Customer Reviews

Brother PT-1950 P-touch PC-Ready Labeler for Small Workgroups

5 star:		(25)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

An idealized P-Touch labeler is close to the PT1950 because from the cheapest to the most expensive models in the P-Touch range, the PT1950 supports the smallest font point size for all labelers: 6 pt; 0.75" wide tape [largest available being 1 inch], all TZ tape types, ships with an AC adapter, supports USB connectivity, includes PC software and performs most options found on the more expensive models.

With USB connectivity, features not available from the 1950 natively are accessible via the PC software, further extending the versatility of the 1950. With the included printer driver, literally any application can be used to format labels. For example, the Brother website suggests the 1950 cannot print bar codes, but it can through its PC software. Windows XP fonts, in all shapes and sizes, are printable. Thus, at worst, you don't need any functions on this machine, just a basic P-Touch printer to use on your PC. Whatever built in functions just make the 1950 portable.

With small font support, I can print densely packed labels that not just identify items, but instruct on its care and use. Name tags can contain more than just identifier information.

I've used 2 P-touch machines so far and they've held up well. The costly tapes are worth the money since they are durable, but the types should be used judiciously. With cartridges, its easy to swap out cheaper P-Touch tape for general purpose like labeling folders, from higher quality tape for semi-permanent jobs such as labeling computer cables. Jams rarely occur, and if they did, its often from dirty heads.

I will append this review if it turns out the the 1950 hasn't lived up to its reputation for reliability, as my other P-Touch printers have.

This is a terrific little labeler that I bought after reading Getting Things Done by David Allen. The operation is smooth and easy. The only time I had to dip into the manual was when trying to figure out how to make margins smaller, to reduce tape wastage (left margin could be made zero, but not the right one because it has to feed a bit of tape out of the machine). I know I am not using all the features, but the machine is so nice I bought another one of the same model asa gift for a friend.

I started using my labeler as soon as I received it. When the sample cartridge that it came with ran out, I put in a new one, but had problems with it. I looked up the customer service number in the manual and prepared for the usual aggravation of trying to reach any large company by phone these days. Imagine my surprise and delight when after hardly any time and button-pressing at all I reached a pleasant and helpful human being who listened to my tale of woe, registered my new labeler in their system, and then told me that she would ship me a replacement cartridge for the one that was not behaving itself. Three days later my new cartridge came in the mail, and I haven't had any further troubles. Applause for customer service done right!

Some how I managed to find this for $42 and I didn't even know you could connect it to your pc till I received it.

You can install the software and use it to put any font, font sizes,and pics you can imagine on the tape. Its nice that you see the tape on your pc so you can position anything you want, where you want before printing it.
I ordered a hard case to store it in too.
Very nice labeler.

The most important thing I was looking for in a label was ease of use and this product is great. I am a heavy user and the features that are incorporated into this device are extremely useful. I particularly like how the cartridge ribbons are sold everywhere like Staples and Office Depot. Therefore I never have to worry about having to specially order them.

I have an older model of this labeler and really like it. When I ordered this newer model, I was worried that it would be too full of fancy new features to use easily. Fortunately, the new model is just as easy to use as the old model and has some improved memory and usability features as well. For instance, printing symbols was a hassle with the old model, but the new model remembers the previous symbol you used, making it easier and faster. The new model also connects to your computer, expanding its functionality. The batteries hold a charge for a very, very long time.

The only minor issue I have is that you can't turn off the margins on the labels. (You can turn off one margin, but not both.) This means that you print out more label than you need and this a waste of pricey label tape.

I am very pleased with this purchase. Not only does it offer a great level of functionality as a stand alone product, but when you connect it to a PC it opens a whole new level of usability and creativity. The editing software lets you place you text with any of your windows true-type fonts, as well as hundreds of included clip-art and symbol fonts (wingding, webdings, etc.). However, it even goes beyond this, and I don't think the product description makes this clear. It accepts .bmp, .tiff and several other formats. You can jump into Paint, or your favorite art program and create any doodle or line-art you want and then add them to your labels. Or you can get art from the web. I was labeling some herb infused olive oil, and searched "olive line art" and "garlic line art" and came up with some great royalty-free art to add to my labels.
As for the other aspects, the printing is clear, and while not anything astounding in speed, still about as fast as average. You will need to tweak the settings when printing one label to keep it from wasting a lot of tape (which isn't all that cheap). The AC adapter included saves on battery life, but they don't include a USB cable so you will have to buy one if you don't have one. All in all, though, definitely worth the price.

I use this labeler in my home and have found it to be very effective. As others have mentioned, it is aggravating to have so much wasted tape at the beginning and end of each label, so that's why I gave it 4 stars instead of 5 stars. To somewhat solve the problem of the wasted labeling tape, I make a list of all the labels that I need to make and type them in on the machine in one continuous strand (until the memory is "full") with a couple of spaces in-between each label. Once it prints out, I then cut the labels apart. Yes, I know it's an extra step, but it sure saves on all that wasted tape if you were to be making labels one at a time. These labels stick very well to the plastics that I've adhered them to, unlike the tape used in an older labeling machine that I had before this one. If you are *really* frugal (as I am at times) you can save those little extra end pieces in a baggie and use them for labeling something small, writing on them with a permanent marker.

the Brother PT-1950 allows too much tape,(tab/margin),on both sides of the title of the label, which makes for a lot of wasted tape. For example, when you type the name, "Chris", in capital letters, the name is about 1 inch long. Well, the label turns out to be a total of about three inches long, because there is 1 inch of empty/wasted label space before the letters (or whatever you are printing) begins to print, and then there is an empty space of one inch of wasted space after the printing is finished. So when you add that extra two inches of wasted space each time you print, A LOT of tape is being wasted, which will get costly. This is the killer of this machine for me. I mostly use the printer to create file folder labels, and since the tab/margin is so wide/long, I have to trim each label with scissors, which it is irritating, and inconvenient. I tried to adjust the tabs, but that doesn't help. The problem appears to be in the amount of space between the point where the tape begins to come out of the cartridge, and the drive roller that actually 'pulls' the label out. Btw, I tried to call brother, and waited on hold for at least 40 minutes before I gave up. I want to like this printer, but this is an engineering oversight. The reason to buy a labeling machine is convenience, and speed, but when you have to trim each tape, it no longer is convenient.

I can easily type any label on my PC, click Print, and the label automatically comes out of the Label Machine. This makes printing labels 100 times faster than poking a little keyboard. It also allows me to save any label and/or any template... QWERTY keyboard is much faster than Brother's PT-1400 Hand-held Labeler with alphabetical keys; the 1400 also errors out all the time which waste tape.

I can set the margin really tight so it doesn't waste tape with wide margin's; however, the left margin is marked with two dots which I have to cut with scissors and the right margin is automatically cut by the labeler.

The software that loads on my PC also has a lot of nice templates that could be useful for certain things.

I keep it plugged in, on my desk, per 'Getting Things Done' by David Allen. It also takes batteries so I can take it with me...