Industrial Quality for Home Use
Written: Aug 24 '05 (Updated Aug 26 '05)
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Pros: USB, WYSIWYG label PC software, QWERTY keyboard, fonts, label quality
Cons: no USB cable, 6 AA batteries, LCD screen, volatile memory, auto-cutter feeder
The Bottom Line: A high quality labeler for home, office and light industrial use
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| gozumm's Full Review: Brother P-Touch® PT-1950 Label Printer |
Brother makes a dizzying if not confusing number of P-Touch labelers, with as many obsolete versions as there are for sale. Some printers have received great reviews while a few have been damned. Is there an optimal way to choose them? What about its competition, are they better?
This is a rather long review, but an executive summary can be had by scanning only the italicized items, searching for ! points in this review, and jumping to the bottom for the conclusion.
Are labelers a necessity or just another toy?
To best answer these questions, we could look at the technology that drives labelers, and derive a logical way to select a device.
Increasingly, any household will likely have a huge collection of brick power supplies, custom connectors, rechargeable batteries of various ages, CDs, tapes, cables etc. that are easily mixed and confused to its purpose, contents or expiration date. Items could easily be labeled with a Sharpie pen and some tape to determine what it is for. Having been there, the 'permanent' ink is not so permanent, and with time rubs off or the tape peals off. A sharpie pen on tape can only write so much.
An engraver can put a permanent mark on any device, but it ruins resale value of items like artwork, jewelry, pottery or antiques. Engravers cannot mark soft plastic or vinyl-coated items [e.g. battery cases] nor label cables.
Poorly labeled switches mean a higher chance of using a switch in error, and added labor to remake a label.
Many homes are now full of electronics and tracing a cable back to its connector and figuring out what it does can take a lot of time. These ‘back panels’ are often hot and dusty, and poorly made labels often fall off under these conditions.
Labeling is a discipline that is taken seriously in the engineering field as part of ergonomic design. It has ideal characteristics: its clear and obvious yet not bothersome, lasts 'forever', and its cost effective.
For example, good labels are often on computer keyboards: they are clear and easy to read after years of typing, spills, and contact with various cleaners and solvents. Even when the keyboard dies, the labels can still be read. As an example of bad labels, pencil marks on masking tape will fade quickly [or be erased] while getting fingers dirty with pencil lead and tape glue [bothersome].
The more expensive and durable labels are often painted onto surfaces. Durable labels of the 'sticker' variety endure for long periods if they are rarely touched, such as those found underneath computer keyboards. It is this type of label that is the goal of the many label machines, and advances in technology have made such labels almost as good as the painted variety.
Cut the Chatter, what is the best Labeler!?
For labels that are under 1 inch and for portability, the PT1950 is ideal. As the labels get wider, the printer gets larger and is cumbersome to carry. Most of the printer's on-board software is non-essential and if needed, is no match for the versatility of printing connected to PC software.
The 1950 6 point font size makes dense labels that are sharp but almost unreadably small with labels up to 5 lines wide; 0.75" wide tape [largest available being 1.5 inch], most TZ tape types, ships with an AC adapter, supports USB connectivity, and includes PC software which allows the $50 1950 to perform most options of the $500 top of the line P-Touch model. The PT1960 is identical to the 1950 but ships with a carrying case and batteries. Which to buy depends on the deal of the moment, and rebates.
Laminated tape is Near an Ideal Label
Its not well appreciated that the laminated tape used in better P-Touch machines are very durable [Brother's competitor Dymo, has a similar technology], and takes environmental abuse and exposure very well. Its been used in industry for sometime. How its made is well described on the Brother website in some technical detail:
http://www.brother-usa.com/ptouch/whatsapt/pt_whatsapt5.html#
My experience with it demonstrates its durability. Much of my deep diving equipment are labeled with both industrial 'extra adhesive' TZ tape and regular tape, and both have remained on my gear after over 4 years of diving, hours of exposure to the hottest sun, sub-freezing cold and multi-hour in-water immersion. Most all labels are as clear as the day they came out of the P-Touch, albeit scuffed and battered, while remaining tenaciously stuck to all my gear. Toughness has a price, about $10 for a 26' roll of heavily discounted tape.
By comparison, I use temporary labels made out of duct tape written to with a sharpie pen, and they endure several dives quite well. After similar exposure to the conditions of a P-Touch label the sharpie ink fades, then the tape material disintegrates over days. As a $2 labeling system, its quick, transportable, cost effective and robust especially for items requiring only temporary labels.
What's Wrong with Other Labelers?
