I first purchased this over a year ago and was very happy with it. The text rendering isn't the greatest (a little pixelated but not terribly so) and I don't personally like most of the fonts... but all the options, the 4-line text, all the little icons, the huge memory have all made this my favorite label maker! I love that you can do upper or lower case and there is a bold and italic option. There is also a "narrowness" setting. The backlighting is a nice feature too. You can print text vertically or horizontally and there are 3 "flag" options for wire labeling or binder spine labeling. I didn't find the learning curve to be that steep after reading the manual... if I haven't used a feature in awhile it takes a bit of fiddling to remember, but overall I have to say not so much. There's a little "cheat sheet" on the back that's very helpful to trigger your memory if you've read the manual. The battery life is pretty decent and doesn't seem to draw power when not in use. So, basically everything everyone says about this. Oh, the keyboard is QWERTY which is a plus, and apparently not the norm. The cartridges are many! Lots of options there. Not cheap, but I honestly find that the cartridges last pretty long. We use it often but at the same time, I guess not THAT often. Often enough to miss it! I have a Dymo LetraTag and The printing is nicer (smoother) but it only prints in caps.
So I just really like this one so much that when I got a "motor error" in the middle of labeling some AV wires, I spent all of 20 minutes researching my options and just ordered another one from amazon. Wasn't happy about it but we use it so much in this house, and it really is the best deal in my opinion, for the price range.
I'm also writing this review because it might help someone. I got the "motor error" and it kept shutting down and I googled for hours and found nothing useful. I even sent a message to Epson support, and despite an autoreply saying someone would be in touch within 24 hours, that didn't happen. When I got the new one I decided I had nothing to lose so I took the old one apart. Just removed the battery cover, batteries, and loosened the 4 screws holding the back on. Lifted it up and disconnected the wire bundle on the left, and just flipped the back over (don't lose the screws! ;) ) I saw the gears for the motor and tried to move them. They weren't stuck but as they turned around, it revealed that a tiny sliver of cut label tape was stuck in them. It wasn't actually stopping them from moving, but it must be very sensitive. I removed that with tweezers, reconnected the wires and closed it up and put the batteries back on... and it worked fine. I hope this helps someone else out there, because when I googled I found nothing useful aside from someone who said theirs just started working again a few days later and then broke again.
I think probably what could have caused this was the kids playing with the "cut" button even when there was no printed label. It must have jiggled a little bit up and cut a sliver... or maybe there are "scraps" when it cuts sometimes, or maybe I just got lucky with the "Take it apart and put it back together maybe it'll magically work" thing.
| Manufacturer | Epson |
|---|---|
| Brand | Epson |
| Item Weight | 14.1 ounces |
| Product Dimensions | 6.69 x 4.33 x 2.2 inches |
| Item model number | C51CB70010 |
| Batteries | 6 AA batteries required. |
| Is Discontinued By Manufacturer | No |
| Color | Black |
| Number of Items | 1 |
| Manufacturer Part Number | C51CB70010 |
| Item Weight | 0.88 Pounds |
| Max Input Sheet Capacity | 75 |
