I have used many different brand/model hand held "field use" labelers and i have used the brother ptouch 9500. Both have their pros and cons. The hand helds dont require a PC to use them and the 9500 lets me use my keyboard to type up labels.

There are "hybrid" products out there that let you use software to type up labels at your PC or you can go wireless and manually enter in labels with the on board keypad.

What have you used? What would you get? Whats the best? etc.

Thanks

Honestly, I use both.
Brother 7600 in the field and a 2340 for my laptop.
The 7600 is PC compatible, but it's manual cut so the 2340 works better for bulk labels.
The 7600 is PC only, but they use the same Ptouch software for Mac and PC, I don't know why they don't offer an OSX print driver for the 7600, the 2340 works on with Mac.
Both can be battery powered so I sometimes bring the 2340 into a data closet and use it for bulk trimout in place of the 7600.
They use the same labels, so swapping carts in no problem and the brother carts have much more label material than the Rhino. (About 2x)
Better print quality than the Rhino, especially for icons or other graphics.

I can personally recommend the rhinopro labellers.

See:- [Link: uk.rs-online.com]

Does vinyl, polyester and heatshink tube in various colours. Comes with a software package which lets you write all the labels out and then bulk print them.

AND this one will let you put in your company logo too.

Really robust, had mine for 2 years and it still looks new.

Here's what I use. Love it. The PC software is great, and I can use my company font on everything. Labels are easy to find.

[Link: global.dymo.com]

I use the same one.

Curious, who's got the most cost effective labels? They all seem pretty expensive to me.

Ask ADI for a better than standard price, they'll discount it.
Also WorthDist had them for less than ADI last time I checked, but it's been a while.
I normally buy the 10-25 packs that come with a labeler. That's how I ened up with so many NIB.

Check the post on IP. Someone tried Brother (I think) a while ago and said that labels were cheaper, more of them, in more colors and that held up just as good as Rhino

I have that one as well.

I like the unit but the "permanent" labels aren't, at least when wrapped around cable. I've tried the vinyl and polyester - neither stuck as well as I would have liked.

YMMV