January 12, 2011 at 21:14Special Purpose Printer
An overview of a small gadget for those who love order in everything.
As a child, I really liked the Commando movie with Arnold - which is just the beginning, where he and his daughter live in his own cozy house somewhere high in the mountains ... I think many people dream of something like this - life goes on, but the idea that when then you will live like that, in some separate ideal world without worries and hassle. Sometimes you lie on the couch and think - “when I have my own house, I will have complete order there!” Even in the pantry, I’ll carefully sign each box, carefully lay each wire and, using some tricky algorithm, I will hang hammers, jigsaws and an entire arsenal of all kinds of screwdrivers ”)
Well, dreaming is not harmful, but if you approach your goal at least in small steps, then this is already something. Today I’ll talk about one rather unusual device that even Schwarzenegger could only dream of at one time) This is the DYMO Label Manager 210D - a “pocket” printer that can be thought of in a thousand and one applications on the farm.
The gadget occupies almost the entire volume of a relatively small box - in addition to it, there is only a test "cartridge" in the kit and a fairly detailed user manual. It is strange that they didn’t put anything else - looking ahead, such a machine has a place somewhere on the belt and there is not enough cover at least ... not to mention the power adapter - it is provided by the device’s design, but it isn’t there either. There are no batteries - I had to run to the store so that I could start testing.
In principle, you’ll see everything in the photos now, so I won’t describe in detail. But I’ll start from another - the only thing that visually gives out the purpose of this device at the first acquaintance is the upper right button “Print”. I taped it with an opaque adhesive tape and for the sake of interest I showed five people of varying degrees of IT. To the question "What kind of thing is this?" there were a variety of answers - from an ancient typewriter and a pocket cash register to a calculator with the function of printing graphs. And only when I let the device twist in my hands, practically no one had any doubts - the printer for printing something small. “A little predictable ... so it happened” (c).
The printer is really small (155x165x64 mm, with a weight of 500 g) - before that, the word “printer” caused me more cumbersome associations. And here ... the manufacturer positions it as a desktop one, so there is no way for him to take it there - it will not take up much space.
The front side of the device can be divided into three parts: the screen, function keys and keyboard.
The display is black and white and single-line, but the very first inclusion showed that it fits much more information - more on this later.
Under the screen there are 7 rubberized function keys, 4 of which combine two buttons in themselves, and one is generally a four-way joystick. Thanks to these buttons, all functions of the device are monitored and controlled.
Below all is a full QWERTY-keyboard of the same rubberized buttons. One of its main advantages is the support of the Cyrillic alphabet (which can be seen even on the buttons), moreover, with the ability to switch languages by pressing just one button; the device really gets along well with both languages (Rus / Eng). There are CAPS, a large space and Enter, a modest Backspace and separate buttons for entering numbers and punctuation marks - yes, at least there is a Solo here. The only thing I didn’t like about the keyboard is that there is no hyphen. More precisely, it is securely hidden - to enter it, you need to click "Insert - Symbols - Mathematics", that is, we get not even a hyphen, but a minus. Where is the logic? No) But pressing the buttons is completely silent.
A button on the side! Did you notice her ?! Surely, it’s such a big, important one) As you can see from the icon on it, it is designed to cut off a printed sticker and the button sizes are really chosen for this task very well - you won’t miss. There are no tricky mechanisms under the device’s cover - a simple, safely hidden piece of the blade.
The device can operate from the network - in this case, the corresponding connector is provided on the rear side of the case; but as I said, the adapter is not included. A printed ribbon leaves the same side.
There are two compartments on the bottom side - one allows the device to work autonomously (if you insert six finger batteries into it, after which the printer becomes almost twice as heavy), the cartridge itself is inserted into the second.
In order to start working, it remains to install the “consumable” - a translucent cartridge ( DYMO D1 ), inside which is an adhesive nylon or polyester tape. Everything will be printed on it, we will stick it on.
In addition to the ribbon itself, the cartridge contains a certain amount of “something” involved in the thermal printing technology, which is used in this case. As in tape cassettes, there is a rewind hole here - in case the print does not go according to plan. On the right side there is a marking that will always be visible through the transparent window on the bottom of the printer.
