DeskDemon PA Review


We asked two DeskDemon Members to review the DYMO® LabelManager™ 500TS Touch Screen Label Maker. Step forward Tara and Natalie who put two of the machines through their paces for two weeks.

Here's how they got on:

DYMO printer

"The DYMO LabelManager 500TS Touch Screen Label Maker - Not Your Mum's Label Maker"

says PA to Executive Vice President of AEG Europe Facilities Tara Vickers, AEG, London

"Gone are the days of the label maker with the rotary wheel. You know the one: the one your mum would keep in the drawer. The one where you would type in the word and it would be pressed into a label much in the same manner as a typewriter - complete with the odd wonky letter just slightly out of line with the rest of the word. It was memorable in its own charming way, but not the most professional tool in the arsenal of labeling what you need. But we were captivated by it and everyone found an excuse to borrow it and label up whatever they wanted.

But as technology progressed, so have label makers. And the latest tool from DYMO is the coolest one yet. The LabelManager 500TS is attention grabbing, powerful, full of little gadgets inside of one big gadget. Yet, surprising, is not daunting to use. In fact, it is very user friendly. Just plug in, set the parameters and start typing. The touch screen function is great - very easy to move between the tabs to decide what font, direction or symbols I would like to insert. However for those of us who are a bit more "old school", there are also navigation buttons to fall back on. The keypad is very tactile and is, thankfully, set up as a QWERTY keyboard, making it effortless to type on (unlike my previous labeling machine whose letters were laid out alphabetically).

I found it easy to print out multiple labels in a snap, thanks to the ability to select how many copies of each label I wanted to print...and save those labels for any future use. I set up the LabelManager 500TS to cut automatically, saving precious time pushing the cut button. However that can easily be un-ticked in case you prefer to have extra tape on either side (or just get a kick out of cutting your own tape).

The only thing I found a bit cumbersome was inserting symbols into the label. I wanted the same symbol on both sides of the wording however had to settle for it only on one side. But this minor hiccup certainly would not cause me to throw the LabelManager 500TS out the window.

The DYMO LabelManager 500TS has pride of place on my desk. It's dark, sleek and gets a lot of comments from those walking past my desk who - while in sleep mode - think it's a just a really cool clock. It's only when I wake up the 500TS and start to show them its magic, do the onlookers see past its innocent facade.

Yes, this is definitely not my Mum's old label maker."

Applications

"You can add borders, change font styles and sizes, within under a minute of switching on"

reports Natalie England, PA to the Director of Legal at City & Guilds

"I remember the original DYMO label machines that you clicked and turned the wheel, so not quite electronic. I usually use my PC to print labels; it can be a hassle though if you need to print just one or two.

The instructions for the DYMO LabelManager 500TS touch screen label maker were easy to understand. I'm not one for spending hours trying to figure something out so it was refreshing that I didn't have to do that. I thought it was good that there were step by step pictures to help you along the way.

DYMO printer

It was very easy to use with a laptop, as once you have it all set up with the correct label colour it's very simple to use and I love the fact you can import from word and excel documents. The touch screen was also easy to use. It reminds me of a mini pc, just with the ability of touch screen - like most things nowadays - so DYMO is moving with the times.

With this machine, I won't have to look up the label templates that I had to use before, also you don't have to even plug it into a computer, you can just switch on and within 30 seconds you have a label. A lot easier than templates and also usual labels are mostly white whereas you can choose various colours.

A good point is that you can add borders, change font styles and sizes, literally within under a minute of switching on. Changing fonts was easy, just like MS Word you can choose what you want, and I think you can also download more fonts if you wish. I think I would use the different fonts for the different types of files we have. I also used the different coloured labels - I think my favourite was blue. It's nice to know you don't have to always use white and it will be a lot easier to identify files with the different colours available.

I do think it's a nice machine; my only negative point is that it could be a bit bulky, but that is probably because it has to facilitate the functions. I was surprised at how big it was though.

My favourite features were the fact you can use with or without a computer so you could just take it out with you and the different colour options.

So, would I or my boss use this machine? To be honest I think a lot of the company will use it. Funnily enough, our facilities department uses a DYMO label maker but not as new as this one, so I can see them borrowing it. It will make my life easier and I will mostly use it for files and labelling shelves in our library. I think EVERYTHING will be labelled!

Overall it's a good machine and very easy to use, my only negative comment would be the size, but it's not like you would carry round on a daily basis so it's not too bad!"

DYMO

Organisation at your fingertips - introducing the DYMO Touch Screen™ Label Maker

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