[Nhcoll-l] HONEYWELL, PX940 PRINTER, VERIFIER W/PERPETUAL LIC.

Wed May 25 08:09:05 EDT 2022

Thermal printer update at the New Brunswick  Museum: 
We have just placed an order for a Cab Squix 4 thermal printer and I will post a progress report to the listserve in a  couple of months. Thank you so much for the feedback to date. This listserve is a great resource.

Thanks,
Mary Sollows
________________________________________
From: Rob Robins [rhrobins at flmnh.ufl.edu]
Sent: Tuesday, May 24, 2022 5:27 PM
To: Bentley, Andrew Charles; Katrina Derieg; Watters, Jessa L.; Mary Sollows; nhcoll-l at mailman.yale.edu
Subject: RE: HONEYWELL, PX940 PRINTER, VERIFIER W/PERPETUAL LIC.

I appreciate the negative reviews at least as much as the positives – so thank you, Mary, Jessa, and Katrina.

We are researching printers for barcode printing right now (media too) and this is helpful.

I also echo Andy’s assessment of the datamax line of printers. Solid and reliable synched with your systems and up and running.

Sorry to hear they are hard to obtain at present.

Best,

Rob

Robert H. Robins
Collection Manager
Division of Ichthyology
[FLMNH Fishes logo email small]
Florida Museum
1659 Museum Rd.
Gainesville, FL 32611-7800
Office: (352) 273-1957
rhrobins at flmnh.ufl.edu<mailto:rhrobins at flmnh.ufl.edu>

Search the Collection:
http://specifyportal.flmnh.ufl.edu/fishes/

Search samples suitable for dna analysis:
https://www.floridamuseum.ufl.edu/grr/holdings/

[cid:image002.jpg at 01D86F8B.348C5920]

From: Nhcoll-l <nhcoll-l-bounces at mailman.yale.edu> On Behalf Of Bentley, Andrew Charles
Sent: Tuesday, May 24, 2022 4:17 PM
To: Katrina Derieg <kderieg at nhmu.utah.edu>; Watters, Jessa L. <jwatters at ou.edu>; Mary Sollows <Mary.Sollows at nbm-mnb.ca>; nhcoll-l at mailman.yale.edu
Subject: Re: [Nhcoll-l] HONEYWELL, PX940 PRINTER, VERIFIER W/PERPETUAL LIC.

[External Email]

Katrina

I would not be so quick to write them off so quickly.  We have an old model Datamax that has been a workhorse for us for about 10 years.  Not a day of problems in that time and e have been very happy with the longevity of the labels produced.  I suspect this may be growing pains with new printer models (it did take us some time to find the “sweet spot” for the Datamax to print good quality labels at first) or bad manufacturing on the part of Honeywell and/or GoDEX.  It may also be a bad combination of ribbon and media as his is important for good print quality.  We have also been using the attached ribbon and media supplied by Alpha Systems, who have been the go to for museum solution thermal transfer printer needs.  They have now started supplying and recommending the CAB Squix printers as attached since Datamax went off the market.  Does anyone have any experience with these?  Are they more reliable, easier to set up and operate?

Last resort – see if you can still find a Datamax I-Class Mark II somewhere.  They are really good 😊

Thanks

Andy
    A  :             A  :             A  :
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    V                V                V
Andy Bentley
Ichthyology Collection Manager
University of Kansas
Biodiversity Institute
Dyche Hall
1345 Jayhawk Boulevard
Lawrence, KS, 66045-7561
USA

Tel: (785) 864-3863
Fax: (785) 864-5335
Email: abentley at ku.edu<mailto:abentley at ku.edu>
ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3093-1258<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__orcid.org_0000-2D0002-2D3093-2D1258&d=DwMGaQ&c=sJ6xIWYx-zLMB3EPkvcnVg&r=MCIx6IevDpZN7oPx8SAIb6_HvqHJFo2if2SZHHR4kiQ&m=sTy-G_CVxQngMqv9WkYc4pmzS6nFX5nbNhUYYxQVK0v5suODUUJNO0cgjlaGsFpC&s=MkNZm2P7-XfuepHZMPiFfNlhoy_rbzLa3SBG-VFUzxo&e=>
http://ichthyology.biodiversity.ku.edu<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__ichthyology.biodiversity.ku.edu_&d=DwMGaQ&c=sJ6xIWYx-zLMB3EPkvcnVg&r=MCIx6IevDpZN7oPx8SAIb6_HvqHJFo2if2SZHHR4kiQ&m=sTy-G_CVxQngMqv9WkYc4pmzS6nFX5nbNhUYYxQVK0v5suODUUJNO0cgjlaGsFpC&s=j2rK7vyxp8cSoveil2BmhQmN-tj7vMEkd4t1nFaOzHs&e=>
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From: Nhcoll-l <nhcoll-l-bounces at mailman.yale.edu<mailto:nhcoll-l-bounces at mailman.yale.edu>> On Behalf Of Katrina Derieg
Sent: Tuesday, May 24, 2022 3:03 PM
To: Watters, Jessa L. <jwatters at ou.edu<mailto:jwatters at ou.edu>>; Mary Sollows <Mary.Sollows at nbm-mnb.ca<mailto:Mary.Sollows at nbm-mnb.ca>>; nhcoll-l at mailman.yale.edu<mailto:nhcoll-l at mailman.yale.edu>
Subject: Re: [Nhcoll-l] HONEYWELL, PX940 PRINTER, VERIFIER W/PERPETUAL LIC.

