Epson LabelWorks: Portable Label Printer Review

EPSON has launched a new range of portable label printers for home and office.


Key Features of the Epson LabelWorks LW-300/400/900P

· Handheld stationery label printers
Ideal for homes, small offices home offices (SOHO) and small and media businesses (SMB), the Epson LabelWorks LW-300 and Epson LabelWorks LW-400 print labels ranging from 9mm – 18mm. This means precise labeling of smaller household items, schooling and stationery items to files and documents!

· PC connected stationery label printer
The higher-end Epson LabelWorks LW-900P prints labels ranging from 9mm – 36mm, making it ideal for vertical industries like logistics, manufacturing, building management. Equipped with the ability to connect to a PC or Mac, consumers can now personalize and create larger labels for branding purposes.

· Additional Features for all three label printers
With over 30 different types of media to choose from, the LabelWorks printers allow consumers to express their creativity with attractive patterns, vibrant colours and varied applications like iron-on, glow-in-the-dark and cable wrap. Additionally, equipped with up to 14 font types, 457 symbols and 89 frames, the LabelWorks printers are designed for high customisability and unique labels prints. Reduced tape margins also means dramatically smaller leader margins for more savings; giving users a perfectly sized label for any application. Barcode printing, using the Epson LabelWorks LW-400 and Epson LabelWorks LW-900P, is also made possible for tracking inventories for business settings.


Thanks to Epson's PR who passed me all 3 units, I am able to share with you how each of them differs to meet your needs.

LW-300

Photo Credits: EPSON

This affordable label printer is powered by 6 AAA batteries. The LCD screen only shows one line of text and does not have any backlight. The thickest cartridge tape width it supports is 12mm.

LW-400

This label printer is about S$20 more expensive than the basic unit, but you get a 2-line LCD display with backlight, great for indoor use. You can use tape width up to 18mm, and supports a little more print options, like barcode printing, 4-line printing. I definitely prefer this over the LW-300, unless you are really on a tight budget.

Instead of using batteries, you may choose to power with AC adapter which is included in the package.


LW-900P

This top-of-the-line printer requires connection to the computer to use, and prints up to 36mm tape width. Using the included Label Editor software, you can create all kinds of label layouts, even importing your own images. The printable fonts are limited only by your computer, so with this model, I am able to print non-Latin characters like Chinese. It also comes with a trimmer to round the label corners. Retailing at S$299, the LW-900P is only for the adventurous who needs the versatility of label printing through the computer. There is no battery option, so you have to plug to AC power. There is also no on/off switch: the printer turns on automatically when the computer is on.

User Friendliness
For the LW-300/400, it takes a while to understand how the product works without manual. There are several dedicated buttons to change the settings, like font, size, frames. To commit the change, you have to press the "Enter" button. When selecting font, the display does not show the actual font design. You have to refer to the manual for font samples.

For the LW-900P, the Label Editor is not the most user friendly. I find it easier to pick a preset template and edit to my requirements, rather than create from scratch. I recommend you spend a bit of time to familiarise with the software in order to maximise the printing versatility of the LW-900P.


Label Varieties
Each cartridge comes with the label and thermal ink, so there is no need to buy separately. There are dozens of designs for various needs. The review unit comes with a white label with grey ink, white on black ink, silver on black ink. There are even iron-ons, glow-in-the-dark, other pastel colour backgrounds. The best part is that you can easily swap the cartridges around.

Durability
EPSON claims they are chemical, scratch, temperature and water resistant. I personally tried tearing the labels with my hands, scratching the printouts, and even stuck the label to a water bottle, and the labels withstood the abuses.


My Favourite...
is the LW-400. Portable and great value, with large LCD screen and backlight that lets you use in any lighting situation. And my family agrees with me.

Logitech Home Products: Universal Remote and Wireless Keyboard

Last month, Logitech passed me 2 Logitech products for review. I think they also make perfect gifts for home owners, provided it's within your spending budget.

Logitech Harmony 1100 Advanced Universal Remote (S$599)
Before you impress your guests with this touch remote, you need to spend some time programming. An  instruction sheet is provided in the package to help you in the setup process.

