Pros: Prints professional looking labels & tapes; very fast; solidly built; installs easily; fairly inexpensive.
Cons: Software difficult to comprehend; confusing interface; expensive labels; no printed Software User's Guide.
The Bottom Line: The value of owning this machine is directly proportional to the NEED for owning it. If you print a lot of labels often then by all means buy one.
newtownbeans's Full Review: Brother P-Touch® QL-500 Label Printer
I recently received the Brother P-Touch QL-500 PC Label Printer as a gift and I don't know why. I do not print a lot of labels for anything and certainly not a whole lot of them at one time. But being a bit of a gadget freak, I thought I would give this little machine a go and see what it can do.
The software that comes with the printer is very easy to install and there were no glitches. Using the software is another matter (later). The printer is quite small and fits nicely in almost any setting. It is USB to the PC and has an A/C plug for power. The cover lifts up to replace the label spools, which are very easy to do. The unit comes with a sample roll of 100 standard address labels. The great thing about this printer is that is no ink or toner required. It prints on paper or heat-resistant labels. The QL-500 is the same as the QL-550 except that the QL-550 has an automatic cutter and with the QL-500 you have to slide a cutter across when printing is finished.
The unit also comes with a hard copy setup & operation guide, but in order to use the full benefits of the software, you have to download the PDF User's Guide. This machine will operate on a Mac computer also, but I have heard stories of many problems when installed on a Mac.
It prints at about 50 labels per minute which is pretty fast for a little home type machine. Although it is made of plastic it seems to be quite durable. The types of labels it will hold include: many sizes of continuous length paper tapes, film tapes, die-cut shipping labels and CD/DVD round film labels.
You can print address labels, shipping labels, file folder labels, name badges, security photo IDs, banners, and even bar codes. The proprietary labels from Brother are quite expensive. However there is a site dobermanlabel.com where you can order many of the same generic labels as Brother has, for much lower prices.
As I stated earlier, this is a machine I really don't need, but I found at least one use for it. I typed in my entire Christmas card address list (almost 100 names) into the P-Touch address book, loaded a roll of standard address labels and printed out all of the labels for my Christmas cards in about 2 minutes. This will certainly save a lot of hand writing of cards for the next holiday season. The list is saved in the P-Touch address book and can be edited at any time.
The software is not the easiest to understand and use. The interface is confusing and the PDF manual does not help very much. Tech support is practically non-existent and there are long waits on the phone. I have not used the machine for anything other than address labels at this point. I intend to try the CD/DVD labels soon and will file an updated report at that time. The labels do print very clearly and smudge-free. The software allows you change to any of a full range of fonts, bold, italics etc.
You can also print images on the labels, which I have done with success.
Although this was a gift, I understand that you can purchase the QL-500 for about $70.-$80. You will pay about $25. more for the QL-550 and I do not think it is worth it since the only difference is the automatic cutter. Unless you can think of more uses than just printing out greeting card labels, I would wait until someone gifts this neat little gadget to you.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): $75. Operating System: Windows and Macintosh
Affordable label printer for personal or home office Use. Print cost-effective, professional labels for any general mailing, shipping and administrati...More at Buy.com
Print up to 50 labels per min.* with this label printer that features a built-in cutter to reduce the risk of tears and misaligned labels. Up to 300 x...More at Best Buy ®
The Brother QL-500 has the ability to print on rolls of continuous film, up to 3 feet long, which makes it perfect for custom signage or banners.More at TigerDirect.com
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