Brother P-Touch 1900 - Label Me Easy
Written: Jun 14 '04 (Updated Jul 06 '04)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Easy to use, fair amount of functionality
Cons: tapes are expensive, can't do multiple-format labels
The Bottom Line: If you need a fairly inexpensive labeler which does a good job, the Brother PT-1900 is one to check out.
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| martytdx's Full Review: Brother P-Touch Electronic Labeling System PT-1900 |
As someone who HAS to be extremely organized to get anything done (darn that ADD), I have tons of folders to keep things from getting out of hand and all over the place. To then find everything that I need within those folders, I needed something to make sure they were clearly marked. My employers cheerfully supplied me with a Brother P-Touch 1900 Label Maker to handle the chore.
[• specifications •]
First, the boring stuff:
6 AA Batteries
Handles 1/4, 3/8, 1/2, 3/4" label tapes
112 dot/180 dpi printing
auto-off after 5 minutes if no key pressed
Dimensions (WxDxH) 7 1/8" x 9 5/32" X 2 1/8" (181 x 232.5 x 61.4 mm)
0.8 lbs w/o tape and batteries
The machine itself is pretty large, but small enough to fit into a drawer if you want to put it away. They say that it weighs less than a pound, but with batteries and tape, it seems to weigh significantly more – I would put it closer to 3-4 pounds.
[• text FUNCTIONS •]
The PT1900 offers quite a bit of functionality in a small package. The display is a 2-Line LCD with an 8-character view per line, and about 96 characters per line total – more than enough for a LOT of labels. However, you can print up to 4 lines high on a label (using the 3/4" tapes) – pretty cool stuff.
The type editing capabilities are what are nice on this labeler. Granted, it is for labeling at work, so I don’t know that I use most of them, but it offers quite a bit of variety that others might use more frequently. There are 2 fonts (a serif and a sans-serif), which are available in 8 type sizes (6, 9, 12, 18, 24, 36, 42 and 52-pt). If that weren’t enough, there are also 8 Type Styles: Normal, Bold, Outline, Shadow, Italic, Bold Italic, Outline Italic and Shadow Italic. Additionally, you can put your text in vertical or normal orientation (not sure how well the vertical would work on these thin tapes), add underlining, stretch the font to twice the normal width or add framing. Frames included are rounded edges, candy wrapper, torn edges, wood plank or dotted. You can even add Symbols (53) or Accented Characters (48) to your text, if you need to. There are also 16 alternate characters such as the tilde (∼) and the inverted question mark (µ) available by using the ALT key.
You can easily remove text as well – the Backspace key deletes one character at a time, but there are Line Out and Clear functions, too. Line Out removes the entire line, while Clear allows you to clear all of the text (multiple lines) or the text AND formatting. If you need to edit without deleting all of the text, the scrolling buttons allow the user to move forward, backward, up or down through the text.
Lastly, if there are certain portions of text that you use often, there is a memory function that will save up to 10 sets of text (with 1-number recall) of up to 90 characters each (up to 300 total characters). Simply hit RECALL select the message you want to recall and print.
[• other FUNCTIONS •]
The printer also comes with a lot of preset aids for common tasks. Again, I don’t use most of these since my labeler use if fairly basic, files only, but I could see how some people could use these:
- Stamp Format for pre-inked stamp holders. I couldn’t quite figure how this works, but supposedly you can create custom stamps using a special tape.
- Tabs (up to 50) You can set up tabs in the printer so that you can create columnar labels.
- Tape Margin function sets the margin on either side of the tape, giving extra space, if necessary.
- Mirror-Printing function allows you to print in reverse.
- Length function allows all tapes to be certain length and fit text to that pre-determined length.
- Numbering function will take text and print labels adding sequential numbering up to a preset number (File 1, File 2, File 3...)
- Repeat printing – print up to 9 copies of the same text (although I’m not sure why you don’t just hit print 9 times).
- Alignment (left, center, right) for multi-line labels.
- Auto Tape Cutter which automatically cuts the tape at the end of the line (this CAN be turned off).
- Auto-Format to create custom labels for Floppy Discs, miniDV, VHS tapes, long files, short files etc.
[• actual USE •]
The labeler is ridiculously easy to use. You set the formatting you want to use, then type in the message – and then hit PRINT. Voila, you have a label. Unfortunately, you can’t have multiple formats on the same label. If you choose a new format, frame or size, it affects everything in the line. I had other labelers that let you mix and match, but not the PT-1900.
The automatic cutting function on the labeler is good, although I think it leaves too much slack at the beginning and end of the label, often requiring some trimming of either end. But that’s a minor consideration.
My experience has been fairly limited because of the job function, but I have found this labeler to be easy to use on the many occasions I have pulled it out to label a file or a folder. I’ve found that the tapes last for quite a while – my sample is still running 3 months later. The tape 'stickiness' has always been great, although if you need to remove it, it will often rip the surface of a paper file folder (laminated tabs fare much better). But seeing as most of my files are permanent, I don’t run into this very often.
[• final THOUGHTS •]
The $79.99 price tag might be a little much for the average consumer, but there is a lot to be had with that price. You get the machine and a sample tape to try out. The tapes themselves are a bit expensive – expect to spend about $12 - 23 per tape, and there are a lot of them to choose from (black on white, red on white, white on black, blue on white, white on clear, etc.). Almost all are available in the 3/4" (18mm) size, with the selection getting smaller as the thinner tape sizes.
In writing this, I have actually learned a lot more about how to use this printer, and I’m actually looking forward to exploring more of what it can do. It’s a handy little printer to have around, even if it can’t do fancy graphics. Label me crazy, but I think that's all I could ask for.
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martytdx
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Member: Marty
Location: New Jersey
Reviews written: 481
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