After installing the software on your computer, make sure you have a reliable network connection while doing the configuration. I was using a test laptop which had an awful Wi-Fi connectivity and it broke the remote setup process a few times.

The easy part about the set up is that once you have entered the model number of your home devices, the Logitech software goes online to download the appropriate configuration. No physical learning is required, which is great if your existing remote is spoiled or lost.

I was pleasantly surprised that the software could offer suggestions for my devices that do not come with model numbers, like my StarHub Cable TV Hubstation set-top box. After I made the Harmony 1100 learn a couple of the buttons on the StarHub remote, the Logitech software prompted me a few model options and I found the "StarHub Smart TV" option for me to choose.

I am very impressed with online database of remote control programs. It even has the KDK ceiling fan remote (probably a very popular model)! I did encounter a hiccup with my Panasonic air-con remote. The on/off command did not work properly, but fear not. The Harmony 1100 allows me to customise the keys on top of the downloaded programs.

Once you have finished setting up the required devices and customisations via the software, just plug the Harmony 1100 to the USB and initiate the upload. And you are ready to impress! I'm glad there are ample hardware buttons to let me navigate the remote quickly, while leaving the resistive touch screen for the more dynamic and graphical options.

The major benefit of using a universal remote like the Harmony 1100 is that you are able to activate several devices at once by selecting a pre-programmed "Activity". For instance, you can set up "Watch DVD" activity, which I have configured to turn on both the TV and DVD player and set the TV input to "HDMI1". So when I press "Watch DVD", the Harmony 1100 sends all these commands consecutively to all the devices. My favourite part of this universal remote is that I can switch off ALL my devices with just one press!

There is just one minor inconvenience. If you want to control one of the devices, you need to select the device on the Harmony 1100 and scroll to the desired command on the touchscreen before you can activate it. My wife finds it easier to just pick up the device's original remote and press the button directly.

When not in use, the Harmony 1100 can be placed on the charging dock to charge the replaceable battery. For S$599, this gadget is for the tech-savvy home owners who appreciate convergence and style.


Logitech Wireless Touch Keyboard K400 S$59
This next home device is much more affordable and a lot easier to get it working. In fact, all I have to do is to remove the Unifying receiver from the battery compartment, insert to any computer's USB port, let the computer install some drivers, and the keyboard is ready to work out of the box.

A wireless keyboard like this is useful if you hook your computer to your TV screen, so that you can operate the computer while seated on the sofa.

Technical Specs:

• 10m range
• 2.4GHz
• Unifying receiver, supports up to 5 compatible devices

The wireless keyboard works without noticeable lag. I find the 3.5" trackpad very responsive and adequately sensitive, and multi-touch gestures work great. The left- and right-mouse buttons are located below the trackpad, and I like the additional left-click button located at the top left corner of the keyboard, allowing me to do the left click while supporting the keyboard with both hands, as pictured below.

In the interest of making the keyboard compact, Logitech has resized and repositioned some of the keys. As a result, I am not able to type as instinctively as I would. I also find myself accidentally tapping on the trackpad while operating the keys to the right (I have the tendency to use my index or middle finger on keys like backspace, enter). I'd wish Logitech has provided the ability to disable the trackpad on-demand.

Logitech Home Products: Who Would Have Known
I've always perceived Logitech as computer products, but in recent years, they have expanded their product solutions to cater to the home and personal consumer market. Besides universal remote devices, Logitech also sells great quality earphones like the Ultimate Ears series UE600vi which I reviewed last year. Personally, I like Logitech products, for they represent quality and affordability.

Do you have any positive experiences with Logitech products? Which Logitech products are your favourites?

Home Networking In Singapore: Survey Results

Remember the home networking survey I asked you to participate back in November 2011? The results are out.

Right-click to save the infographic to your device

Does the survey result reflect your perception on home networking? In a nutshell, it is rather easy to improve your home networking experience, by simply purchasing a better wireless router. And having a reliable router is even more important as most of us are connecting more than 5 devices to the router.