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Label Printing from Brother
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Where once printers were regarded as a basic tool for getting text on to paper, now we have printers that have been designed for specific tasks. Not only are there multi-function devices (print, copy, scan and fax) but printers manufactured for general purpose home/office use; producing photographic output; and printing labels for a variety of objects. There are even printers that are capable of operating without the need of a computer as is the case with the Brother P-touch QL-650TD model.
The QL-650TD is a label printer that uses direct thermal technology, which means there is no ink, toner or ribbons to replace, in order to produce its range of labels. Adopting a mini-bread bin design concept, this printer measures 6.0 x 5.7 x 7.7 inches, weighs 2.4lbs and is black in colour. A series of control buttons and a small LCD window decorates the front of the unit while the rear holds connections for power, USB and serial leads.
Setting up the printer is relatively straightforward. The role of appropriately sized labels slots into a compartment positioned on the top of the unit while date and time settings can be applied using the LCD display and various control buttons. It should be noted that any printing will appear on the underside of the labels. Before connecting the printer to a computer, either Windows or Mac, the supplied software should be installed first. You will be advised when the printer should be connected via USB and turned on.
Three CDs are included in the box. However two of them contain various foreign language versions of the Brother software which consists of three main items. P-touch Editor provides the ability to create your own customised labels. Tools are available to add text; create images to supplement the supplied clip art; apply effects such as borders and curved text; plus include date/time and calendar elements.
This software can be used in conjunction with the supplied P-touch Address Book which can hold details of contacts either typed in directly or imported from other applications such as Microsoft Outlook. The third element in the software package covers drivers for various Windows and Macintosh platforms. The Windows version of the driver software has plug-ins for Microsoft Word, Excel and Outlook so that you access the capabilities of the label printer from within these applications via an icon of the toolbar.
The QL-650TD can also print Time & Date labels when it is not connected to a computer. While this is a useful feature in numerous situations, there are a couple of limitations that need to be considered. The first limitation is regarding the types of labels that you can access. There are eight pre-set labels featuring various date / time / message combinations. You can also create and download a further ten custom design labels from within the supplied software. The second limitation concerns the fonts that can be used. While all your fonts are available when using the computer, the print can also access its five internal fonts when in standalone mode. These fonts are Helsinki, Brussels, San Diego, Letter Gothic Bold and Brougham. Fortunately these should suffice for most purposes.
Depending upon content you should be able to print up to 56 labels per minute at 300dpi resolution. Print runs of up 999 copies can be set up with each label being separated by the automatic label cutter. Support is provided for bar codes and the transparent cover on the label compartment provides a reasonable guide as to the type and quantity of labels currently available.
Various signs and shapes of labels are available and the print quality produced by this device is good. However the functionality provided by this printer comes at a cost. The recommended price for the QL-650TD has been set at £351.33 which is very expensive considering some competition. However you should be able to find the produce available at a much lower price from various online resellers - I've seen the product priced at around $170.
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