I thought about buying a label-maker for a long time but didn't want to spend the money. Then I had a project that really needed printed labels. Fortunately, the Brother P-Touch PT-D210 was available at a good price, cheaper than the handheld PT-H110 and with more options. The PT-D210 takes six AAA batteries (not included) and is relatively portable at 6.25 x 6 x 2.5 inches at the widest point. If you want an AC adaptor, you have to buy the AD24 or AD24ESAW power adaptor separately. My only complaint about this product is that the AC adaptor should have been included. There is also a CC-D210 black plastic storage case available for the label maker and supplies.
The label-maker comes with a sample cartridge of 1/2-inch white tape with black font. It accepts TZe tapes in 3.5mm, 6mm (1/4"), 9mm (3/8"), and 12mm (1/2") widths. If you want to use wider tape, you will need model PT-D400AD (up to 3/4") or PT-D600 (up to 1"). I'm using 9mm clear tape, which is the appropriate width for nail swatch sticks. The P-Touch label makers are thermal printers, so the label is dry and smudge-proof when it comes out of the machine.
The PT-D210 offers 14 fonts (Helsinki, Brussels, US, Florida, Belgium, San Diego, Los Angeles, Calgary, Atlanta, Adams, Brunei, Istanbul, Sofia, Germany), 97 frame styles, and over 600 symbols, which include themed pictographs, accented characters, punctuation, and mathematical symbols. It can store up to 30 labels in its memory. The printer has an impressive breadth of functions and I found it fun to use once I got the hang of it. The challenge is that Brother has packed so many options into a relatively simple keyboard that you have to push a lot of buttons to change one thing.
There is a one-inch leader on each label if you print only one. If you are printing a succession of labels, you can shrink the margins and "chain print" to print labels with no leaders. Remember to select "chain print" before each label, though, or the chain will be broken. I tend to forget this after a few labels. But chain-printing is a good way to conserve tape. There are three font sizes: small, medium, and large. These apparently print as different sizes on different width tapes. I can tell you that large font is 6mm tall and medium font is 3mm tall on 9mm tape.
| Product Dimensions | 2.7"D x 6.2"W x 5.9"H |
|---|---|
| Controller Type | Push Button |
| Printer Media Size Maximum | 8.5 x 11 inch |
| Power Consumption | 62 Watts |
| Included Components | One 0.47" (12mm) x 13.1' (4m) Black on White laminated "TZe" starter tape, User's Manual, Labelmaker |
| Print media | Labels |
| Scanner Type | Portable |
| Max Input Sheet Capacity | 27 |
| Display Type | LCD |
| Compatible Devices | PC |
| Sheet Size | 12mm |
| Dual-sided printing | No |
| Wattage | 62 watts |
| Hardware Interface | USB |
| Additional Printer functions | Print Only |
| Control Method | Touch |
| Is Electric | No |
| Manufacturer | Brother |
| Item Weight | 1.1 pounds |
| Item model number | PT-D210 |
| Batteries | 6 AAA batteries required. |
| Is Discontinued By Manufacturer | No |
| Material Type | Plastic |
| Number of Items | 1 |
| Size | 2.3 |
| Manufacturer Part Number | PT-D210 |
