Brother PT-80 P-touch Electronic Labeling System Review

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Brother PT-80 P-touch Electronic Labeling System ReviewI am a very organized person, and I wanted to streamline the look of my filing systems. Martha Stewart recommended the Brother P Touch on her shows many times, and I figured I'd give it a try.
Here are some thoughts and comments:
* Sucks up battery life like crazy. I attempted to use NEW yet out-of-the-package AAA batteries (expiration 2009) and the machine would stop printing and power off. You MUST use extremely new/fresh batteries, but really, I suggest that you take this opportunity to buy yourself a battery recharger with several rechargeable batteries if you are going to use this product. I also think an upgrade to this product would be the ability to operate it two ways : with batteries AND electric power source.
*There is a little piece of paper included somewhere in the packet that is very easy to miss, but is crucial to its operation. It is of a diagram which shows you that you must first REMOVE A PIECE OF THIN FOAM from the machine before installing the tape. This is NOT in the instruction booklet!
*$10+ for replacement cartridges seems expensive, seeing as how they do not last very long. Think ahead and buy your cartridges online at a discount so that you do not find yourself at the office supply store mid-project, paying way too much for retail.
*Colored tape makes it easy for you to color code your files. Though I prefer the plain black/white, you can use different color tapes for specific projects. For instance, financial files could be GREEN. There are several colors available but I did not find them visually pleasing, so I'm sticking with the black on white.
*In addition to color coding, there are functions which allow you to BOLD, ITALICIZE, and UNDERLINE, as well as choose which border you'd like to use. One of the more fun borders is CANDY, which looks like a candy wrapper. It's fun and feminine, and I use that one for my designer files. But there are more plain borders, as well as a masculine WOOD look. Others options are font size ; normal, 1/2 and X2 and width, which you can use to adjust for more characters. For example, a short word such as BANK is short enough to fit X2 on a file folder, whereas FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 2007 could be in regular size font and on 2 lines, to fit the folders. It's quite user friendly that way.
*The keyboard is obviously small, and therefore so are the keys. If you have big fingers, or long nails, use the eraser-side of a pencil on the keyboard.
*As with any new gadget, it will take some time to figure out how to use the product, but the instructions are easy to understand, overall.
Unfortunately, I paid full retail for this, but the price at Amazon is HALF of what I paid at the office supply store. I'm going to buy one from Amazon, with tapes, for my sister for her birthday. I think it makes a great gift, everyone will love this item. (And perhaps include the aforementioned batteries/charger as well!)
I have given the item 3 stars instead of 4 because Brother is soaking its customers with expensive replacement tapes. Doesn't seem very ethical to me. Also, new models are introduced to the market all the time, so while you may think you will use this for several years, it is more likely that newer, better models will become attractive with more experience and use. In this sense, the item is not cost-effective, especially since repair/replacement is probably more expensive than just buying a new one.Brother PT-80 P-touch Electronic Labeling System OverviewThe Brother PT-80 Personal Labeler is an affordable, handheld personal labeling system that can print a wide variety of tape colors and styles. Everyone can use a little help getting organized, and this compact, easy-to-use device makes it a breeze. It's perfect for homes, home offices, and small offices and particularly helpful for crafts, school projects, financial management, and all sorts of kid activities. You'll come up with hundreds of uses for this label maker. From tidying up your closet to making scrapbooks, the PT-80 can help keep your household -- and your life -- running smoothly.Special Features The PT-80 easily prints labels in six type sizes, nine type styles and one font for all different labeling needs -- all you have to do is type in your text and print. It's that easy! To make things even more precise, at the touch of a button you can also add the time and date to your label. This feature is especially helpful for labeling perishable food, financial records, smoke alarm batteries, and spice racks. With the PT-80, you can print non-laminated labels that are 0.375 and 0.5 inches wide.
Personalize Your Labels It's fun to personalize your labels. The PT-80 gives you the option of selecting from 71 symbols to creatively display information on the label, and also includes five auto formats and five framing options. In addition, you can take advantage of nine different types of styles, including italic, bold, and vertical. Along with its easy-to-view, 12-character LCD display and easy-to-use typewriter style keyboard, the PT-80 features raised keys for more accurate input. It also prints one to two lines of crisp text, and can add text framing and underlining.Print Speed, Resolution, and Tape Size The PT-80 is designed to offer you the very best label-making technology available in a compact, personal-use unit. The print speed is 7.5 mm/second, while the resolution is 230 dpi. You won't have to wait long for your labels to print out and when they do, the eye-catching sharpness of the text will stand out. The tape measures 26.2 feet, which means it won't require constant re-supplying. You can also print up to nine copies at one time.The PT-80 comes with a one year limited warranty.
What's in the Box PT-80 label printer, 1/2-inch black on white tape, and user's guide.

