Which toner fits the HP LaserJet Pro M402dw?

The same cartridge as an M426 multifunction — and yet

HP lists the 26A and the 26X for the LaserJet Pro M402 as well as for the M426 multifunction models. Two offices with one of each therefore order the same part number, and are often surprised that the second empties its cartridges far faster.

The explanation is not in the cartridge but in the document feeder. An M402 prints only what is sent to it from a workstation; an M426 adds copying, and a stack of fifty pages through the feeder uses as much as a fifty-page print run — with no computer keeping a record. On a shared machine, that invisible share commonly reaches a third of the volume.

26A or 26X: the ratio is 2.9

HP recommends 750 to 4,000 pages a month for this machine. At the floor, a 26A covers four months and a 26X close to a year. At the ceiling, three weeks and two and a half months respectively. Both cartridges occupy the same slot and the machine recognises on its own which is fitted: nothing stops you alternating from one order to the next.

Two trays, two weight limits

The 100-sheet universal tray takes up to 175 gsm, the main tray and the optional 550-sheet tray stop at 120 gsm. Covers and dividers therefore go through the small tray. Fed through the wrong path, media that is too heavy gives uneven toner fusing — a fault readily blamed on the cartridge, wrongly.