Brother Printer PTP750W Wireless Label Maker, 1.18, Black

The PT-P750W offers so many different ways to connect and print that's it's almost a drawback. All this sophistication results in a somewhat confusing initial setup process. It can also be confusing when switching between the connectivity modes, but once you get the hang of it this printer works great.I was disappointed to find out that wireless printing is only possible with the included AC power-adapter or the optional BA-E001 Li-ion battery pack, but not with regular AA batteries. Getting the Li-ion battery significantly raises the overall cost of the solution, but is probably worth it for those that will frequently take it mobile, especially if they plan to use with their smartphone. I suppose it's good that the PT-P750W is sold without the battery to lower the cost for those that don't need it.Printing from my Windows10 laptop works fine, whether via USB cable with AA batteries, or via WiFi with the AC adapter. Printing from my Android phone also works well via WiFi or WiFi-Direct either one. I never could get NFC to work, but I think all it's supposed to do is launch the Brother app, so that's no big deal. The app sees the printer as soon as I fire it up, and detects what type of label stock is installed and how much is left.The Android app is handy. It provides a lot of templates, allows you save your own formats, and has good editing capabilities, but the Windows software is easier in the long run. The formats are compatible between the Windows and Android platforms, so you can manually copy them over from your PC and then print from your smartphone. What would really be cool is if the mobile app could link directly to your cloud storage repository!I've not tried the software-less "P-Lite" printing mode, and doubt I will. I selected this model specifically for the Windows software capability.The PT-P750W takes up no more space in my toolkit than the battery-powered QWERTY (but non-connectable) PT-1280 I've had for years. It also handles a wider range of label sizes, up to 1". I had planned to keep this printer in my office, but with all the functionality and portability, I'll probably take it with me sometimes.I've used the P-Touch system for probably 20 years, and the laminated labels have always adhered well and been very durable. The PT-P750W is a great addition to the product line for those that need the power of a connected device.

I added the 4 year square trade warranty on this thing because often enough, I only start to see problems after the 1 year manufacture warranty expires. Having said that, the price on the warranty started at $21 and then went to $10, when it finally hit $8. I hit the buy button. I used to use a DYMO label printer. And I can safely say that this one has alot more options when printing labels, they come out better, and it spits your label out, which the DYMO does not. I feel like this is a better product, because it doesn't use a battery, and it has alot more software options for printing. You can also find numerous 1 inch label colors, and label materials. Where the DYMO was limited to a very small selection, and it cost alot more... so there you have. A official DYMO killer label maker that is around $100.

First, the good bits:* Excellent build quality, which we have come to expect from Brother products.* Multiple connectivity options: USB (of course), two WiFi modes, NFC.* Does half-cuts, which is essential for removing the tape backing if the tape you are using does not have a split backing. Of course, also does chain-printing, so you do not waste tape if you are printing large batches and/or multiple copies of labels.* Their editor is more than adequate, especially now that it does all sorts of barcodes and labels for wiring. And if you really must, you can always design in another editor and import as a .png image, although that's an overkill.Now for the complaints:* The print head is not large enough to cover the full 24mm tape. This is not documented anywhere on the web site or the printer manual. I did manage to find the specs for the printhead in the SDK documentation, and it is only 128pixels, which at 180dpi gives a usable height of ~18mm. This is reflected in the editor, there is an ~18mm frame showing the print area, but it is annoying that a quarter of the tape is wasted in margins.* Worse, narrower tapes *still* enforce vertical margins instead of printing on the entire tape. To wit: on the 18mm (0.7'') tape, the printable area in the editor is 16mm. Now, there is some logic behind not allowing full-bleed printing: the positioning of the tape is not totally accurate, and if there is no tape to carry away the heat of part of the print head, the latter may be damaged. Still, I should have an option to risk that.* The WiFi setup was confusing: in the WDS mode, where the printer initially acts as a WiFi access point so you can connect to it, the configuration URL (/general/status.html) is missing. It's only after you have set up the printer to work with your local WiFi network that the URL becomes active. Not that there is anything useful you can do; it would be nice if they had included a light version of the editor.Overall: more than adequate for light use.