The older established embossed Dymo labels do not fair well in harsh environments: edges tend to get unstuck, embossing flattens out, and the tape cracks with prolonged UV light exposure. The tape is stiff and doesn't apply well to soft material like cables, paper nor stick on ceramics, its difficult to read at certain angles, and graphics are limited. This system however typically runs for $5-10, with tape about $2-3 a roll.
For laminated tape labels in the USA, users will have a toss up between P-Touch machines and the Dymo family, such as the Letra Tag. A distant third are machines by Casio. Alas, the Dymo variety are not as widely available and is too segmented: Dymo uses different formats for say, industrial quality tape. All P-Touch tape can be used from mid-line home to industrial labelers and is widely available compared to Dymo and Casio.
Thus, this review looks at the P-Touch system as excellent technology widely accessible to consumers, and then drills down to a particular machine. As Brother makes and retires models so quickly, key to buying a machine are examining its best features regardless of machine. Brother reuses the same 'engine' in nearly all their machines, upgrading, disabling or removing functions in cheaper models or limiting the size of the tape a model can use. Thus, most P-Touch labelers have very small incremental differences between its cheapest and most expensive models, and the 'best features' are not obvious.
Font & Symbol Quality !
Most P-Touch machines [ and the PT1950] have a 180x180 pixel printing engine while higher end machines support 360x360 pixels. All printers have no problems printing large text but the smaller size text, called points, is a better gauge of printer resolution.
The 1950 print output are a tiny bit jaggy in slants, curves and wide fonts, which worsen as the letter shrink. Thus, look to using a limited number of styles and sizes to make clean letters. By experimentation with the USB port & PC software, I got 4 point and 8 lines maximum with all upper case letters. Thus, the support of many styles: italics, underline, shadow etc., is somewhat moot. The 1950 has options to use pre-formatted label for common items: VHS cassettes, CD spines, SD Cards etc., that are helpful, but not essential.
Despite the resolution, a major advantage of a good P-Touch machine is squeezing much text onto a sliver of tape while being sharp and readable. Tiny labels are very unobtrusive yet serve its purpose. Reference information can be attached to equipment or detailed identifiers made with very small labels. For example, on my Clie palmtop I use a 3 line label that says REWARD!+MY NAME+PHONE and is only 0.5" long. On NiMH batteries, I place a 0.5" label with purchase date, vendor and price so I can replace a set before the batteries no longer take a charge. On the other hand, you can make labels too with characters up to 0.75 inches tall, if this is necessary. Cheaper machines offer less flexibility in font size.
Symbols used in labelers convey messages that are language independent, e.g. rather than writing 'phone', the symbol suffices and saves even more space on a label. The symbols are viewed completely then inserted with a marker on the LCD screen.
There are two fonts built in: a serif [i.e., with feet] and a sans serif, the equivalent of Roman versus Arial font respectively. Serifs are used to express authority and precision of wording, such as proper spelling, whereas Arial fonts are easier on the eyes. The choice for the user is one of style as in cheaper P-Touch machines, there is often only one sans serif font available.
The PT1950 excels in fonts because for its price, its built in small point size is near the smallest of the whole product line, allowing for very densely packed labels up to 5 lines wide. Cheaper models do not specify the smallest point size, and others do not print as tiny. The 1950 supports one serif and sans serif font, which is more that adequate given the limitations of the printing engine on the entire P-Touch line. Note, with the PC software you can exceed the 6 point and 5 line limit and print all the fonts supported by a Windows PC.
Keyboard & Ease of Use
Not all P-Touch machines use a QWERTY keyboard layout. Many handheld machines use alphabetical order, which makes it most cumbersome to type labels. All P-Touch machines have alternate keys for non-English characters and symbols.
You can begin using the PT1950 without reading the manual and succeed very easily. Reading the manual however, will save you trouble of experimenting with output and wasting tape.
The PT1950 uses a rubberized QWERTY keyboard with painted letters, its solid feeling and easy to use. If you can use a computer keyboard and its function keys, you'll be at home on the 1950.
An older P-Touch machine I used has endured long use with similar keys. Another more expensive P-Touch machine use at work takes great abuse, with its similar made keyboard holding its quality very well.
P-Touch TZ Tape !
TZ Tape used on the P-Touch machines is elemental to the benefits of the labeling system. Not only are there large varieties of TZ Tape available, it can be found discounted from Internet vendors at over 50% of Brother's list price, a price often found in retail stores. Industrial and heavy-duty tape can be used on most home machines as well, adding to the P-Touch System versatility.
