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Review on ๐Ÿ–ฅ๏ธ Wireless Network Brother QL710W Label Printer: High-Speed Solution for Efficient Labeling by Sirious Cavalli

Revainrating 5 out of 5

Great printer, but he's happy when he's done.

This was an emergency replacement for my old Brother Smart Label Printer 440 which gave up halfway through printing the shipping label. Partly due to slight brand loyalty and partly based on user feedback in Revain and elsewhere, I settled on the middle of this line. The younger model wasn't wireless and the older model was wireless, but it also had an extra serial port, which I didn't need anymore a few years ago when Apple switched to its own connection and eventually settled on USB. This label printer has replenished my inventory of old label rolls. obsolete as newer printers require printed characters on the back of the ribbons, especially when using the very convenient continuous ribbon rolls. I only used one of the two sample rolls that came with it, a wide endless tape. This printer can be configured to produce labels of any length, as long as the width of the label does not exceed the width of the paper ribbon. I believe since shipping label rolls can come in 50ft rolls, ribbon length can only be limited by the printing software (which doesn't have to be Brother's proprietary software). Rolls of tape must be installed in plastic holders, which may be removable/reusable or fixed depending on the manufacturer. However, compared to the previous model I had, changing the band is pretty easy. A new feature I like is that this thermal printer can print on transparent continuous labels, which I use for non-essential address labels and shipping labels. for affixing to printed envelopes with the instruction 'affix label here' visible through the transparent label. Despite the product's overall superiority, however, one annoyance is that another electronics company with "other operating system" allegiances hasn't invested the effort and resources to make it "plug and play" with Mac OS X and iOS. This is strange as our Brother MFC (multifunction printer) booted up quickly and easily on our home Wi-Fi network. Not that connecting this label printer via Wi-Fi was a problem. It wasn't difficult, although unlike many Mac-connected devices, you had to follow instructions. I suspect this is the result of software engineers trying to adapt software from "other" systems to the Mac. However, I read the instructions for connecting the printer to WiFi using a "different" operating system and felt sympathy (and a bit of pity) for how difficult it was to connect to the network on non-Mac computers. The printer is very technologically advanced compared to my old Brother label printer, but I didn't like how enthusiastic this printer is when it finishes a label. After cutting, it spits out the finished label and lets it fly to the ground (instead of drifting) or take off like a glider. (It's still a little twisted from rolling, so it's the perfect airfoil.) You might be planning a new accessory, like a birdcage-shaped exit shell. The finished label will NOT sit like a protruding tongue as seen in the device photo. It spits.

Pros
  • Print labels on the go with the free Brother iPrint&Label app download
Cons
  • Some errors