Brother P-Touch PT-2430 PC Label Maker

The P-touch PT-2430 adds a few small but important conveniences to the lower-end versions of the P-touch line, such as an included AC cord and automatic trimming of the labels. These may not sound so important, but if you plan on making a lot of labels, they'll save a ton of time. And if you do use it a lot, I think it's worth the extra $30 or so (street price is around $79) to get this unit rather than the 1230.

This is the big brother (no pun intended) of the P-touch 1230. Like that labeler, it connects to a PC via USB. A basic graphics-editing program opens automatically, without the need for administrative privileges, allowing basic labels in a variety of sizes and formats to be printed.

The 2430 adds a few nice touches. Rather than having to download the larger software package (which allows a greater variety of labels, such as bar codes, to be printed). It also comes with an AC adaptor so there's no need to search high and low for six batteries. Best of all is that labels are automatically cut to the right size on both ends of the label, unlike the 1230, which requires the user to trim the labels to size. If you've got a few cabinets of labels to print, that's going to save a lot of time.