I also was unable to buy a Datamax, but we ended up with a GoDEX ZX430i: https://www.godexprinters.co.uk/industrial/zx430i<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__nam10.safelinks.protection.outlook.com_-3Furl-3Dhttps-253A-252F-252Fwww.godexprinters.co.uk-252Findustrial-252Fzx430i-26data-3D05-257C01-257Cabentley-2540ku.edu-257C58b94bf4f90a423be79b08da3dc08423-257C3c176536afe643f5b96636feabbe3c1a-257C0-257C0-257C637890195649026577-257CUnknown-257CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0-253D-257C3000-257C-257C-257C-26sdata-3Dn5zXotcV0rkgDgDxlaM51a-252BPfDUxgin7wEozh7p1n6c-253D-26reserved-3D0&d=DwMGaQ&c=sJ6xIWYx-zLMB3EPkvcnVg&r=MCIx6IevDpZN7oPx8SAIb6_HvqHJFo2if2SZHHR4kiQ&m=sTy-G_CVxQngMqv9WkYc4pmzS6nFX5nbNhUYYxQVK0v5suODUUJNO0cgjlaGsFpC&s=UHMIdPp78Mn7XzwviBVqGBL1V_o6cKjMeEb9Y01gs3I&e=>
Pros:

  *   Much cheaper than the Honeywell printers, even with the cutter (which cost almost as much as the printer itself)
  *   Prints tiny characters very clearly
  *   Connecting and setting up drivers was easy
Cons: an absolute pain in the neck to use in almost every way.

Not once have I printed a label successfully on the first try. I have to hand feed the label paper (we use Tyvek Brillion) every time I print or else the rollers won’t grab it. I don’t recommend using this medium; it curls on the edges after some time in ethanol. Frequently, the cutter will cut the label before it finished printing it, and then will print the second half of the label and then claim that it is jammed (when it isn’t). I have wasted so much of that pricy Tyvek paper. When I turn the printer off, half of the settings aren’t saved, so I just have to leave the printer on all the time unless I want to spend 30 minutes figuring out what all the settings were before.

I really identify with the statement: “I just spent ~1 hr last week printing 10 labels…” because this is usually what happens to me too. I have been putting off labeling jars because it is so frustrating to print labels.

I’m becoming increasingly convinced that thermal printers are not the way to go. Seems like everyone has horror stories, regardless of the brand.

Best of luck to you!

Katrina Derieg
Vertebrate Zoology Collections Manager
Natural History Museum of Utah (UMNH)
301 Wakara Way
Salt Lake City, Utah 84108
Email: kderieg at nhmu.utah.edu<mailto:kderieg at nhmu.utah.edu>
Mobile: (801) 707-4819 | Office: (801) 587-5787
she/her

From: Nhcoll-l <nhcoll-l-bounces at mailman.yale.edu<mailto:nhcoll-l-bounces at mailman.yale.edu>> On Behalf Of Watters, Jessa L.
Sent: Tuesday, May 24, 2022 1:22 PM
To: Mary Sollows <Mary.Sollows at nbm-mnb.ca<mailto:Mary.Sollows at nbm-mnb.ca>>; nhcoll-l at mailman.yale.edu<mailto:nhcoll-l at mailman.yale.edu>
Subject: Re: [Nhcoll-l] HONEYWELL, PX940 PRINTER, VERIFIER W/PERPETUAL LIC.

