Epson LabelWorks LW-400 Label Printer Review

What’s In the Box?

Upon opening the LW-400 we found the printer, a use guide, symbols and frames list,  and a sample 12mm, 13ft Black on White tape reel.

The LW-400 is packed neatly and protected by a foam bag, it comes with everything you need to get started except 6 AA batteries. Yes this printer takes SIX batteries. The user’s guide makes mention of an optional AC adapter (APT0615Z1-1) to use in place of the batteries. What is not made clear is if this adapter would charge rechargeable batteries if the unit is using them or if you can use the AC adapter with normal/rechargeable batteries or if damage will occur to the batteries.

Installation and Initial Use:

Installing the batteries was easy enough as was the cartridge. It actually took longer to take the cartridge out of the plastic than to install it. Next we explored the functionality of the unit through the built in LCD and found navigation was easy though we did reference the users guide from time to time. It took me about 10 minutes to get used to navigating the device to where I was ready to begin printing without issues.

My initial reaction to printing was that the LW-400 is a bit slow but still very usable. I really like the ability to remember 50 different designs and its built in set of symbols and frames. Keyboard and function keys are big enough to be easily used without making the unit overly large.  The LW-400 accepts from 1/4 to 3/4″ tape and while I could see the need for larger it is not really within the focus for this product.

Special Formatting:

Barcodes and more:

One area not to be overlooked with the LW-400 is its ability to print barcode labels. Any organization seeking some asset management tracking would do well being able to print their own barcodes for assets. One potential issue I see with this is the ease of removal of the standard labels. While I do not currently have access to the high adhesion labels I hope they are far stronger than standard otherwise asset tracking through this method would be negated. The LW-400 supports the following barcode formats:

• CODE39
• CODE128
• ITF
• CODABAR
• UPC-A
• UPC-E
• EAN-8
• EAN-13

The LW-400 also supports vertical, flag style, wrap around text and more. These special formats are of great use for cabling, index tabs, and in other uses. Additionally for those who aren’t certain if their created label will be right, the LW-400 allows you to preview your label before you print.

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