- Portable label printer is a labeling tool for identifying a variety of items, like cables, file folders, and equipment
- Prints on continuous tape and die cut labels
- 203 dpi thermal transfer printing stays crisp and bright longer than direct thermal printing
- TrueType fonts from 4 to 72 point, on materials up to 2" wide and print length up to 54"
- ABC keyboard for simplicity
1. Cost. It''s really expensive and if you think the printer itself is expensive, chew on this for a while: the labels I print use a spool of adhesive label "paper" (Brady Part #PTL-43-439) that is 50ft long. These spools of labels sell for around $90 a piece, which in my opinion is ridiculously expensive.
2. Ribbon. The ribbon cartridges that this printer uses are 1also unnecessarily expensive, 2very inefficient, 3not recyclable. Each ribbon cartridge costs about $25(Brady Part #R6010). Each cartridge has two spools, one full of unused ribbon which rolls across to the other spool as it gets used for printing. The problem with this method is that the majority of the ribbon itself never actually gets used at all and is wasted. And what''s worse if, like me, you''re printing off multiple labels with a gap between each label (for cutting) the ribbon actually rolls/transfers spools along with the label for the gap. In other words, if you have a 2 inch gap between labels, you are wasting 2" of your ribbon for every gap your labels require. One more thing about the labels the ribbon is very thin, and I found many spools where the ribbon had wrinkles in it. When you print labels that use wrinkled ribbon, you are left with a very sloppy looking label that has streaks across it.
3. Here''s a rundown of my general gripes with the printer itself:
-The on/off button is very difficult to reach. You have to turn the printer upside down to get to it. Why they couldn''t have just put this switch on the top or the side of the printer is beyond me.
-Currently, as of September 2009, this printer ships with a cable to connect it to a computer but the cable has a serial port at the end. Most computers made within the last couple of years don''t even have serial ports anymore because everything is USB. I called Brady about this and they said they are considering changing the cable to USB for future models. In the meantime I''m stuck having to buy a $30 serial to usb adapter cable. Oh, one more thing about the serial cable. It connects to a port on the bottom of the printer yes, the bottom and there''s no channel/grove on the bottom of the printer to allow the serial cable to run freely out and away from the printer. So you''re left with a very wobbly printer that''s sitting on top of the cable. It''s just like sitting down to a very wobbly table at a restaurant.
-Possibly my biggest gripe: For my job, I have to print off, on average, 30 of each type of label I need. Since each of my labels are 4.75", I often run out of either ribbon, label paper, or both in the middle of a print job. Whether you''re printing using the LabelMark software (included with the printer) or just the printer itself, when the machine runs out of anything it CANCELS your print job. This means that if you''re printing off 30 labels and it runs out of ribbon halfway through, you have to replace the ribbon, count how many labels you did print, then start a new print job to get the remaining labels.
-There are issues where labels don''t print clearly, and I even had an issue where only half of a label was printing. I was told by Brady to upgrade the firmware on the printer, which I did, and that seems to have fixed the problem.
4. LabelMark PC Software. The LabelMark software is finicky at best. The user interface is fairly simple to grasp, but I have a lot of issues with it far too many to get into here, but I''ll sum it up by giving the LabelMark software itself 3 out of 5 stars.
5. Product Availability. A specific job I worked on required the use of Blue colored label paper spools. I placed the order with Grainger (a supply company that orders directly from Brady) for 60qty of these spools back in June. As of today (mid-September) I still haven''t received any of the blue labels. I called Brady directly to find out what the problem is. Their rep was sympatheitc and explained that "ever since we moved our manufacturing down to Mexico, we''ve had all sorts of issues with keeping products in stock." And despite my order having been placed three months ago, they don''t expect to have my blue labels in stock again for at least another month.
6. The good news. Numerous times I''ve had to contact Brady''s tech support. So far, each person I''ve spoken with has been patient, professional, and actually helpful. I''ve also never experienced a long hold time to reach someone. And, the best part is that they all speak clear English.
The bottom linethis printer is very, very poorly designed, as are all of its required parts (label paper, ribbon, cables, etc.). The folks who designed it apparently didn''t take cost or common sense into consideration.
Buy Brady TLS2200 Thermal Labeling System Now
1. The label make is WAY over priced.2. The labels are WAY over priced.
3. The ribons are WAY over priced
4. The software to print from a computer is WAY over priced.
5. The printer jams up, skips labels, gets off track regularly so the overpriced labels and ribbons are wasted often.
DO NOT BUY THIS LABEL MAKER!
Read Best Reviews of Brady TLS2200 Thermal Labeling System Here
The cost of the Brady labels are so extreme you''ll have sticker shock. I was just quoted a price of $775 per box for the TSL2200 label. We''ve used the TLS thermal printer for years. Though it works well most of the time the price of the replacement labels is just too expensive. Time to find a new labeling system. Due to the price I wouldn''t even give this product 1 star.Want Brady TLS2200 Thermal Labeling System Discount?
Save yourself a ton of work by printing all of your labels in advance. Very spendy labels though.Came with everything you need to get going.
We are very satisfied with the Brady printers
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