where to buy printer ink cartridges (in Ireland), comparing quality, price and ink volume. theinkshop.ie is the winner

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.

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

These generic cartridges here have more ink, especially for black.

ink volume: black 28ml, colours 16ml

Generic cartridges: Quality medium/high, Price low, Ink-Volume high  <-- sweet spot

Genuine cartridges  

Note to self, remember also to buy paper.  http://www.theinkshop.ie/Printing-Copying-Paper/products/4/

Re-using or re-cycling cartridges ?

theinkshop.ie will take old cartridges and recycle them. Not sure if that means they will be re-used.

Various other charities used to take them for re-cycling (probably to the UK) where you can redeem used cartridges for some money.

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)

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

When a new cartridge goes in especially if you mistreat printer as we do (making it use all the ink in cartridges) or if the printer has been unused for a while then you may need to "clean the print heads" or recharge them with ink. Printers usually have test page printing and ink head cleaning options. 

The process followed for our printer Brother DCPJ315W matches this:

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.

SMISHing scam SMS watch out and how to report scams

My wife received an SMS and it looked sort of legitamate . . . BUT . . . 

 SMS received "There is an update on your parcel. Item stopped due to unpaid customs fee. Follow the instructions here: zm7.link/R5U26" 

Remember, legitimate organisations should NOT send you messages with links to click on. 

AND, what is more, zm7.link looks a bit dodgy, right!? 

 DO NOT CLICK on these SCAM links, unless you want to enter fake info and annoy the scammers ;). 

Visiting that link brings you on to https://number.userinfotool.cloud/updaterie/yadda/yadda There are fake UPS pages there which brings you through an easy process selecting delivery to Home or Work etc etc 

The fake SMS and first fake website looks like this:

 

The fake SMS message.

      

The fake UPS website.

After a few clicks you are brought to here:

 https://get.appcami.com/ie/?o=3126&r=c5r1890430819c1r&a=139&sa=&aff_id=1#joinForm_desktop 

A fake 1 euro (or perhaps it will cost you alot more!)  iPhone offer entering payment details.

WOAH, Great FAKE offer <-- sarcasm alert

WOAH, Great FAKE offer of 1 euro iPhone with normal form for filling in payment details on get.appcami.com

You can report scams to google who can then flag web pages as suspicious.

Report to google here:

https://safebrowsing.google.com/safebrowsing/report_phish/?hl=en

Info for google: SMS SMISHing "There is an update on your parcel. Item stopped due to unpaid customs fee. Follow the instructions here: zm7.link/R5U26" 

Visiting that link brings you on to https://number.userinfotool.cloud/updaterie/yadda/yadda fake UPS delivery confirm pages  and then on to fake 1 euro iPhone offer at https://get.appcami.com/ie/?o=3126&r=c5r1890430819c1r&a=139&sa=&aff_id=1#joinForm_desktop

https://www.garda.ie/en/crime/cyber-crime/i-ve-been-caught-out-by-an-online-scam-what-should-i-do-.html "Complaints of online crime or those involving computers should first be made to your local Garda Station."

https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/consumer/scams/reporting-a-scam/

Google Safe Browsing

You can also report suspicious sites directly to Google Safe Browsing with the Suspicious Site Reporter extension (no need to revisit the Report Phishing page!). Report Sent Thanks for sending a report to Google. Now that you've done your good deed for the day, feel free to: 1. Take a second to rejoice merrily for doing your part in making the web a safer place. 2. Call/email/write to a neighbor/friend/relative and tell them what phishing is and how they can protect themselves. 3. Learn more about malware that can infect your computer on Stopbadware.org.

LED Light bulbs (y) (y) are now better than any other kind, replace them already!

LED light bulbs became very good for household use a year or so ago. 

LED bulbs brightness became good and the warmth of the light became good.

Their direct availability in shops was not very good for a while - limited choices and expense - that may be changing, I see woodies/homestore/currys seem to have reasonable prices & choice now.

You can buy them online anyway, especially any unusual shapes.

E.g. http://lights.ie (shipped from Germany despite the Irish URL) Good price, excellent selection. 

I see online https://www.lenehans.ie/electrical/bulbs.html Lenehans, Dublin, Irish reasonable price but limited selection. Or woodies, https://www.woodies.ie/lighting-lightbulbs/lightbulbs/led-bulbs also reasonable price, better selection. And see more below . . . 

I made a google sheet last year (2018/2019) to track bulb replacements. Pleased to say it looks like LED bulbs are reliable. Since start of use in 2018 none have needed to be replaced.  