Usually it’s “punching” into tests and articles at night, when everyone is sleeping and no one is distracting ... and it was a bit scary to turn on the device at night - from such a “tamagotchi” I expected some 8-bit melodies at startup and other rustling with a tape. But there was nothing of this - we press "on" and the device is ready to work, without noise and dust.
The first thing that catches your eye, or rather, is not striking - the screen contrast. It is very low and at a right angle almost nothing is visible - you need to look at an acute angle. At first, I thought that it was the batteries ... and I had to spend time looking for a compatible adapter (I came from the Desten laptop). But, unfortunately, even with this connection, the symbols on the screens did not become brighter.
Then everything is simple - before us is a primitive WYSIWYG editor. We select the desired language, enter the desired word or even a sentence. Click "Print", specify the desired number of copies (1-10 at a time) and after a moment a printed label leaves the back side. We press "kat" and the sticker is ready for gluing.
If you climb the settings, you can decently embellish the label. Firstly, there are six sizes of letters - from very small to giant. Secondly, there are 7 styles - bold, italics, underlined, with shadow, contour, mirroring and vertical printing ... Three alignment options - right and left, as well as center.
The formatting possibilities do not end there. It is possible to make the text written in two lines (on tapes of 9 or 12 mm) and, moreover, be framed in some kind of frame. The framework is eight pieces - from a simple rectangular and with rounded edges, to flowers and crocodiles.
You cannot fit all the characters on the keyboard, so the part is accessible through the "Insert" menu - there are various arrows and brackets, mathematical signs and the Greek alphabet, currency and other punctuation - if you have imagination, you can print a lot of things.
When you turn on, the last typed text is displayed with the appropriate formatting - there is also a memory for 10 labels. Perhaps that's all.
For the printed tape, the tear-off side is cut lengthwise into two parts, which can facilitate the work when gluing - when you need to “make money” first, and only then stick it to your conscience. Stickers, by the way, are very good. The print resolution is 180DPI - everything prints well and is very contrasting, a minor marriage was only on the first two stickers.
Where can such stickers be useful? If you have imagination, you can come up with many uses. Sign notebooks and folders, hard drives and system wires, ports of routers and huge servers, various explanatory and warning labels in various mechanisms; jars with nails, washers and other screw-nuts; dates of pickles, jams and tasty compotes, small reminders on the refrigerator and passwords on the monitor) Addresses on envelopes and text on postcards; anonymous inscriptions “without underline” - from “I love you” to “Dean bastard” and “You park like an idiot”.
And one acquaintance said so at all: “ I would have stopped at the sink and washed everything under the hood. And then he would sign the main elements - dipstick, antifreeze, generator, candles, 'oil - synthetics 10W-40', 'do not touch' and other basic elements"- you know what for? I laughed for a long time ... “ So that next time I won’t explain to my wife over the phone where everything is next ”! :)
All this, if desired, can be clumsily written by hand and hung on tape / magnets / buttons, but such temporary solutions are not very convenient and almost always not as beautiful as we would like. And when you do something for a "constant", I want the eye to rejoice. In general, for those who like to clean up everywhere and just strive for some kind of abstract perfectionism - this printer is just a godsend.
Complete with DYMO Label Manager 210D there is one cartridge - it prints in black, and the length of its tape is 3 meters (width - 12 mm). But one cannot find such lengths on sale - there are only seven-meter ones that differ in width (6, 9 or 12 mm; the wider, the more expensive). The range of ribbons is not limited only to the width - there are cartridges that will print in other colors (for example, red or blue) on a ribbon of a different color (yellow, red, blue, black; there are even transparent ribbons). Let's calculate the cost of such a print.
Take the most expensive tape - seven-meter, 12 mm wide (colors do not affect the cost) - this is exactly what you can fit a perfectly readable text with all the variety of design. On the official website, the cost of such a cartridge is 804 rubles. The printer has the ability to find out the length of the sticker, which will be for the given text - for example, each sticker will consist of an average of 10 characters, that is, the length of each sticker will be about 5 cm. This means that we can print about 7 meters of tape 140 stickers. Simple arithmetic calculations and we find out the price of one such print ... neither more nor less - 5.74 rubles. For comparison, printing about two 10x15 photos in any photo studio will cost about the same.