We bought the following machine last Fall: Honeywell PX940
https://www.cdwg.com/product/honeywell-px940-3-core-300-dpi-thermal-industrial-printer/5712690?pfm=srh<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__nam10.safelinks.protection.outlook.com_-3Furl-3Dhttps-253A-252F-252Fwww.cdwg.com-252Fproduct-252Fhoneywell-2Dpx940-2D3-2Dcore-2D300-2Ddpi-2Dthermal-2Dindustrial-2Dprinter-252F5712690-253Fpfm-253Dsrh-26data-3D05-257C01-257Cabentley-2540ku.edu-257C58b94bf4f90a423be79b08da3dc08423-257C3c176536afe643f5b96636feabbe3c1a-257C0-257C0-257C637890195649026577-257CUnknown-257CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0-253D-257C3000-257C-257C-257C-26sdata-3Dm5t0ehml6bj07HBfDvkrEp-252FKcF-252FwJ16bKcy-252FbDwATNU-253D-26reserved-3D0&d=DwMGaQ&c=sJ6xIWYx-zLMB3EPkvcnVg&r=MCIx6IevDpZN7oPx8SAIb6_HvqHJFo2if2SZHHR4kiQ&m=sTy-G_CVxQngMqv9WkYc4pmzS6nFX5nbNhUYYxQVK0v5suODUUJNO0cgjlaGsFpC&s=ooggR5PKsaUxr4ndi0Yo7pcXXPqjB1KCkti_zHupar8&e=>

It has been a total disaster and we all feel like we wasted a few thousand dollars. Details are as follows:

  1.  Connecting it to a device was harder than it should have been (our in-house IT could not do it without Honeywell customer service help).
  2.  It prints very faintly. We have it turned up to maximum density and it is just barely at the darkness our old Datamax was on a regular setting (and we have been informed by Honeywell that printing at darkest setting with cause it to die out faster…)
  3.  It doesn’t seem to recognize the media we already had (supposedly “standard” and can fit any thermal printer). This results in us having to open and shut the print head before every label, just to trick it into recognizing there is media present. It also ejects/feeds about 4-5 labels worth of media after each label.
  4.  There is no built-in cutter to cut your labels for you (not sure if that is just a model issue or none of these Honeywell ones have it; the company seemed confused by this concept)
  5.  We use FileMaker as our specimen database and our presets on labels there print ok, but the ones in Excel do not (and we basically have to do weird re-formatting things in Excel every time we create a new label)

We have tried a new printhead, thinking it would fix the faintness issue (#2), but it did not. We also requested the “official” Honeywell media sample thinking maybe it would start to recognize it (perhaps fixing multiple issues in #3). They have not sent the media yet (requested over a month ago), so I assume we will have to eventually break down and just buy it ourselves, hoping it fixes the problem. See attached specs from the company.

In the meantime, as an example, I just spent ~1 hr last week printing 10 labels…

Jessa

___________________________________________________
Jessa Watters, M.S.
Collection Manager, Herpetology
Sam Noble Museum
2401 Chautauqua Ave.
Norman, OK 73072
jwatters at ou.edu<mailto:jwatters at ou.edu>
https://jessawatters.weebly.com/<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__nam10.safelinks.protection.outlook.com_-3Furl-3Dhttps-253A-252F-252Fjessawatters.weebly.com-252F-26data-3D05-257C01-257Cabentley-2540ku.edu-257C58b94bf4f90a423be79b08da3dc08423-257C3c176536afe643f5b96636feabbe3c1a-257C0-257C0-257C637890195649026577-257CUnknown-257CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0-253D-257C3000-257C-257C-257C-26sdata-3DQZEIqmq-252BjYFdx75jEL1lN2Y5yiuocS4UWxEy55kz5kA-253D-26reserved-3D0&d=DwMGaQ&c=sJ6xIWYx-zLMB3EPkvcnVg&r=MCIx6IevDpZN7oPx8SAIb6_HvqHJFo2if2SZHHR4kiQ&m=sTy-G_CVxQngMqv9WkYc4pmzS6nFX5nbNhUYYxQVK0v5suODUUJNO0cgjlaGsFpC&s=ZGxAdS1zCY9G4GVlloPayBPS5ZRjpoIHd_7zN_0DKA8&e=>
405-325-7771 (phone)
405-325-7699 (fax)
https://samnoblemuseum.ou.edu/collections-and-research/herpetology/<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__nam10.safelinks.protection.outlook.com_-3Furl-3Dhttps-253A-252F-252Fsamnoblemuseum.ou.edu-252Fcollections-2Dand-2Dresearch-252Fherpetology-252F-26data-3D05-257C01-257Cabentley-2540ku.edu-257C58b94bf4f90a423be79b08da3dc08423-257C3c176536afe643f5b96636feabbe3c1a-257C0-257C0-257C637890195649026577-257CUnknown-257CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0-253D-257C3000-257C-257C-257C-26sdata-3DYuy8rqj8YWURhcSy8mm5Lx2-252BiNlkBxbwJ05OOloRvV8-253D-26reserved-3D0&d=DwMGaQ&c=sJ6xIWYx-zLMB3EPkvcnVg&r=MCIx6IevDpZN7oPx8SAIb6_HvqHJFo2if2SZHHR4kiQ&m=sTy-G_CVxQngMqv9WkYc4pmzS6nFX5nbNhUYYxQVK0v5suODUUJNO0cgjlaGsFpC&s=pZI1O-904P1ZK9sizqvBZ3uFfQ7xzSnMLj-4CkL-Q0g&e=>
pronouns: she, her, hers

