Brother P-Touch Monochrome Label Maker, Versatile Easy-to-Use Labeler, PTD400AD, AC Adapter, QWERTY Keyboard, Multiple Line Labeling, White

This is my third label maker. My first was DYMO, which worked well for a few years and then started to fail. The second was the smaller version of this Brother one, which I've had for three years. Without going into detail, the Brother models, while they take up more shelf space, are much easier to use than the DYMO and much more versatile. I'm about to turn 77, and I think they are very easy to learn; but maybe that's because I started with DYMO. Anyhow, if I can do it you certainly can.Others have complained about the high cost of tape. There are plenty of third party tape manufacturers whose products are good. I now default to Unistar, which has been as good as Brother for my use. I don't expose my labels to the weather, and I don't know if the Brother labels would be better for that. The cost of Unistar is about a third, which validates the complaint that all the money for Brother seems to be in the tape. Also, read the posts by others on how to use the chain function to conserve tape. Again, as others have said, there is significant wastage if you make a lot of separate short labels.Here's another insider secret: If you want the font to be as easy as possible to read at a distance, use the Florida font. It is BY FAR the best for that purpose.I particularly like how easy it is to switch tapes. I can do it in about five seconds. Tapes come in various widths and color combinations. You will find that when you switch tape widths, the font sizes for ALL type size-settings adjust accordingly. That caught me by surprise the first time.I do like the bigger (PT-D400) model better than the smaller one (PT-D210). The key layout is more intuitive, and you don't have to use the shift function as often. Its max tape width is 50% greater, and for items on high (distant) shelves, that can make all the difference. The cabinet opens and closes easier, and the window that shows what tape is loaded is right on top and easy to see. Also the "clear" function works, which is the one thing that i could never get working on the smaller model.I'm addicted to these label makers. I wouldn't want to be without them.

My first Brother product of any kind was a PT-85 handheld personal label printer. I’ve had it for about twenty-five years now, bought it at an office supply store when Amazon was still only selling books. It cost me about fifty bucks and at the time all of the other options available seemed like they were made out of cheap plastic. It is the only electronic gadget I keep in my office desk drawer and I use it all the time and it is still going strong. Of the things I love about it is that it literally seems to go forever on six AA batteries, like over a year per set. Of the few things I don’t like about it is that like all label printers it wastes too much unprinted tape although I have found a few ways to trick it into wasting less. I saw today, in mid 2021, that Amazon was selling a new one for $220 bucks. It must still be very desirable.THE NEED FOR MOREBut then was then and now is now. Since the mid-nineties I’ve owned label makers from several other brands. Each has things going for it but none every gets used as much as my ancient Personal Touch. Today however I need more versatility, different tape widths, larger fonts, more colors, bar codes, etc. It took me a long time to decide on finally choosing this model. I knew it goes on sale a lot and some stores almost give it away to get your replacement tape business but I didn’t want to wait or shop around so I accepted that about sixty bucks was more than fair for something that does as much as this thing.PROS1. Lots of font faces, sizes and styles2. AC adapter included3. Two year warranty4. Real keys like a laptop computer5. Several hidden featuresCONS1. Wasteful – but they all are. Learn the tricks to save money2. Unusually dim and low resolution screen3. Lever that has to be manually pushed down before lid will close (inconvenience, not a flaw)Before adding my opinion I need to say that only about one in ten is really helpful, and they usually point out the ones that are error filled or dead wrong. I don’t want to take the time to do that but it’s obvious most of the ones that are off base obviously didn’t read the instructions or if they did, they didn’t understand them. Considering its price I could not find one reason working against this model. Is it perfect? No, in a real world that’s not going to happen, but properly used I am very happy with my choice.

This thing is awesome. So easy to use. The cartridge has never jammed. I've printed hundreds of labels over two years and it never skips a beat. The only thing I would like to see changed is the amount of leading and trailing waste produced with a single label. If you only print one label, there is over one inch on either side of the print that is wasted and that you have to trim manually. I wish they could design it so that the edge of the cartridge is closer to the exit to reduce this waste. Of course, if you will be printing multiple labels, you can enter them all at once with a few spaces in between to print a single label and manually cut each. Oh, and the label backing has a slit down the middle for easy removal. That is a big plus.