David Gewirtz
for DIY-IT
| August 31, 2021 — 13:18 GMT (14:18 BST)
| Topic: Hardware
The iDPRT SP410 thermal shipping laser printer
There are two things you need to know about this label printer: it prints labels quite nicely, but its software is a bit of a letdown.
Let’s discuss the benefits of the iDPRT SP410. This is a small label printer that you can place next to your computer. It won’t take up much space. All you need to do is plug it into a spare USB port. It’s USB 2.0, so if you have a recent laptop you’ll need a dock or dongle to convert it to USB C compatibility. But, if you have a recent laptop, you’re already used to doing that for almost any USB item you need to add.
This device supports labels from 2 inches to 4.25 inches wide, and from an inch to eleven inches long. It’s also fast. It can print 72 sheets of 4×6 labels in a minute.
But by far, the biggest benefit of this printer is that it’s a thermal printer. What that means is that it doesn’t require any ink. No cartridges to constantly be replacing, no bottles of ink to spill, no added cost, no subscription plan. Just buy your labels and print.
Speaking of labels, they’re not terribly expensive. You can pick up 500 folded 4×6 labels for around $15.00. If you want to go wild, you can buy 32,000 labels in 32 stacks of 1,000 for under $200. And remember, you can print all of them without having to buy any ink cartridges or refills. Another example: you can get a roll of 2,000 2 1/2 by 1 inch labels for under $7. If you go this route, though, you might want to also pick up a label roll holder. That’ll set you back another thirteen bucks.
As you can see, using this printer is not an expensive proposition, whether you’re printing a relatively small number of labels or a whole lot of them.
Overall, I have nothing bad to say about the hardware. It’s solid. It feeds labels reliably (and it has a detection mechanism that keeps labels aligned). At a price ranging from about $130-$200 (depending on when you order it on Amazon), it’s a solid offering for the price.
But then there’s the software…
Drivers and label software
We need to divide the software topic into two categories: drivers and application software. The drivers work just fine. Whether you’re on MacOS, Windows, or even Linux, if you can print to a printer, you can print to this printer. Printer drivers were less of a pain to install for this machine than the drivers for some popular full-size inkjet printers. I have no complaints.
David Gewirtz
for DIY-IT
| August 31, 2021 — 13:18 GMT (14:18 BST)
| Topic: Hardware