ID Pal

[Tinker]

A while back, somebody mentioned having problems with labeling systainers & sortainers.  Somebody, I'm sorry to say I don't recall who, mentioned the Brady ID Pal.  He indicated satisfaction.  I have been reorganizing my shop and trying to put more small items into organized drawers.  I have several sortainers with all of those neat drawers.  Unfortunately, every drawer looks the same (3 differnt sizes) and i tried filling out those little tags that come with them.  WHAT A MESS.  My handwriting is the second worst in the world. (there has to be atleast one person in the world who writes worse than I do)  I could hardly read any of the labels.  And they were such a pain to slip into those little plastic "envelopes" and then fit the envelopes into those slim little grooves.  A major PITA.

I searched around and located a store that handles the ID Pal.  It was not in stock, but they sent for one.  Who ever made mention of the Brady ID Pal, i want him to know how much I appreciate his mention.  I now have stickers all over my shop.  stickers i can read!  Stickers I can read from other side of the shop!  no more searching for just the right drawer that was a mystry, even with a tag on it.  i just type out a sticker, cut it free, peel from the backing and slap it onto the systainer/sortainer/shelf/drawer, whatever.  i have stickers all over the place.  a mess ??? But a wonderful mess ;D

Thanks again

Tinker

 

[Daviddubya]

Tinker raised my curiosity.  If you Google Brady ID Pal you will get lots of hits.  Here is the Brady ID Pal on Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/Brady-Thermal...d_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=hi&qid=1202651701&sr=8-1

 

[Dan Clark]

Tinker,

Regarding who mentioned the ID Pal, I think that would be me.  And yes, there's someone whose handwriting is the worst in the world.  That would be me too.  ;D

It's great to hear that you are happy with yours.  Another nice feature is that Brady has their labels come in multiple sizes and materials.  It's great for wiring ID too.  (Much easier than writing codes on masking tape!)

Dan.

 

[Corwin]

Dan's review/post of this also prompted me to shop for a label maker.  I couldn't justify the $90 or so for the nice unit, but chose a much lower priced version.  While I am sure the more expensive unit is better for many, the $30 unit does work well enough for labeling my Sortainer drawers.  Thanks Dan for bringing up the subject! 

Oh, and being tax preparation time and all, my file folder labels are now much better looking.  Sweet!

 

[Tinker]

Dan's review/post of this also prompted me to shop for a label maker.  I couldn't justify the $90 or so for the nice unit, but chose a much lower priced version.  While I am sure the more expensive unit is better for many, the $30 unit does work well enough for labeling my Sortainer drawers.  Thanks Dan for bringing up the subject! 

Oh, and being tax preparation time and all, my file folder labels are now much better looking.  Sweet!

not that it will do me any good now, what is this $30 unit you mention?
Tinker

 

[tvgordon]

I bought a Brother label maker many years ago and have been happy with it.  Labeled what's in each tool box drawer and what's in all the tool boxes I have.  One nice thing about this one is most office supply stores sell the refills - no need to mail order. 

Tom.

 

[Dan Clark]

Local availability was what prompted me to buy the Brady ID Pal.  I got it at Homers for $10 LESS than the Amazon price:http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/wcs...angId=-1&catalogId=10053&productId=100373831.  They had a decent supply of cloth and vinyl labels in several sizes.

About two-three weeks ago, I found that the text started getting a little dim on some labels.  I thought the labels were messed up.  It turns out that the text quality goes down when the batteries are getting low.  For me, that's a small issue.  And, if I it gets to be too much of a hassle, I can buy an AC power supply for $35 at Homers.  A little pricey, but not bad. 

Overall, I'm very happy with it.

Dan.

 

[Ned]

I bought a Brother label maker many years ago and have been happy with it.  Labeled what's in each tool box drawer and what's in all the tool boxes I have.  One nice thing about this one is most office supply stores sell the refills - no need to mail order. 

I'm happy with my Brother too.  It's true that you can get the common TZ tapes at any office supply store, but there's a huge variety at Brother Mall, the manufacturer.  There's a super adhesive 3/4 tape that works well on Systainers; I had trouble with ordinary labels popping off even though I cleaned the Systainer.

You can get rebuilt Brother machines on the website, too.

My PT-350 does not do wire and cable labeling.  If I had to replace it, I'd look for that capability.

Ned

 

[Dan Clark]

The ID Pal does wire and cable labeling.  It wasn't the key reason I got it and I've only used a few times, but it works well.

Dan.

 

[Corwin]

not that it will do me any good now, what is this $30 unit you mention?
Tinker

Hey Tinker, the label maker I purchased was a Brother P-Touch.  Their website is engraved into the back of the unit -- www.P-touch.com.  Found it at Home Depot for $30, but they had 4 or 5 that ranged from $20 to $90.  I think mine uses 3/8" and 1/2" labels.  Not the best unit, but it does the job nice enough.

 

[Eli]

I think that's the one I have. Works great.