TLDR: theinkshop.ie good price for generic cartridges. Much better ink volumes than genuine cartridges. 100% Irish owned. Genuine cartridges also available at the expected higher price.
(no they're not paying me anything nor do they know I'm writing this)
Our black ink is (finally) gone again (we have a Brother DCP-J315W printer scanner). We can stretch out cartridge life by taping over the ink level detector hole ;). We bought from theinkshop.ie before. The cartridges bought last longer than the genuine cartridges.
I looked online to see if theinkshop.ie are still good value.
And they are.
#LifeHack buy the best printer ink cartridges.
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| 5 old brother ink cartridges, one which was butchered in an attempt to refill the ink, as you do. Boxes from generic cartridges (currently in printer) from theinkshop.ie on right. |
Ink cartridges key features: QUALITY PRICE INK-VOLUME
You can classify the different cartridges available as follows:
Genuine "official" cartridges: Quality high, Price high, Ink-Volume low
Generic cartridges: Quality medium/high, Price low, Ink-Volume high/medium <-- sweet spot
Generic cartridges: Quality medium?, Price low, Ink-Volume low/medium <-- ok
Re-filling ink cartridges, you can get re-filling kits but they are tricky to use and might not work for you.
In general, genuine "official" cartridges from the printer manufacturer e.g. Brother, Canon, HP are high Quality but can be very expensive and also do not last long (due to low ink volume). They seem to have low volumes of ink at 4.8ml and 8.7ml. This is annoying both because of the cost and the waste (plastic cartridges recycle or dump). The price has improved a bit due to the availability of generic cartridges but in many places they are still expensive (twice or more the cost).
On recent printers we owned(over last 15 years) we found the printer would refuse to print and demand for cartridge to be replaced long before the ink was used up. Understandable from an engineering point of view, you don't want the cartridge to run dry. But wasteful of ink and money. Especially if you do not need a perfect print out. On two of the printers we found a way to fool the printer (Brother DCP-J315W - put opaque tape over the ink level detector on cartridge). But you need to watch for when ink really is used up yourself.
Generic cartridges became available a few years ago and are more generally available now and (in some cases) the quality is as good as genuine cartridges. The cost is much better. And the ink-volume is more in some cartridges, so you get much longer cartridge life. You can get generic cartridges with medium ink volume about 12ml 13ml 14ml 17ml, or in one case black ink 28ml which I describe as high.
COMPARISON of Quality Price Ink-Volume
Notes/caveat: Comparing prices for my printer, YMMV with other printers but the quality price volume characteristics are similar for many genuine vs generic. Some generic cartridges have more ink volume. Quality is guessed at! theinkshop.ie and the genuine cartridges are the only ones I really know about as we have used them.
https://www.inkjet.ie/brother-inkjet-cartridges/brother-dcp-j315w.html - only generic
black or colour generic 13ml 3 euros (magenta for 4 euros)
"high capacity" ? 13ml ? really?
Yes it is more than genuine cartridges (which are under 5ml and under 9ml).
But it's at the lower end of other generic cartridges (12ml 13ml 14ml 17ml 28ml)
Generic cartridges: Quality medium?, Price low, Ink-Volume medium/low
https://www.printerinks.ie/product/brother-dcp-j315w/ - only generic
black generic 17ml 6.87 euros, colour generic 12ml 3.92 euros
10 pack for 24.50 euros, 4 pack for 16.71 euros
ink volume: black 17ml, colours 12ml
Generic cartridges: Quality medium?, Price low, Ink-Volume medium/low
https://dublincartridge.ie/index.php?route=product/category&path=59_328
black generic 7.50 euros, colours for 6 euros - only single generic cartridges
ink volume: black 17ml, yellow cyan colours 12ml, magenta 20ml
Generic cartridges: Quality medium?, Price low, Ink-Volume medium/low
https://www.123ink.ie/search/?search=dcpj315w
black generic 14ml 8.50 euros, black genuine brother 8.7ml 17 euros,
colour generic 14ml 4.75 euros, colour genuine brother 4.8ml 9 euros
generic 8 pack 42.50 euros,
ink volume: black 14ml/8.7ml, colours 14ml/4.8ml
Generic cartridges: Quality medium?, Price low, Ink-Volume medium/low
http://www.theinkshop.ie/printer-supplies/brother/multi-function-printer/dcp-j/brother-dcp-j-315-w
black generic 28ml 7 euros, black genuine brother 8.7ml 17 euros,
colour generic 16ml 6 euros, colour genuine brother 4.8ml 9 euros
22 euros generic pack, 40 euros for 2 packs,
The generic cartridges have ink volume: 28ml black and 16ml in colours
ink volume: black 28ml, colours 16ml
Generic cartridges: Quality medium/high, Price low, Ink-Volume high <-- sweet spot
Note to self, remember also to buy paper. http://www.theinkshop.ie/Printing-Copying-Paper/products/4/
Re-using or re-cycling cartridges ?
https://www.inkjet-recycling.ie/ oh dear :( closed down
Prices over last 3 years:
ORDER:
LC-985BK-VALUEPACK 1 Full Set of Generic LC985 Ink Catridges 1 €21.99
LC-985BKINK Generic Brother LC985 Black Ink 2 €13.90
CARRIER Post & Packing 1 €2.99
Net Order Value €32.65
Total VAT €6.23
Total Order Value €38.88
ORDER 2 years ago: "
LC-985BK-VALUEPACK 1 Full Set of Generic LC985 Ink Catridges 1 €25.00
CARRIER Post & Packing 1 €1.99
Net Order Value €22.32
Total VAT €4.67
Total Order Value €26.99
Order 3 years ago:
harvey norman IN STORE 50 euros full pack genuine Brother cartridges (4 cartridges - 1 black and 1 each of cyan, yellow and magenta)
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| 5 old brother ink cartridges, one which was butchered in an attempt to refill the ink, as you do. Old genuine brother box from 2017 or so, boxes from a year ago from theinkshop.ie on right. |
Note on Replacing ink cartridges
https://www.brother.ie/support/dcpj315w/faqs/how-to-trouble-shooting/faq00000259_018
Power on printer.
Take out old cartridge and install new (after removing the bits that need to be removed(tape on top) but leaving the plastic sheath on bottom ink outlet for our printer type).
The printer asks you have you changed black cartridge and you confirm.
Send something to be printed. "processing" print job or "Receiving Data . . ." message seen on printer stays a long time while print heads humm and stutter and quietly whine . . . printing is very slow. A page eventually comes out but missing any black ink.
Using printer menus print a test page.
It can be seen most or all black ink blocks are failing.
Using printer menus tell it to clean black ink heads (or follow prompts after test page).
Repeat this process a few times. Some black should appear after an initial clean. It could take a few cleans before you have the head completely clean or recharged with ink.
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