black runs out and each color as it fades; the sets and bundles on this page are buying options, not a requirement of the machine.

What is the Q6000AD two-pack?

It is two black Q6000A cartridges boxed together under the Q6000AD code. Nothing about the cartridges changes — the two-pack simply suits printers whose black runs out far faster than the colors, so a spare black is always already on hand.

What is the difference between the Tri Color bundle and the 4 Color Set?

The Tri Color bundle holds only the three colors — cyan, yellow and magenta — for a refresh when the black is still healthy. The 4 Color Set adds the black cartridge as well, for a complete four-cartridge change in one box.