TZ Tape is as soft as typical 'Scotch' magic tape and can be used easily on soft items like cables and paper. So far, these costly tapes have to be made in Japan, housed in cassettes made in China. The basic glue stick to just about everything. Industrial tape differs in that stronger adhesives are used. Cassettes can easily be switched after use in the PT1950. The tape compartment is large and finger friendly, and the spooling mechanism looks very similar to old-style but reliable Phillips music cassette tape.
The tape however, is costly for home systems. At $10 for 26 feet typically, depending on the roll's width, it costs about $0.03 an inch. The cost can be reduced to about $6 a roll if one chooses narrower tape [0.25 inches] and non-industrial quality adhesive.
The P-Touch system has reliable tape cartridges. In the few times our work unit has jammed, its been because heavy use has dirtied the print rollers, and no one was willing to clean the unit.
The 1950 uses nearly all varieties of TZ Tape including M Tape, except for the largest size, the 1" wide tape.
Cheap Razor and Expensive Blades
P-Touch machines that use only non-laminated M Tape can cost under $20 but should be avoided. M tapes cost as much as equivalent TZ tape, and non-laminated tape is not as durable although its pretty close. If cost were a consideration, I'd wait for a TZ Tape machine to go on sale.
Saving TZ Tape
The PT1950 does not use a TZ style Avery label. However, like its more expensive brothers, the PT1950 can be programmed to output fixed size label to near the same length as an Avery. P-Touch machines send out a 1" leader that wastes tape, but the end of the label can be cut short by setting the label margin to 'none'. To save tape, its best to print a series of labels, so this minimizes the margin between each label.
WYSIWYG PC Software & USB Connectivity !!!!
The small LCD screen of the 1950 is fine for portable use, but on a desktop, the PC view offers supreme control over label creation. Bar codes can only be outputted through the PC interface. The installation of the PC software is trouble free and easy, and includes the Windows XP print driver. The box states explicitly it is not Macintosh compatible, but I've not tried to tweak it to run on a Mac.
For desktop use, PC connectivity is without peer for flexibility among all P-Touch models. The PC not only adds WYSIWYG view of labels, it turns the 1950 into a PC printer. Most all the functions of the software [that I could test and waste labels on], of which there are so many, are now available for label creation. Windows fonts, icons, graphics, bar codes etc., are printable, making whatever built in 1950 software less important since the desktop software is so rich. You can print labels without the P-Touch software, the P-touch printer driver appears as a standard printer on all PC software. A limiting factor is now the resolution of the printer to print decent, non-jaggy images.
The 1950 does not ship with a cable. If the user already has a USB device on a cable, chances are it uses the standard USB with mini-jack head required by the 1950.
Batteries and Power Supply
A typical portable use would be to label cables and patch cords as to their attachments. Although lightweight, the 1950 is designed as a desktop device. The battery power option is useful to maintain the onboard memory and for occasional portable use. With flash memory so cheap these days, it’s puzzling why Brother doesn't use even a small amount in its P-Touch electronics. For complex print jobs, the USB interface can keep records of all your label variations using the PC software, but you can only send instruction to the printer ... you cannot copy settings made via the 1950's keyboard.
Older P-Touch models are frugal with batteries such that episodic use is fine with alkaline batteries, some users are still using their original batteries, and desktop use with an AC adapter.
Miscellaneous Complaints
Auto Cutter:
There is no way to manually cut a label. When invoked, it adds an 1 inch tape leader to the labels to serve as a handle. There is no clear way to change blades when and if the cutter fails, so while convenient, it could be an Achilles heel.
LCD Screen:
Clear and in large letters, its not WYSIWYG. Until you get used to it, you’ll experiment with wasted tape.
6 AA Batteries:
With all modern electronics, a more frugal engine couldn’t be designed? Why not 3 C cells instead? Most stores sell packs of 4 AA cells, 6 is an odd number for AA cells.
No USB Cable:
Why ship a USB device without a cable? This practice is common for computer printers sold today.
Volatile Memory:
Brother engineers couldn’t design in any flash memory so on power down our setting are saved?
Cost of Unit
Briefly on sale for $50, the prices range from $60-80 for the 1950. While other P-Touch machines sell for slight more or less, topping at around $100, the 1950 offers the best balance of functionality for price and has most all the function of its more expensive brothers.
Conclusion
As summarized at the beginning and on italicized items written in this review, the PT1950 supports all the functions that make a great label printer both as a portable and desktop unit. Labels made with TZ Tape could last forever; once labeled, one needn't worry about the label falling off or fading.
If the 1950 turns out to be as durable a device as it predecessors, it would be most ideal.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 50
Operating System: Windows
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Epinions.com ID:
gozumm
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Reviews written: 49
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About Me:
Academic who used to build personal computers
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