In 2018 some of our light bulbs were filament, others were halogen(vacum & filament), others were cfl(compact flourescent) and first few good LED bulbs had gone in. The flourescent bulbs were meant to be longer life but many of them didn't seem to last. So I wanted to know were flourescent and/or LED worth-while (better energy but more complex manufacturing so not good if more expensive and not lasting long enough). 

Anyway, now you can get bulbs of all sizes in LED form. They are a bit more expensive than old filament/halogen but energy ratings much better and they will last a long LONG time. We have been replacing our lightbulbs throughout the house for a while now and none of the LED light bulbs have stopped working. The frequency of replacement of bulbs in this house is decreasing.

SO

I recommend . . . 

Stop buying any kind of light bulbs except for LED bulbs.

Gradually replace all bulbs in your house/business/... with LED. 

The frequency of changing bulbs should decrease dramatically. It may even stop. So you should eventually not need to have many/any spare bulbs.

Buy a batch of bulbs online (as the range of LED bulbs has not yet appeared in regular shops, for the most part).

We have a couple of tree LED low lights that are on 24/7 usually and over a few years they have faded from white to more yellow so LEDs probably will degrade over time but we can probably expect 5/10/15/20/.. more ? years use from LED light bulbs. 

We shall see.

Common bulb types (bulb base can come with different bulb types e.g. big/small/short/fat/candle/..):

G9	very small, the middle of halogen bulbs
G4	even smaller with straight pins
gu10	ceiling spot
B22	bayonet
E27	E27 = wide screw
E14	E14 = narrow screw
E14 R50	E14 R50 = narrow screw spot
R7s = T?	R7s = sit room 12cm halogen, Tungsten Halogen Double Ended
R7s 78mm?	outdoor security, <10cm halogen, Tungsten Halogen Double Ended

13 Nov 2020:

Our latest batch of bulbs came and we had 5 or 6 bulbs to replace, including a cooker fan hood light and a G9 (small 2 pin). 

Replaced 5 halogen and 2 filament and 1 CFL with LED bulbs in this batch:

One "normal" bayonet, one CFL(white lightway not in pictures) one GU10 spot.

E14 (narrow screw) 2 spot-lights, one small lamp, one small cooker-hood. 

One G9 small bulb.

New LED bulbs with packaging going in, old dead halogen and filament bulbs on the right (the CFL bayonet blew that evening! a bit later and missed the photo shoot)
  

BEFORE:

Kitchen 4 spotlights with 3 LED already working, one blown halogen.

Kitchen gentle light with share one dead halogen bayonet.

Hall 2 working halogen spotlights, one dead halogen

Living room small lamp, needs an extra short narrow screw bulb. 

Kitchen cooker extractor fan with one light working and one dead. (e14 narrow screw filaments)

Play room light with dead filament extra small G9 bulb.

The dead bulbs removed.

AFTER:

Play room light with new G9 LED

 Inside the kitchen cooker extractor fan LED bulb on left is fatter than the old one but fits ok. Old filament bulb still in and working on right hand side.

Kitchen cooker extractor fan with both lights working. Left one is LED.

Kitchen spotlight now has all LED bulbs (4 bulbs). It is probably the spotlight which is used most often. The LED bulbs will hopefully ?never?rarely? need to be replaced.

Living room lamp small bulb, now frosted LED.

Hall spotlights now with 2 halogen and one LED. Very hard to tell the difference. Silvered finish.

Kitchen bayonet, soft light.

Close up of play room light with new G9 LED - the light is warm

A bit more on prices . . 

As above, locations to buy from: E.g. http://lights.ie (shipped from Germany despite the Irish URL) Good price, excellent selection. Or https://www.lenehans.ie/electrical/bulbs.html Lenehans, Dublin, Irish reasonable price but limited selection. Or woodies, https://www.woodies.ie/lighting-lightbulbs/lightbulbs/led-bulbs also reasonable price, better selection.

With lights.ie I have had 3 batches (2018, 2019 and 2020) and they are good.

I have not used LED bulbs from lenehans or woodies but I have bought other items in-store with them and they are grand. 

Each of these three stores you can get bayonets or GU10s at 7 or 8 euros or 2/3 euros in a multi-pack. That's a good price. 

https://www.homestoreandmore.ie/bulbs

https://www.ledvista.ie/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=2_128

https://www.currys.ie/ieen/led-bulbs/home-accessories/lighting/591_4641_32357_xx_ba00013084-bv00311676/xx-criteria.html (ahhh, lads. Who hates websites where you cannot shorten the URL ? :-P me)

Those three also seem to have reasonable prices.

https://www.screwfix.ie/c/electrical-lighting/light-bulbs/cat8350001

Good range but regular bayonet for 13/16 euros, GU10 for 22 euros. More expensive.

