Label printer recommendations

libra10

I have been thinking of purchasing one of these devices for a while, possibly one of the Dymo series.

Have looked at Amazon reviews, and it's difficult to decide which to purchase.  I would have preferred a wi fi model, but from users' comments, they are not overly reliable connecting to signals.  Therefore, probably a printer which connects to my laptop using a USB port would be best.

The label printer is for home use, not business, and wondered whether anyone can recommend which model might be suitable.

Cornucopia

I just use sheet labels in a normal printer.    With the right templates, you can easily produce well-aligned labels and also print partial sheets.

matelodave

what sort of labels - plastic strip type or paper on a roll. Know why you want a label printer and what sort of labels you want to print will save everyone having to randomly guess

TBH unless you have a lot of label printing to do then label sheets for use in your normal printer will be a lot cheaper

libra10

Thanks for your comments.

I want paper on a roll printing, mainly for address printing that I can stick on envelopes.  Although I don't have lots of printing, I thought of making a list of family/friends addresses and printing out their addresses for greetings cards. Other family members might also use it.

Nothing fancy - a device which will allow about 5/6 lines of text.  Not bothered about colour printing or images.

Heedtheadvice

Sheet labels then should be your choice as mentioned above.

Work best with a lazer printer for water stability and b&w text

Work best with an inkjet for adding pix as well as b&w or colour text. You may then need to spray them for them to be impervious to water damage.

No point getting a specialised label printer.

Cornucopia

I use sheet labels/ink jet printer for address label printing.   I have a feeling that my office-grade printer ink is slightly waterproof (whatever that means), but I also cover the address labels on my parcels with clear adhesive tape (brand-names are available).

Poundland still do 5 large rolls of tape for...  £1.

libra10

Thanks everyone for your comments. 

I have an Epson ET8500 Eco Tank printer. Do you know whether this type of printer is suitable for label printing?

Does no-one recommend a specific label printer?  I thought it would be much easier to use than the Epson. 

forgotmyname

If you buy the sheets of address style labels don't buy the cheap stuff.  Had labels peel off in the printer.

The fun of clearing bits of label out of the printer...

I have the Dymo that embosses the thin strip type labels. Been in the draw for about 10 years. So much
easier to type/write a label and you can customise it more than the other options.

libra10

Thanks @forgotmyname The problem of labels becoming stuck in the printer is what concerns me.

Although the potential new label printer wouldn't be used often, I thought that I could do a database of addresses, and easily print specific lables as required.

Cornucopia

With my old printer, I experimented with running roll labels through it, and that did occasionally lead to one coming unstuck and getting left inside the printer.  With good access, it wasn't too much of a problem, though.

Using proper label sheets in the new printer, I've never had one fall off.  The printer has a paper thickness adjustment, which probably helps.

GDB2222

I have a Dymo LabelWriter 450. It’s very good. I bought it when I worked from home, and it’s still going strong years later. It just sits on my desk and prints the occasional label when I need one. There’s no warm up time, and it prints the label in about 1-2 seconds. 

I find lots of uses. For example, when I needed to readdress some mail, I printed off 30 labels in a roll. I made some jam, and I made some nice labels for that.

 I used to use sheet labels before that, but it was very wasteful, as I didn’t put the sheet through the laser printer more than once. It would have been expensive if a label had got stuck in the fuser unit say, and a real nuisance to have to stop work to fix it. Of course, that might not bother you so much.

Could I suggest keeping an eye out for a decent deal on a Dymo printer. At the moment they seem to be much more expensive than I expected.