Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)I received my Brother PT-9500PC Label Printer about 9 months ago and I've used it regularly. Setup was very easy on my Macintosh. Rather than using the software on the provided disk, I downloaded the latest software and drivers from the Brother website and was up and running in minutes. I did have problems getting it to work when attached to a USB hub, but that could have been a problem with the hub rather than the printer. Once I plugged it directly into the computer, all was well. [edit: That hub has since been found to be defective]
Full version info, for those interested:
* Mac OS X 10.6.2 (Build 10C540)
* P-touch Editor 5.0 (Version 5.0.031)
* PT-9500PC Driver (Version 3.0.1)
The print quality of the labels is excellent. This is a 360 DPI printer, so it has a resolution similar to the early laser printers. Curves and edges appear rounded and smooth. You can see the pixels if you look really close, but print quality looks fine for most purposes. This means that you can use interesting fonts, including fonts with fairly thin lines if you want. Print speed is very good, and the printer can cut the tape completely between each label, or just score the label and leave the backing paper connected - this makes it easy to peel off the next sticker when printing a string of labels.
The software is much better than I was expecting - labeling software is often fairly lame. P-touch Editor 5.0 is a well put-together and professional looking software package. I haven't yet used all the features, such as auto-increment and bar-codes, but just from experimentation, those features appear to be easy to get to and use.
A few software deficiencies: I haven't found a way to rotate text to arbitrary angles (I was trying to place text diagonally).Also, exact positioning of items on the label can be tedious, which is an issue if you are trying to make labels for connectors on electronic devices as I am.Lastly, the font size controls are a bit weird, in that if you enlarge a font beyond what the bounding box can contain, the text stops getting bigger but the numerical font size keeps going up.This is an issue because I often want to use the largest text I can on small labels, but making all the text sizes match exactly can be difficult.One thing I just noticed recently is that it does not have a way to create cable labels (flags) like the hand-held P-Touch labelers do.
The only reason I gave the product 4 stars instead of 5: The maximum print width is 27.1mm (just over 1"). This means that on the 1.5" labels, you get about 0.2" margins at the edges of the tape whether you want them or not. With smaller tape sizes, you can print to within 0.04" of the edge. This may or may not be an issue for you, but it is a fact that is buried in the tech specs. While it is true that it can print on all the listed tape sizes up to 1.5", it can't print near the edges of the 1.5" tape like it can on the narrower tapes.
All in all, I'm very happy with this product and I expect it to provide a long useful life just like my hand-held Brother P-touch labeler.
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Product Description:
Creating professional looking laminated labels is as easy as 1-2-3pre-design your labels with your company logo or other graphics, import your database and print! Connects to your PC or Mac and uses Standard and Extra-Strength laminated TZ tapes in multiple sizes so you can make labels in a variety of fonts and styles. PT-Editor software includes 16 industry-standard bar codes and pre-designed templates; also saves and recalls frequently used label designs, imports graphics and databases; provides auto-incrementing and repeat printing features. High-resolution 360 dpi printhead prints in 64 styles and TrueType fonts. Automatic tape cutter. Compatible with Windows 2000 Professional, 95, Me, XP and Mac OS 8.6 to 9.x, OS X10.1 to 10.2.6. Includes 1 1/2 black-on-white TZ tape, AC adapter, software, USB and serial cables. Tape Size: 1/4 - 1 1/2; Number of Printed Lines: 16.000; Display Characters x Display Lines: N/A; Memory: Computer Dependant.
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