There are others probably amazon sellers and alibaba and more . . .

https://www.google.com/search?q=buy+light+bulbs+online

 

Historical note

I got a few GU10 LED bulbs in about 2008 . . and they were pretty terrible. Not very powerful. AND that blue annoying single frequency harsh light. Still have them around.

Orienteering map mystery . . . where is the old map . . . find the location . . . ?

 On Facebook, the challenge: . . . 

Three Rock Orienteering Club (3ROC)

October 30 at 4:45 PM  · 

Name that map: Orienteering maps have come a long way since we started running in the forests. Can anyone identify these two black and white maps from the 1960's or early '70's? We genuinely don't know where they are, but almost certainly in Wicklow.

6" = 1 mile but what size is the map ? not sure

Surfaced road bordering the East of map, pretty flat coming from just below 700 feet to North of map to just over 700 feet in bottom half of map. Why does the map stop at this road ? Probably not coast or water, probably just convenient to stop.

A hill with peak over 1100, shoulder over 900 feet and another peak ?1200 feet high, flat on top and steep slope down to road.

Is it possible to search map data for hills like these ?

OpenStreetMap has this search: https://overpass-turbo.eu/

This query searches for hills over 330m and less than 390m.

But we are reliant on the top of hill being entered as a node peak feature with the altitude.

node [natural=peak] (if:t["ele"]>330 && t["ele"]<390)({{bbox}}); out;

1300 feet = 396m

1200 feet = 365.7m

1100 feet = 335m

900 feet = 274m

700 feet = 213m

So we are looking for peaks just over 330m and 360m with shoulder to over 275m and road to E at about 200m.

OpenStreetMap overpass turbo script run searching for peaks at the right height.

... .. .

this is hard work now.

Using the openstreetmap overpass turbo result as a starting point.

Using opencyclemap to check contours.

Using google maps satellite view.

Following 200/210m contour lines all around the country . . looking for roads at that level heading SSE . . .

Donard near Glen of Imall ?

Ballycumber hill/wind farm W of Aughrim E of Hackettstown ?

just N of Aughrim W of Macreddin ?

Saggart Hill ?

Near Blessington ?

Glen of the Downs ?

. . Low hills in midlands somewhere ? in the SW ? . . .

wow. so difficult.

make ViewRanger route, Wicklow Way Paddock Hill to Rathdrum via Trooperstown Hill and Clara Vale

THIS route: https://my.viewranger.com/route/details/MzUzNjQ3MQ==

Wicklow Way Paddock Hill to Rathdrum via Trooperstown Hill and Clara Vale

Wicklow Way heading South, start at Paddock Hill, down to Avonmore river, up Trooperstown hill and down to river again in Clara Vale ending near Rathdrum.

mixed surfaces. Roads, forest roads, hillside paths, ...

This route shows the start at Paddock hill.
You could also start at "Trooperstown car park" here:
 https://goo.gl/maps/WKVMSJtFuCMqgYgu7

From Scarr South of Lough Dan a ridge stretches South to Paddock hill.
The Wicklow way travels on roads South through Oldbridge and skips Scarr and joins the ridge just below Paddock hill top soon after Brusher's gap hut.

This route heads South East ish from Paddock hill leaving the wicklow way.

Cross the main road (road from Annamoe to Laragh) and continue to the "Trooperstown car park". Follow the Trooperstown forest park and Avonmore way signs passing the Glen of Imaal Mountain Rescue base and National Parks and Wildlife Service regional office on your left.

Cross the river Inchavore.
The Inchavore is joined by the water from Glenmacnass and stream from Glendalough near Laragh and becomes the Avonmore river.Head South up Trooperstown Hill (leaving the Avonmore way)

Head South down the other side of Trooperstown Hill (rejoining the Avonmore way).

Follow the Avonmore way to Clara bridge and continue beside the Avonmore river through the Vale of Clara.

The Avonmore way arrives in the North of Rathdrum near the Stump of the Castle.

This route follows a lot of the Coilte - Trooperstown Rathdrum Trail - the Avonmore Way:
https://visitwicklow.ie/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/trooperstown_rathdrum_trail_090615_2.pdf

South of Rathdrum, you can walk to Avondale Forest Park
https://www.coillte.ie/site/avondale-forest-park/

The busy road crossing - Laragh Road - crossing down towards Trooperstown Forest

The footpath at the busy road crossing on Laragh Road

Looking South at Trooperstown Hill, Clara Vale and on to Rathdrum to right and behind the hill - Google Earth 3D view

Clara Bridge

Shortly after Clara Bridge option to follow path into woods and beside river (beware of floods, mud, bears, witches, etc.)