KE100: HP Compact Thermal Label Printer 100

I bought this printer to replace a 10 year old Dymo 4xl that was having connection issues. I had a little trouble setting it up at first due to some lack luster instructions and a lack of any online trouble shooting support or FAQs. And I am pretty tech savy, so this was just unclear unstructions on their part. But I did wind up figuring it out on my own.

Initially I was impressed with the print quality, speed, and options available, but it quickly became very confusing trying to use different label sizes and shapes. The print drivers seem like your most generic direct thermal printer drivers, and not proprietary to HP at all. In fact to update them, you have to go to Seagull Scientific. This label printer isn't even found anywhere on HP's regular website. You have to go to an "HP Work Solutions" website which hosts some drivers (that aren't even the newest), quickstart guide, and manuals. But that's literally all they have on the site. No trouble shooting other than an LED color guide to decode what the blinking lights on the printer mean, which is made available by being able to download a PDF of the quick start guide that already came in the box with the printer. After that, figuring out what the settings in the very generic thermal print drivers do is up to you. And if you are new to thermal printers, or coming from something like a Dymo that is very user friendly, yet restrictive, good luck! Expect to waste a LOT of labels. Tip: If you do purchase this printer, update the drivers from the Seagul Scientific website. They are newer and solved a few issues I was having.

Don't get me wrong, the HP is better than my old Dymo because you can use non-proprietary label sizes. You COULD use off brand labels in the Dymo, but only if they were the same sizes as what was available to purchase from Dymo. But this is also where one thing made me decide to try another printer instead of the HP. I bought some Munbyn round clear labels, but the printer would not read them at all. It kept thinking the printer was empty. I really wanted to use these labels, but was about to send them back and just make due with white and colored labels. But due to the initial printer confusion and headache, something told me to try the equivalent 300dpi Munbyn printer that's over $100 cheaper first.

And that's why I'm leaving a 2 star review and will be returning this thing. Other than a very small difference in print quality of larger solid black shapes, the print quality on the $100 cheaper Munbyn is pretty similar to the HP, except the Munbyn seems to offer more adjustment for print quality and I can print the clear thermal labels. The setup was quicker because the instructions were clear and didn't skip an important piece of info and the printer was just easier to use right out of the box. While both companies have phone numbers for tech support, for something like a label printer, I shouldn't have to call a support line to get some very basic info. And Munbyn's website also has a whole Help Center for common issues and questions, along with help with print settings, AND an online label editor (which I have not tested as I don't need it). But HP doesn't even have any label software for this thing. The ONLY thing the HP does better is allows for finer adjustment intervals when it comes to aligning your graphic on the labels. The HP allows for 0.25mm intervals, while the Munbyn only allows for 1mm. I was able to bypass this by adjusting the alignment in Illustrator though.

So I'm not sure what you get for that extra $100+. I guess you are paying for the HP name, which dosen't mean much if the printer comes with generic non-HP print drivers, no software, and the experience using the product is barely as good as a lesser known brand. I expected more with HPs name on it, but this thing feels like no one put any thought into it and just slapped their colors and branding on someone else's label printer.

I have 2 other chinese and work fine for labels however I ship things overseas and then I need to print the customs forms. That is where you can tell the difference! With regular chinese printer the quality of the printings is so bad that you cannot read it. With the HP printing quality of the custom forms is great and you can read the forms. Pricey but works fine and I am using on two Windows 11 PCs with no issues, I wish had Ethernet connectivity so I can install farther away from my PC and print from my 2 laptops without the need to plug it. Highly recommended.

After starting my small business I soon began getting a great deal of orders needing shipping. I didn’t want a large label printer since this is still a new small business. This HP label printer had been exactly what I needed! It was very easy to set-up and use. The small size is perfect for my work space. This printer has made running my business so much easier when it comes to shipping orders.

This is a nice HP printer with HP quality. The printer is specifically designed for creating shipping labels. If you do a bunch of selling on eBay, Etsy, or other sites, then you will find this printer extremely handy. The only negative is that you need to use thermal labels, which cost a premium over plain labels. When printing off of a printer that uses toner, you have the expense of the toner, so I’m not really sure which is more cost effective, but it certainly is easier to get plain labels at a local store if you need some in an emergency. Thermals labels aren’t generally available, at least at the stores near me. I have to order thermal labels online, like here on Amazon, and while I can get them the next day in most cases, it is just another point to factor in. HP has always meant quality printers to me. This printer is no different, and carries on the HP tradition.