Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I bought this because I was looking for a low-cost basic labeler to create labels for my manilla office folders. Before buying, I read all the reviews that mentioned tape waste and excessive draining of batteries. I found there is a setting that enables you to control the width of the margins and thereby minimize tape waste. Once this setting was used, the amount of tape wasted was comparable to what I experienced with a Casio labeler I used for years; I did not find it excessive. I noted the warnings about excessive draining of batteries and decided to purchase a Brother power adapter with my Labeler. Unfortunately, the cost of the power adapter was greater than the cost of the labeler itself. Even though the Brother-branded power adapter was more expensive than other available adapters, I bought it because it has a 6 foot cord and I thought it might be safer than off-brand adapters (that latter point might not be accurate but it influenced my decision). Everything is working out fine, however, potential purchasers of this configuration should be aware that when you unplug the Labeler from the adapter, you will lose the settings you have saved in your labeler. For example, if you set up your labels to be created with narrow margins with a specified length of 3.4 inches so that it matches the tabs on 1/3 cut letter-size manilla folders, when you unplug the labeler from the adapter, you will lose those settings since there is no battery power available to maintain those settings. The instructions that accompany the labeler suggest that users who purchase a power adapter to supply power to the labeler when creating labels should also use batteries in order to maintain the storage of label settings between uses. If you follow this suggestion, you will need both an adapter AND batteries, however, I would imagine the batteries will last longer than they would if you used battery power to generate the labels as well as to maintain memory settings. Finally, be aware that being connected to the power adapter does impose a small amount of inconvenience when compared to running entirely under battery power since you are always tethered to a wire and you can't easily carry your labeler to another location. That is a personal decision you will have to make when deciding between using only batteries or using a power adapter when generating labels.