Brady TLS2200 Handheld Thermal Transfer Printer - Up To 2"W Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)I've been using the Brady TL2200 for a few months now. Unfortunately I have to use it for my job. Here are the main reasons why I don't like this printer.
1. Cost. It's really expensive - and if you think the printer itself is expensive, chew on this for a while: the labels I print use a spool of adhesive label "paper" (Brady Part #PTL-43-439) that is 50ft long. These spools of labels sell for around $90 a piece, which in my opinion is ridiculously expensive.
2. Ribbon. The ribbon cartridges that this printer uses are 1- also unnecessarily expensive, 2- very inefficient, 3- not recyclable. Each ribbon cartridge costs about $25(Brady Part #R6010). Each cartridge has two spools, one full of unused ribbon which rolls across to the other spool as it gets used for printing. The problem with this method is that the majority of the ribbon itself never actually gets used at all and is wasted. And what's worse - if, like me, you're printing off multiple labels with a gap between each label (for cutting) - the ribbon actually rolls/transfers spools along with the label for the gap. In other words, if you have a 2 inch gap between labels, you are wasting 2" of your ribbon for every gap your labels require. One more thing about the labels - the ribbon is very thin, and I found many spools where the ribbon had wrinkles in it. When you print labels that use wrinkled ribbon, you are left with a very sloppy looking label that has streaks across it.
3. Here's a rundown of my general gripes with the printer itself:
-The on/off button is very difficult to reach. You have to turn the printer upside down to get to it. Why they couldn't have just put this switch on the top or the side of the printer is beyond me.
-Currently, as of September 2009, this printer ships with a cable to connect it to a computer - but the cable has a serial port at the end. Most computers made within the last couple of years don't even have serial ports anymore because everything is USB. I called Brady about this and they said they are considering changing the cable to USB for future models. In the meantime I'm stuck having to buy a $30 serial to usb adapter cable. Oh, one more thing about the serial cable. It connects to a port on the bottom of the printer - yes, the bottom - and there's no channel/grove on the bottom of the printer to allow the serial cable to run freely out and away from the printer. So you're left with a very wobbly printer that's sitting on top of the cable. It's just like sitting down to a very wobbly table at a restaurant.
-Possibly my biggest gripe: For my job, I have to print off, on average, 30 of each type of label I need. Since each of my labels are 4.75", I often run out of either ribbon, label paper, or both in the middle of a print job. Whether you're printing using the LabelMark software (included with the printer) or just the printer itself, when the machine runs out of anything it CANCELS your print job. This means that if you're printing off 30 labels and it runs out of ribbon halfway through, you have to replace the ribbon, count how many labels you did print, then start a new print job to get the remaining labels.
-There are issues where labels don't print clearly, and I even had an issue where only half of a label was printing. I was told by Brady to upgrade the firmware on the printer, which I did, and that seems to have fixed the problem.
4. LabelMark PC Software. The LabelMark software is finicky at best. The user interface is fairly simple to grasp, but I have a lot of issues with it - far too many to get into here, but I'll sum it up by giving the LabelMark software itself 3 out of 5 stars.
5. Product Availability. A specific job I worked on required the use of Blue colored label paper spools. I placed the order with Grainger (a supply company that orders directly from Brady) for 60qty of these spools back in June. As of today (mid-September) I still haven't received any of the blue labels. I called Brady directly to find out what the problem is. Their rep was sympatheitc and explained that "ever since we moved our manufacturing down to Mexico, we've had all sorts of issues with keeping products in stock." And despite my order having been placed three months ago, they don't expect to have my blue labels in stock again for at least another month.
6. The good news. Numerous times I've had to contact Brady's tech support. So far, each person I've spoken with has been patient, professional, and actually helpful. I've also never experienced a long hold time to reach someone. And, the best part is that they all speak clear English.
The bottom line- this printer is very, very poorly designed, as are all of its required parts (label paper, ribbon, cables, etc.). The folks who designed it apparently didn't take cost or common sense into consideration.

Click Here to see more reviews about: Brady TLS2200 Handheld Thermal Transfer Printer - Up To 2"W

Thermal Transfer Label Printer Make crisp accurate bar codes and labels that won't smear. This handheld thermal transfer printer accepts labels and wire markers up to 2' wide. Has more than 200 different label options that recognizes the label you're using, determines the text size and automatically adjusts itself without wasting material. Replace your ribbon in seconds just pull out the used cart ridge and insert a new one. Adjustable for six different widths of labels. UL and CUL listed battery charger. Prints 500 labels between battery charge. Includes: hard case, ribbon, battery pack, dust cover, battery charger, manual, test labels and one cleaning card. (USA) Label Printer System (TLS22 00)