Well, one more calculation. The original cartridge for my laser printer costs about 3,000 rubles - it will allow you to print two thousand pages of text. That is, if there is such a need, then you can at least be sealed (with any images and any formatting) - then we take scissors, scotch tape and get to work. I don’t even want to consider how much such a solution will cost more than printing with a specialized printer - I think that even if you buy the most expensive adhesive tape, the very best scissors and paper, the cost of the “manual approach” will be calculated in kopecks ... But is this an interesting option that will allow to do everything smoothly, accurately, quickly, and most importantly, anytime, anywhere? That is the difference.
In general, it really comes out a little expensive, as is the case with any other printer. But there are several options, as always - you can buy not such wide tapes (they are cheaper - from 640 rubles), or take them on the same eBay, where the average price per cartridge is $ 10. Although if we talk about home use, then 140 stickers should be enough for a very long time.
Relatively small size and weight.
Ability to work independently (from AA-batteries) and from the network.
Fast and silent printing, built-in blade for cutting stickers.
Screen and QWERTY-keyboard; WYSIWYG, several sticker design options
A good range of cartridges with various types / colors of ribbons and labels
There is no AC adapter or case included
Low contrast display
Dear “cartridges”
Price (2900 rubles)
Do not know, don’t know ... on the one hand, 2900 rubles seems to be not very much ... on the other hand, this is what we are asked for for a small desktop printer for single-line labels. Having estimated, I attributed the cost to the shortcomings - since good inkjets for photo printing already begin with twice as much) But as it often happens, there is a third option - in foreign countries this machine costs from $ 30. Accordingly, cartridges are two to three times cheaper.
So far, I have never met people who would use such devices in practice ... therefore it was interesting to dig deeper, although there was nothing to compare especially - well, except with pieces of paper on scotch tape. In theory, this is one of the simplest devices in its class, but even it is able to make many things in this world more understandable and readable; not to mention other, more functional models. Another question is how much it will cost and whether it is necessary at all) Therefore, you should buy such a machine only if you have a good idea of two things — at least a few possible scenarios for its use and the advantages regarding “traditional” means. Well, of course, if you are satisfied with the price of all this.
Well, dreaming is not harmful, but if you approach your goal at least in small steps, then this is already something. Today I’ll talk about one rather unusual device that even Schwarzenegger could only dream of at one time) This is the DYMO Label Manager 210D - a “pocket” printer that can be thought of in a thousand and one applications on the farm.
The gadget occupies almost the entire volume of a relatively small box - in addition to it, there is only a test "cartridge" in the kit and a fairly detailed user manual. It is strange that they didn’t put anything else - looking ahead, such a machine has a place somewhere on the belt and there is not enough cover at least ... not to mention the power adapter - it is provided by the device’s design, but it isn’t there either. There are no batteries - I had to run to the store so that I could start testing.
In principle, you’ll see everything in the photos now, so I won’t describe in detail. But I’ll start from another - the only thing that visually gives out the purpose of this device at the first acquaintance is the upper right button “Print”. I taped it with an opaque adhesive tape and for the sake of interest I showed five people of varying degrees of IT. To the question "What kind of thing is this?" there were a variety of answers - from an ancient typewriter and a pocket cash register to a calculator with the function of printing graphs. And only when I let the device twist in my hands, practically no one had any doubts - the printer for printing something small. “A little predictable ... so it happened” (c).
The printer is really small (155x165x64 mm, with a weight of 500 g) - before that, the word “printer” caused me more cumbersome associations. And here ... the manufacturer positions it as a desktop one, so there is no way for him to take it there - it will not take up much space.
The front side of the device can be divided into three parts: the screen, function keys and keyboard.
The display is black and white and single-line, but the very first inclusion showed that it fits much more information - more on this later.
Under the screen there are 7 rubberized function keys, 4 of which combine two buttons in themselves, and one is generally a four-way joystick. Thanks to these buttons, all functions of the device are monitored and controlled.
