Is there a way to to check a printer/scanner that looks perfectly fine but has no ink cartridges to see if buying cartridges is worth a gamble?
I am guilty of plucking cartridges from disposed of printers but I do not have the HP 60XL in stock. 
Thank you in advance.
Look at what a cartridge costs, look at what the entire comparable printer (including cartridges) costs. Very likely they’re very close in price, as home consumer inkjet printers are disposable loss leaders marketed to sell proprietary ink.
(Youtube video on Canon printer errors.)
Depending on the model year, it may still be good as a scanner. I know some of the newer ones lock out the scanner function if the ink runs dry…
that true.
Having mucked with far more than my share of used PC hardware I would never pick an inkjet out of the trash for a few reasons.
1: You can likely buy a brand new one for not much more than the price of a new set of cartridges
2: To check them out you usually have to buy cartridges
3: You can’t really fix them is something is wrong. Consumer type inkjets are not built to be easily serviced or repaired
99% of the the time trying to rescue a trashed inkjet for the printer function will never be worth it, however if you have already have compatible cartriges all you have to risk is time so go for it.
We were about to check the scanner then got distracted big time. 
I figured we could do that much. It’s an HP C4680.
I think all HP ink comes with disposable printheads, so at least you don’t need you worry about spoilt printheads. But, being HP, they’re very picky on ink, so you’ll probably have to buy original ink.
We have a HP V40 scanner/printer/fax that we just use for a fax but it’s very picky about it’s color cartridge, even when we only want to use it for fax.
YMMV, but I would think you’ll spend a lot of money on ink making it happy.
At least with some manufacturers, new printers may come with a starter cartridge, which has less ink. So your savings may dwindle. And you’re going to be visited by an angry Captain Planet for tossing so many printers. If the internet is to be believed, Epson and Lexmark are among those who don’t do this, and HP (surprise) may do so.
Well the scanner works. Maybe I can barter all these empty cartridges for new or refills or something.
Sure, you can get a new version of the printer for the price of a cartridge, but they usually come with smaller cartridges. And you can always buy refurbished cartridges. (It’s probably too late for a refill. Once the residue of the ink dries, a refill becomes much less likely to work. Always refill before you completely run out of ink.)