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Brother PT-2700 Desktop Labeling System (Silver/Black) Review

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Brother PT-2700 Desktop Labeling System (Silver/Black) ReviewI have had one of the smaller Brother personal labelers for many years, and it sat there in its little case, waiting for those occasions when I needed a label badly enough to take it out and bother with it. Why the hassle? Because it had a tiny keyboard that required lots of SHIFT and FUNCTION key alternates to get at common characters and functions, and because the display was tiny and did not show enough information (such as what the label would actually look like, and how big it would actually be). The labels themselves were fine, and the machine worked reliably, though.
I called Brother and asked them about if they had a similar label printer that would just connect to my computer, so that I could design and see the labels before wasting label material in trial-and-error efforts. They told me that the model PT-2700, and its companion PT-2710 had recently been introduced with such request in mind. I had not seen these in my local office supply store, because Office Max often carries only the cheaper models in a line as large as the Brother P-Touch series. I went back to the store and lo! ....they had just started to carry the PT-2700 at less than $100.
I am delighted with this label printer. It is connected to my computer via USB, just like my other printers. I can use either, or both, of the two printing utilities that came with the printer. One is a very simple editor that gives basic functionality where you don't care so much about exactly how big the label will end up, for example - this ends up being much like the guess-work process of the older and smaller P-Touch labelers. The other utility is a full functioned label designer with every bell and whistle I can think of. It automatically knows which kind of label cartridge is currently plugged into the printer, and shows a scale image of that label on the computer screen. Any Windows font in any point size, with any effect can be used in the label design. You can have multiple lines, multiple columns, different test fields, automatically filled-in fields, bar codes, clip art, line drawings, etc. The display in this editor is very WYSIWYG. A ruler hovers over the label to show exactly how big it will be. You can vertically or horizontally justify text as well. There seems to be no limit on how many fonts, sizes and effects can be used on a single label. You can have a different font, size and effect for each character if you want.
The installation CD-ROM also adds a macro to Microsoft Office applications, basically giving you a P-Touch icon in the toolbar of those programs (much like Adobe Acrobat does). Any selected items in those applications will be copied to the P-Touch application by clicking that new icon (the application will automatically open if not already running). Formatting is copied over with the text, etc.
Clicking the PRINT icon in either utility will cause the printer to shoot out a label in just a few seconds; I would guess about 1" per every 2 second or thereabouts. The printer automatically cuts off the leading edge, because that part might be curled if the printer has been sitting for a while, unused. The printer also cuts off the label at the end. While it prints, it slits the backing paper so that it comes off very easily (the smaller P-Touch machines do not do this, and getting the paper off can be a pain).
The PT-2710 is the same as the PT-2700, with the addition of a carrying case - this adds about $30 to the street price.
This printer uses the more expensive "TZ" series of tape cartridges. This kind of tape comes in a much greater variety of sizes, colors, and special types. TZ tapes also have a plastic lamination over the printing, so the image will not scratch off. Don't ask me how they do this! One gotcha with these tapes is that they are stored inside the cartridge in a pretty tight loop on the reels. When the labels come out, they are not curled - but watch out! When you remove the backing paper, they immediately want to return to their curled shape. Make sure that you have both ends of the label under some sort of control when removing the paper, of you will end up with a suddenly tangled bunch of plastic tape in your hands.
The printer can be used without a computer or USB connection. In this mode, it has a large blue-backlit LCD display with multiple lines. However, it is not WYSIWYG as you type your text and you can't tell how big the label will be as you design it. Also in this mode of operation, you are limited to a few fonts and 8 point sizes from 6 to 42 plus Extra Large size. The keyboard is more typewriter-like than the smaller ones, at 7" wide, with a normal QWERTY layout requiring no FUNCTIONs or SHIFTS to get at the functions. I said before that it's not WYSIWYG and you can't tell the size...that is true only in text entry mode. There is a Preview button, and when this is pressed, the display shows you what the label will actually look like, pretty much at actual size (the display scrolls for wider label previews), and it tells you how wide the label will be at this time. In preview, the correct fonts and effects are also visible.
The TZ tapes come in sizes of 9/16", 1/4", 3/8", 1/2", 3/4" and 1" wide. You can buy them in quite a range of colors. The basic is black on white, but common colors in the stores are black on yellow, red on white, etc. The Brother website lists a large variety of sizes and colors that are probably too specialized for most stores to stock; you can order them online.
There are 8 built-in fonts, from an Ariel-like sans-serif one called Helvetica, to a serifed one similar to Times Roman, plus script, stencil and other decorative fonts. You can select Auto type size, where the printer makes the text as large as possible while still fitting on the label, or you can select from the 8 font sizes. You can adjust the width factor of the characters, and you can apply styles to the fonts: these include Normal, Bold, Outline, Shaded, Heavy with outline shadow, and the same 5 choices with Italics applied.
The printer is very reasonably priced at around $100 street, and its build quality is very nice. It feels like quality equipment, although I have seen better-feeling small keyboards than this. The TZ tape is where Brother will get their money, since the cartridges run around $20 each, plus or minus a few dollars depending on how fancy the tape is. The iron-on and other specialty tapes are the most expensive.
The labels print at 180 DPI, which is not very high. When a label comes out, it seems crisp and precise in the appearance of the characters, but closer inspection will reveal very slight jaggies at the edges of slanted or curved shapes. To me, it looks like an ink-jet printer output when using cheap bond paper, when the ink has bled a little on the fibers. Since you will not be preparing long novels of small type with this machine, the quality is more than adequate, and it does look nice.
With such a nice machine and low price, Brother should do well with this printer.Brother PT-2700 Desktop Labeling System (Silver/Black) OverviewThermal Transfer - 180 dpi - Cutter - USB

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