Great low cost labeler (and the margins can be largely removed)

I was at my local office supply store and walked by the labeler section, I didn't really want one but stopped to look at them. I saw this one was $60 and was about to leave without buying it, but then saw near the one in demo a large "$25 OFF" so it was on sale for $35, at that price I decided it was worth it, especially since it was the last one left of this model and I preferred it to the others they had available. I figured it would be great to label my mason jars in the Kitchen as I often forget what's in them.

I chose the PT-1280 due to it's QWERTY keyboard (some have an ABCD keyboard and it takes me forever to find the letters on those) and the fact it does tough and resistant laminated labels and has many label widths and color combinations to choose from.

It is very easy and simple to use, simply turn it on, type in the text to print, change any of the features if you want to, and press print. The features available are: Size, Width, Style, Underline/Frame, Tab, Tab Length, Label Length, Auto Format, Margin, and Print Option. Your selected features are remembered even after turning the machine off and back on, so you don't need to reconfigure your favorite features each time. There is also a window in the label tapes and the machine so you can see how much of the label roll remains without opening it.

I noticed the 2 other reviews complain of a lot of label waste, I can only suspect they did not read the manual. While it is true that the default settings will leave 1 inch blank at the start and end of each label, this can be changed. In the Margin settings, you can select "Narrow" and this will remove the 1 inch margin at the end of each label. The 1 inch margin at the start can also be removed when printing more than one label by choosing "Chain Print", this way only the first label in the chain will have the 1 inch starting margin. This start margin is inevitable as the first inch of the tape is where the laminating process occurs between the print head and the cutter and cannot be printed on. This is a small price to pay for a labeler that does laminated labels in my opinion, and the 1 inch of waste before each set of label should easily pay for itself through the toughness and longer life of the laminated labels. You can also save your 3 favorite labels and/or feature sets in 3 programmable buttons for easy access.

The PT-1280 can run on 6 AAA batteries or an AC adapter (neither are included).

I would highly recommend this labeler if you are looking for a low cost machine that does high quality and resistant labels.

UPDATE: I read these labels were heat resistant, but didn't understand how that could be possible since they are thermal paper (the paper is heat sensitive and turns black when heated, the machine prints by heating different spots on it). I tried heating one and indeed it didn't change color. After looking at the tape again I saw that the heat sensitive layer gets peeled off back into the tape and only the color changed ink is then transferred to the label, so once they are printed they are no longer heat sensitive, very ingenious!

Also, since I had 30 days to decide if I wanted to return it and the fact that they didn't have much information at the store, I decided to look at the different models in detail on Brother's website. The general information was quite similar for all models using TZ tapes, but I decided to have a look at the PT-2700's user manual for more details. I saw the PT-2700 has much more features than are listed in its general information and have exchanged my PT-1280 for the PT-2700. I will have a review of it shortly. The main features that made me want to upgrade was that the PT-2700 has an auto cutter that cuts off the leading one inch margin for you as it prints each label, with the PT-1280 I had to find a pair of scissors after each label. It can also print up to 1 inch tape (VS 1/2 inch), has a graphic backlit display for much better previews of labels, and much, much more.