The P-touch 2420 seemed to offer the best combination of functionality and cost in a PC-enabled label printer, although this op does not provide a comparative analysis of other models on the market, as the 2420 is the only one I've tried...
THE BASICS
It should be clarified that this is a THERMAL MONOCHROME printer - don't be misled by colourful marketing blurb promising 'colourful labels'.
The only possibility of introducing colour is by changing the tape that you print onto. To be fair there is a range of tape options (all supplied separately by the manufacturer), which allow the printing of black graphics and text on white, red, yellow, green and transparent coloured backgrounds.
The tape, as I refer to it, is a cartridge of self-adhesive PVC (slightly thicker and tougher than sellotape) specially designed to provide the medium for printing onto. Cartridges slot in and out of the machine much like a toner cartridge on laser jet. The tape in this case functions as the stock (there is no ink) and can be interchanged after each print so that you are not committed to using a whole reel of the same colour at a time.
When a new label comes off the press, so to speak, it is fed out of the business end of the machine but remains connected to the reel of the tape. Multiple labels can be printed in this manner and detached either one at a time or in bulk by means of an internal blade, activated by pressing the switch on top of the unit. Labels are thus presented with a protective backing that allows storage or transport before being used to decorate whatever the urge might inspire.
Obviously printing onto a tape sets a limit to the size of the label that can be created, and that limit is 24 mm in vertical printing height. (I refer to vertical height as the dimension perpendicular to the line of text, but it is perfectly possible to change the printing orientation so that height becomes length and vice versa - see later).
24mm does not sound much; it is slightly smaller than I would have it in an ideal world. However, a size 60 font will actually fit within that amount of space, so that if you need to create high impact labels visible from a distance, it can be achieved. The upside is that the length of the label is entirely your choice.
These constraints mean that you should really consider whether the use you'll get out of this particular label printer will justify the cost. For me it does because I need PVC rather than paper labels (to survive high humidity industrial environments), and the vertical print height is not a major issue, as my labels do not need to convey masses of info.
FEATURES
Plug-and-play PC compatibility (USB cable supplied)
Ability to reproduce jpg/gif graphics and ttf fonts
Supplied with ‘P-touch Editor’ software, the interface for creating editing and printing labels.
Print area 24mm x free length
Thermally printed labels are moisture resistant and stick to a wide range of materials
The label adhesive is of a non-tack variety, which leaves no mark or residue
INSTALLATION
Is relatively simple, just plug in the unit to a power supply, attach the USB connection to your PC and insert the installation CD included with the printer. Then follow the instructions on screen. Essentially, you need to install both the hardware and the P-touch Editor software before you can start creating labels.
USING P-TOUCH EDITOR
P-touch Editor is much like any conventional word processing program and is very intuitive and straightforward to use. You can cut and paste text and graphics from other software packages and save your work as unique individual label files. The thing to bear in mind when importing and using graphics is that the print resolution is tiny by modern standards – 120 dpi. So keep logos as large and as simple as possible for optimum results, and don’t expect your holiday snaps to come out legibly in glorious monochrome. That said, it is fine for printing text (which usually comes out better when bold), although if you look closely you will see the pixelated edges.
A useful application of the graphics printing capability – which probably gives a good idea of the 2420 at the limit of its performance – is bar-code printing. Bar-codes can easily be imported in bitmap or gif format and, once printed, used with standard bar-code readers for indexing, stock controls etc.
DRAWBACKS
Aside from the print resolution and limited area, the one thing that bothers me is that an excessive amount of tape seems to be wasted with each label printed. There is a gap of around 20mm betwen the end of the label and the point that the machine cuts the tape. I realise that the manufacturer supplies the tape and therefore it is in their interest that we should use the tapes more quickly, but it just seems a bit cheeky.
The other thing that would have been nice would be to have the printer powered throough its USB connection - its only a small unit and not having to cart around an extra transformer and power lead would mean I could use it on the road with my laptop.
SYNOPSIS
The P-touch 2420 offers some nifty features and is very easy to use, but is unlikely to be the label printing solution for everyone.
More details
Reliability
Excellent
Design
Good
Range of extra features / functions
Satisfactory
Instruction manual
Very useful
Manufacturer Support
Good
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