Below all is a full QWERTY-keyboard of the same rubberized buttons. One of its main advantages is the support of the Cyrillic alphabet (which can be seen even on the buttons), moreover, with the ability to switch languages by pressing just one button; the device really gets along well with both languages (Rus / Eng). There are CAPS, a large space and Enter, a modest Backspace and separate buttons for entering numbers and punctuation marks - yes, at least there is a Solo here. The only thing I didn’t like about the keyboard is that there is no hyphen. More precisely, it is securely hidden - to enter it, you need to click "Insert - Symbols - Mathematics", that is, we get not even a hyphen, but a minus. Where is the logic? No) But pressing the buttons is completely silent.
A button on the side! Did you notice her ?! Surely, it’s such a big, important one) As you can see from the icon on it, it is designed to cut off a printed sticker and the button sizes are really chosen for this task very well - you won’t miss. There are no tricky mechanisms under the device’s cover - a simple, safely hidden piece of the blade.
The device can operate from the network - in this case, the corresponding connector is provided on the rear side of the case; but as I said, the adapter is not included. A printed ribbon leaves the same side.
There are two compartments on the bottom side - one allows the device to work autonomously (if you insert six finger batteries into it, after which the printer becomes almost twice as heavy), the cartridge itself is inserted into the second.
In order to start working, it remains to install the “consumable” - a translucent cartridge ( DYMO D1 ), inside which is an adhesive nylon or polyester tape. Everything will be printed on it, we will stick it on.
In addition to the ribbon itself, the cartridge contains a certain amount of “something” involved in the thermal printing technology, which is used in this case. As in tape cassettes, there is a rewind hole here - in case the print does not go according to plan. On the right side there is a marking that will always be visible through the transparent window on the bottom of the printer.
Inclusion and work
Usually it’s “punching” into tests and articles at night, when everyone is sleeping and no one is distracting ... and it was a bit scary to turn on the device at night - from such a “tamagotchi” I expected some 8-bit melodies at startup and other rustling with a tape. But there was nothing of this - we press "on" and the device is ready to work, without noise and dust.
The first thing that catches your eye, or rather, is not striking - the screen contrast. It is very low and at a right angle almost nothing is visible - you need to look at an acute angle. At first, I thought that it was the batteries ... and I had to spend time looking for a compatible adapter (I came from the Desten laptop). But, unfortunately, even with this connection, the symbols on the screens did not become brighter.
Then everything is simple - before us is a primitive WYSIWYG editor. We select the desired language, enter the desired word or even a sentence. Click "Print", specify the desired number of copies (1-10 at a time) and after a moment a printed label leaves the back side. We press "kat" and the sticker is ready for gluing.
If you climb the settings, you can decently embellish the label. Firstly, there are six sizes of letters - from very small to giant. Secondly, there are 7 styles - bold, italics, underlined, with shadow, contour, mirroring and vertical printing ... Three alignment options - right and left, as well as center.
The formatting possibilities do not end there. It is possible to make the text written in two lines (on tapes of 9 or 12 mm) and, moreover, be framed in some kind of frame. The framework is eight pieces - from a simple rectangular and with rounded edges, to flowers and crocodiles.
You cannot fit all the characters on the keyboard, so the part is accessible through the "Insert" menu - there are various arrows and brackets, mathematical signs and the Greek alphabet, currency and other punctuation - if you have imagination, you can print a lot of things.
When you turn on, the last typed text is displayed with the appropriate formatting - there is also a memory for 10 labels. Perhaps that's all.
For the printed tape, the tear-off side is cut lengthwise into two parts, which can facilitate the work when gluing - when you need to “make money” first, and only then stick it to your conscience. Stickers, by the way, are very good. The print resolution is 180DPI - everything prints well and is very contrasting, a minor marriage was only on the first two stickers.
Where can such stickers be useful? If you have imagination, you can come up with many uses. Sign notebooks and folders, hard drives and system wires, ports of routers and huge servers, various explanatory and warning labels in various mechanisms; jars with nails, washers and other screw-nuts; dates of pickles, jams and tasty compotes, small reminders on the refrigerator and passwords on the monitor) Addresses on envelopes and text on postcards; anonymous inscriptions “without underline” - from “I love you” to “Dean bastard” and “You park like an idiot”.
