The Brother VC-500W is the Compatible Labels sister software of the ZINK mini photo printer that produces handy full-color labels for homes and small businesses. A unique full-color label printer, Brother’s VC-500W Compact Color Printer uses an equivalent zero-ink (ZINK) technology utilized in today’s mini picture printers, together with our power unit Sprocket choose Editor’s alternative or our Canon vine picture Printer.
With the VC-500W, however, you have got a lot of choices, together with printing prints in an exceedingly style of widths and lengths up to seventeen inches, furthermore as Brother’s powerful (though typically a touch clunky) software system. Like its pocket-size mini picture printer relatives, the VC-500W could be a bit expensive to use, however well-developed enough to serve households and tiny businesses in printing full-color labels for a spread of applications, creating it PCMag’s initial Editor’s alternative.
Brother VC-500W Simple Mini
The VC-500W isn’t the primary label printer of its kind. In fact, this can be the results of Brother’s acquisition ANd revamp of an earlier product called the ZINK hAppy good App Printer that was reviewed here in March 2016. Indeed, except the emblem inscribed on the highest of the chassis, the VC-500W and hAppy look precisely the same. However, as you may see below, many enhancements and new software system have brought this version to a way a lot of spectacular and good customary.
While print quality and media value area unit comparable, the most distinction between the VC-500W and today’s pocket-size picture printers is that the previous gets ZINK whole paper from the roll, not the individual precut sheets you load within the device. (I’ll cowl media choices and operational prices in an exceedingly moment.)
Brother VC-500W Label Size
ZINK label rolls area unit out there in four widths half, three-eighths, 1, and a pair of inches and area unit sixteen.4 feet (1,968 inches) long, with costs starting from $17.99 to $34.99. At this worth, a 0.5 by 3.5 in. label prices regarding thirty two cents and a a pair of by three.5 in. Label can value you regarding sixty one cents. The most important label attainable is a pair of by seventeen inches, and prices simply over $2, with narrower media slightly cheaper.
Compared to Brother’s P-Touch Cube and (and staring at the zero.5 by 3.5-inch label), the VC-500W label prices simply a pair of cents a lot of. Larger labels, like the antecedently mentioned 2-by-3.5-inch print, area unit slightly dearer than similar (2-by 3-inch) prints from ZINK mini printers. reckoning on whether or not you bought a ten, 50, or 100-sheet media pack, for instance, the power unit Sprocket 2d Edition prints between forty five and fifty cents a picture.
Brother VC-500W Size
Measuring three.8 by 4.4 by 4.6 inches and consideration one.5 pounds, the Brother VC-500W is two-tone (with white sides and black top) and glides from a purpose|part|section|division} at the rear to an occasional point at the front. whereas most operations area unit handled via the bundled software system, the gadget’s nominal controls contains 3 buttons—Power, Wi-Fi, and container furthermore as a standing junction rectifier for Wi-Fi, container roll paper, and Swipe to chop (the cutter).
Your written label exits through the output slot situated on the front of the chassis. You crop it via the scrolling slider at the highest. You activate it together with your fingertips.
As mentioned, you style your labels on your Windows, iOS, or golem device via Brother’s bundled software system, mentioned in brief. The VC-500W conjointly supports output from Microsoft Word, Excel, and Outlook via Brother’s P-Touch label style and printing software system.
Design and Print Quality
Another vital distinction between the VC-500W and its pocket picture printer cousins is Brother’s suite of label maker applications, which incorporates P-Touch Editor, iPrint&Scan, and Color Label Editor. though the latter, solely out there on golem and iOS devices and a holdover from the times of ZINK hAppy, could be a bit significant, the program makes coming up with every kind of colourful and dynamic labels simple.
In some ways, the P-Touch Editor and Color Label Editor offer duplicate practicality, tho’ between the 2 you get a large style of computer graphics, fonts, frames, and alternative effects for coming up with your labels. As mentioned, P-Touch Editor helps you to style your labels in Word or use Outlook or surpass to print a group of information records.
iPrint&Scan, of course, is Brother’s default app for printing from and scanning to mobile devices, permitting you to print from most iOS and golem apps.
Print Speed And Quality
Brother rates the VC-500W at zero.3 inches per second (ips) in customary mode and zero.15ips in Vivid mode, that is regarding the speed I noted, slightly completely different reckoning on content. each modes print at 313 dots per in. (dpi). I tested the printer employing a Samsung Galaxy Note ten running golem nine.
Given that the opposite label printers tested here solely print in monochrome (with the exception of the Brother QL-800, that prints dual-color labels in black and red), comparison the VC-500W with them is not significantly relevant. Anyway, throughout my tests, it written a zero.5 by 3.5 in. monochrome address label in regarding three.5 seconds in customary mode. after I account for cuts, the time will increase to regarding five seconds, or regarding twelve cut labels per minute. Printing in Vivid mode takes regarding doubly as long.
If the Label is full it’ll take roughly an equivalent print time to print. This speed is a smaller amount than [*fr1] the speed of our current favorite consumer-grade monochrome label, the Brother P-Touch Cube and. And it’s still slower than commercial-grade models just like the QL-800 (both Editors’ alternative winners). But, again, comparison the VC-500W to the current and alternative monochrome machines is apples to oranges. My expertise is that the VC-500W is pretty quick for what it will, and therefore the output is definitely worth the wait.
