Can modern all in one devices be used as a scanner with empty ink cartridges?

Whilst sheet feeder scanners are quite expensive for even entry level ones, all in one devices with a sheet feeder are surprisingly affordable - I can only assume that this is sold at a loss leading price on the hopes you are going to buy a lot of ink.

I used a Epson CX6400 for the past few years and it worked perfectly with empty ink cartridges. I could scan to memory card fine.

Anyway, my Epson has just broken and I am currently looking for a new scanner (don't worry, not asking for recommendations!) and I was just wondering if anyone knows if modern scanners can work like this or have they got wise and require ink in the cartridges?

At the moment, I am most interested in HP, but, I am interested (and possibly others who come across this question) in other brands such as Epson, Brother and Lexmark (who seem to sell the most sheet feeder all in ones).

Does anyone know the answer to this? (or if you have a moment to test it, I would be very grateful!)

I have the HP PhotoSmart C310, I just pulled all (5) the ink cartridges out of it and it still scanned a picture for me. It did throw all kinds of errors and complaints about the ink cartridges being damaged or missing.

Its actually the best flatbed scanner I have ever owned.

Most all in ones will ship with at least a partially full ink cartridge. Provided you never actually use the initial cartridge for printing, there should be no problem scanning. Never actually tried it, but I don't think that any manufacturer would require a non-empty cartridge (or even a cartridge to exist at all) to scan/fax.