WHO NEEDS A SPECIALTY PRINTER? ME!
With laser printers available all around me, you’d probably wonder why we have a Smart Label Printer 100. In fact we have two—one is 5 years old, the other was purchased last year. Both work perfectly! We have them because although there is paper stock available for printing labels on a laser printer, there is nothing quicker and easier than this printer (ok, so the upgraded model is faster).
It can print 1” wide labels for any use—envelopes, file folders, binder tabs, drawer markers, VHS lables, bar coding, etc. It’s connects to your computer with a USB or Serial connection (both included) and installs easily with the included software. It can be networked, although ours aren’t at this time, it was important that if we chose to in the future that they were capable of it.
PRINTING
It uses direct thermal printing technology which means it doesn’t require ink, ribbon or toner—a cool feature! The labels are crisp and clear and swap out quickly. There are several sizes and color of labels made by Seiko for this printer and you can change them quickly by pulling them off the spindle, replacing it with the new roll of labels, and then placing the spindle back into the printer. The labels are automatically fed into the printer and advanced to the proper position. Should something go wrong, there is a manual advance feature.
WHAT’S IN THE BOX?
Printer, software (on CD-ROM), serial cable, USB cable, AC adapter, roll of labels, user guide (on CD-ROM, and QuickStart card.
WILL IT WORK WITH YOUR COMPUTER?
Certainly, if it meets the minimum requirements: IBM PC or compatible running Windows 95, 98, ME, XP, NT 40.0 or Windows 2000 (sorry Macintosh users—this won’t work for you); CD-ROM drive, 10MB available hard disk space, and a USB or Serial Port.
SPEED & QUALITY
It prints a standard address label in 8 seconds without so much as a hum….it’s silent! No long warm-up period, it prints instantly! The five-year old machine looks just as good as the new machine—no wear & tear, no sign of age anywhere. It absolutely produces perfect labels every time—follow the easy-to-use directions and it will last you for years.
FOOTPRINT
The size is compact—a neat little 6.61” high x 4.49” wide x 7.48” deep. It weighs a paltry 1.13 lbs and looks spiffy on your desk. A smooth design that blends in well with other computer components.
SOFTWARE
It is capable of barcoding—especially important when mailing through the Post Office. Type in the zip code and it will automatically add the routing bar code for you. It also provides this information for the UK and Netherlands.
The software is easy-to-use and very user-friendly. It uses what they call SmartCopy™ or SmartCapture™ from several major word processing programs. Most notably are Outlook 2000/98/97, Word 2000/97/95 and Wordperfect 7.0/8.0. With simple copy & paste from these programs into the software for the printer, you’re able to share data and free yourself from retyping the information.
The software allows several advanced formatting such as shrink-to-fit, word wrap, address recognition and parsing and serialization. It also allows you to decide if you want the program to auto-start upon login, or it will wait until you open the program.
It also auto detects several languages: English, German, French, Italian, Spanish and Dutch.
CONSUMABLES
TYPE SIZE CURRENT PRICE PER LABEL
MEDIA LABELS
VHS Spine Labels 3 /4" x 5-13/16" $12.95 9 cents
DAT, 8mm & Audio Cassettes 3/8" x 2-13/16" $6.95 2 cents
MULTI-PURPOSE LABELS
Multipurpose Labels 1-1/8" X 2" $13.35 3 cents
Tuffy Multipurpose Labels 1-1/8" X 2" $22.98 5 cents
Tuffy Labels 1-1/8" x 3-1/2" $22.98 9 cents
FILE FOLDER LABELS
Blue File Folder Labels 9/16" x 3-7/16" $9.95 3 cents
Green File Folder Labels 9/16" x 3-7/16" $9.95 3 cents
Red File Folder Labels 9/16" x 3-7/16" $9.95 3 cents
White File Folder Labels 9/16" x 3-7/16" $9.95 3 cents
Asst. File Folder Labels (4 pack) 9/16" x 3-7/16" $22.95 2 cents
ADDRESS LABELS
Large Rolls Address Labels 1-1/8" x 3-1/2" $20.95 4 cents per label
White Address Labels 1-1/8" x 3-1/2" $6.95 5 cents per label
White Address Labels (2 pack) 1-1/8" x 3-1/2" $13.35 5 cents
Clear Address Labels 1-1/8" x 3-1/2" $10.95 8 cents
Clear Address Labels (2 pack) 1-1/8" x 3-1/2" $21.90 4 cents
FINAL THOUGHTS
If you want instant labels, and your print needs include those listed above, then this might be the label printer for you. If you need a wider range of labels, look at the 200 model.
We’ve used this printer daily for 5 years and enjoyed its reliability so much that when we needed another printer we purchased the same one.
UPDATE 07/20/03
We finally killed this one by abusing it--goodness knows, no one read the directions and for years we've been ripping the labels out of the printer--that's a no-no! There's a button on the top that advances the labels--hold it down for a second and it reverses them. Oh well, live and learn! When we bought the new one we bought the 200 model (here's my review on it
http://www.epinions.com/content_106686746244). It's used by a workgroup of 11 and so far we've not managed to harm it. This one still works, but we've given it to someone who can deal with the slipping insides.
Here's a review of the 240--another addition to our office (some people just don't like to share!)
http://www.epinions.com/content_106689957508
Thinking about buying a Dymo 330? Don't until you read this
http://www.epinions.com/content_108021386884.