And one acquaintance said so at all: “ I would have stopped at the sink and washed everything under the hood. And then he would sign the main elements - dipstick, antifreeze, generator, candles, 'oil - synthetics 10W-40', 'do not touch' and other basic elements"- you know what for? I laughed for a long time ... “ So that next time I won’t explain to my wife over the phone where everything is next ”! :)
All this, if desired, can be clumsily written by hand and hung on tape / magnets / buttons, but such temporary solutions are not very convenient and almost always not as beautiful as we would like. And when you do something for a "constant", I want the eye to rejoice. In general, for those who like to clean up everywhere and just strive for some kind of abstract perfectionism - this printer is just a godsend.
Scotch is cheaper
Complete with DYMO Label Manager 210D there is one cartridge - it prints in black, and the length of its tape is 3 meters (width - 12 mm). But one cannot find such lengths on sale - there are only seven-meter ones that differ in width (6, 9 or 12 mm; the wider, the more expensive). The range of ribbons is not limited only to the width - there are cartridges that will print in other colors (for example, red or blue) on a ribbon of a different color (yellow, red, blue, black; there are even transparent ribbons). Let's calculate the cost of such a print.
Take the most expensive tape - seven-meter, 12 mm wide (colors do not affect the cost) - this is exactly what you can fit a perfectly readable text with all the variety of design. On the official website, the cost of such a cartridge is 804 rubles. The printer has the ability to find out the length of the sticker, which will be for the given text - for example, each sticker will consist of an average of 10 characters, that is, the length of each sticker will be about 5 cm. This means that we can print about 7 meters of tape 140 stickers. Simple arithmetic calculations and we find out the price of one such print ... neither more nor less - 5.74 rubles. For comparison, printing about two 10x15 photos in any photo studio will cost about the same.
Well, one more calculation. The original cartridge for my laser printer costs about 3,000 rubles - it will allow you to print two thousand pages of text. That is, if there is such a need, then you can at least be sealed (with any images and any formatting) - then we take scissors, scotch tape and get to work. I don’t even want to consider how much such a solution will cost more than printing with a specialized printer - I think that even if you buy the most expensive adhesive tape, the very best scissors and paper, the cost of the “manual approach” will be calculated in kopecks ... But is this an interesting option that will allow to do everything smoothly, accurately, quickly, and most importantly, anytime, anywhere? That is the difference.
In general, it really comes out a little expensive, as is the case with any other printer. But there are several options, as always - you can buy not such wide tapes (they are cheaper - from 640 rubles), or take them on the same eBay, where the average price per cartridge is $ 10. Although if we talk about home use, then 140 stickers should be enough for a very long time.
Relatively small size and weight. Ability to work independently (from AA-batteries) and from the network. Fast and silent printing, built-in blade for cutting stickers. Screen and QWERTY-keyboard; WYSIWYG, several sticker design options A good range of cartridges with various types / colors of ribbons and labels There is no AC adapter or case includedLow contrast display Dear “cartridges” Price (2900 rubles) Do not know, don’t know ... on the one hand, 2900 rubles seems to be not very much ... on the other hand, this is what we are asked for for a small desktop printer for single-line labels. Having estimated, I attributed the cost to the shortcomings - since good inkjets for photo printing already begin with twice as much) But as it often happens, there is a third option - in foreign countries this machine costs from $ 30. Accordingly, cartridges are two to three times cheaper.
So far, I have never met people who would use such devices in practice ... therefore it was interesting to dig deeper, although there was nothing to compare especially - well, except with pieces of paper on scotch tape. In theory, this is one of the simplest devices in its class, but even it is able to make many things in this world more understandable and readable; not to mention other, more functional models. Another question is how much it will cost and whether it is necessary at all) Therefore, you should buy such a machine only if you have a good idea of two things — at least a few possible scenarios for its use and the advantages regarding “traditional” means. Well, of course, if you are satisfied with the price of all this.