I've been buying HP printers and new HP ink for 20 years and have found them reliable and high quality (and I've purchased Lexmark Brother and Cannon printers/ink in the past). I write in gray marker the date of each color's installation and have been averaging around 3-4 months between replacements on each color including the large black cartridge. If you ever have a problem HP has very thorough diagnostics on their website that will help you with cleaning your ink jets re-aligning them and or replacing internal ink jets.
These are expensive but high quality ink cartridges that i Use in my HP OfficeJeet Pro 8600. I recommend these products but virtually do not have any choice. Best to use HP cartridges in an HP printer.