Brother PT-1280 P-touch Electronic Labeling System

Wastes Tape; you need scissors, too (2009-07-04)
As some of the other posters have said, this devices wastes a lot of (expensive) tape and is difficult to use to create file folder labels. Even after a series of steps to adjust settings, you still need a pair of scissors to cut of the excess! What a waste of time and energy!

It costs 13 to 20 cents+ per label (2009-06-26)
This is a very handy gadget. That's for sure. However, you've got to figure the cost of printing each label into owning this printer. As many reviewers have pointed out, the downside to using this thing is that it wastes an inch every time you print out a new label.

It's absolutely necessary to get down to the numbers. As of today 6/25/2009, the Brother 26.2 ft Black on White 1/2 Inch Labeling Tape (TZ231)sells at $10.22 at Amazon, so each tape has 314.4 inches.

(1) It costs 1022 cents/314.4 inches = 3.25 cents/inch.

(2) If you use up 4 inches per label, including the wasted margin, the cost would be 13 cents. (If you use the large font size, that's about the least amount of tape you can use.) You can print out about 78 labels per tape. And you would waste 78 x 3.25 cents = $2.54 worth of tape.

(3) If you use up 5 inches per label, including the wasted margin, the cost would be 16.25 cents. You can print out about 62 labels per tape. And you would waste 62 x 3.25 cents = $2.02 worth of tape.

(4) If you use up 6 inches per label, including the wasted margin, the cost would be 19.50 cents. You can print out about 52 labels per tape. And you would waste 52 x 3.25 cents = $1.69 worth of tape.

The cost adds up very quickly, especially if you are the kind of person who likes to label everything on sight.

I hope this helps.

I got this on the cheap. I would have given this gadget a 5-star if it had wasted less tape.

Great Value. Easy to Use. (2009-06-10)
I am very happy with this label maker. It's super easy to use and prints very quickly. Other reviewers have complained about the wasted tape (there's an inch of blank space on each margin), but an easy solution is to do a group of labels all at once, using the space bar to seperate items. I'm not sure how I lived without one of these for all of these years.

Decent label maker (2009-05-23)
I received the PT-1280 as a gift and didn't know much about it. I wanted a label maker to use around the house (label boxes, files, etc.). It does use a great deal of tape per print, but there are ways to cheat it a little. I find that the preset file tab setting is the perfect fit for the standard folders, and I prefer that the label cover the whole tab anyway. It does give you extra tape at the end each time you cut, so I print a number of labels at once and then simply snip them apart with scissors. This actually takes less time than cutting each one on the label maker. I've had it since Christmas and am still using the cartridge it came with, so I must be doing something right. Also, it saves the last label you do, and I have never had to reset the settings for each label unless I wanted something different. Of course, I did read the instructions in their entirety before the first use. That helps. I haven't had to buy tape yet, so I don't know how much they cost, but considering the cartridge lasts a while (at least for my amount of usage), it probably isn't a burdensome occasional expense. I've used a lot of different makers working in different offices through a temp agency, and it seems to me they all waste tape, so the PT-1280 seems pretty average in that respect. The UI is incredibly intuitive and easy to use. I get what I want every time, except when I misspell something!

Brother Labeler (2009-05-04)
Was delivered as promised and I am very satisfied with it. Would not hesitate to be a return customer for the seller.