From: Nhcoll-l <nhcoll-l-bounces at mailman.yale.edu<mailto:nhcoll-l-bounces at mailman.yale.edu>> on behalf of Mary Sollows <Mary.Sollows at nbm-mnb.ca<mailto:Mary.Sollows at nbm-mnb.ca>>
Date: Wednesday, May 18, 2022 at 6:55 AM
To: nhcoll-l at mailman.yale.edu<mailto:nhcoll-l at mailman.yale.edu> <nhcoll-l at mailman.yale.edu<mailto:nhcoll-l at mailman.yale.edu>>
Subject: [Nhcoll-l] HONEYWELL, PX940 PRINTER, VERIFIER W/PERPETUAL LIC.
Hello,

I would like to know if anyone has experience using the following thermal label printer for collections stored in ethanol:  HONEYWELL, PX940 PRINTER, VERIFIER W/PERPETUAL LIC., FULL TOUCH DISPLAY, UNIVERSAL FW, ETH, USB, SERIAL, LOW POWER BLUETOOTH, RIBBON INK IN/OUT, MEDIA CORE 3 INCH, DT AND TT, 300 DPI, US POWER CORD.

Our efforts to purchase a Datamax or CAB/Squix were unsuccessful last year because of supply issues so we purchased a Honeywell option.  We returned it to Honeywell in January because it was defective and we have now been offered the option to replace it with a slightly different model, the HONEYWELL, PX940 PRINTER, VERIFIER W/PERPETUAL LIC.

I am also curious if anyone knows of a museum service available to have thermal labels printed by an external organization using the appropriate media and SDR ribbon?  I don’t want to run the risk of “Alphabet soup” in the jars of ethanol caused but incorrect ribbon. We need to deal with a large backlog of labels to be printed that have been accumulating over the past 2 years.  As always, I really appreciate your advice.

Best regards,

Mary Sollows
Invertebrate Zoology
Department of Natural History / Département d’histoire naturelle
New Brunswick Museum / Musée du Nouveau-Brunswick
277 Douglas Ave.
Saint John, New Brunswick
Canada  E2K 1E5

Mary.Sollows at nbm-mnb.ca<mailto:Mary.Sollows at nbm-mnb.ca>
tel: (506) 643-2365
fax: (506) 643-2360 t was defectivt

http://www.nbm-mnb.ca/<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__nam10.safelinks.protection.outlook.com_-3Furl-3Dhttps-253A-252F-252Furldefense.com-252Fv3-252F-5F-5Fhttp-253A-252Fwww.nbm-2Dmnb.ca-252F-5F-5F-253B-21-21GNU8KkXDZlD12Q-2156lbnZS1-5FfoWfdh4wFFp1XbQkvZdItQGWx5EXTsbPhqk0anZvrN-2Dh7tLM6Tg7xB1Z-5FPgAMJR9rsNcZULXkyQmt2dGw-2524-26data-3D05-257C01-257Cabentley-2540ku.edu-257C58b94bf4f90a423be79b08da3dc08423-257C3c176536afe643f5b96636feabbe3c1a-257C0-257C0-257C637890195649182837-257CUnknown-257CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0-253D-257C3000-257C-257C-257C-26sdata-3DBxof5WU5JmNiTHYg-252FgABL-252Bfb6Z3Q6XBi8chhYDNUjAI-253D-26reserved-3D0&d=DwMGaQ&c=sJ6xIWYx-zLMB3EPkvcnVg&r=MCIx6IevDpZN7oPx8SAIb6_HvqHJFo2if2SZHHR4kiQ&m=sTy-G_CVxQngMqv9WkYc4pmzS6nFX5nbNhUYYxQVK0v5suODUUJNO0cgjlaGsFpC&s=BP10cHXc77r2pubG9YjLU8XLQoGXxSzUT_GX4AzG_bY&e=>

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