Whether your friends and co-workers already think of you as the most organized person they know, or you've just always wished you could get organized, you'll want to take a look at the DYMO LabelManager PnP ($60 street). Like DYMO's other LabelManager models, the PnP prints on what you probably think of as plastic labels, although the actual material can vary. The labels themselves are rugged and waterproof, making them appropriate for indoor or outdoor use. Some are also slightly stretchable, making them a good fit for curved surfaces like cables, where stretchable tape works best.

Most of the printers that handle this kind of label are self-contained units that don't connect to a PC and typically include their own mini keyboards. The LabelManager PnP is one of the relative few—along with the Brother PT-2430PC ($80 street, 3.5 stars) and DYMO's own LabelManager 420P ($110 street, 4 stars) that gives you the convenience of letting you create the label using a PC instead. It's also one of the easiest to use.

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The basics
The printer measures 5.6 by 5.3 by 2.1 inches (HWD), and it weighs just 11.3 ounces. Initial setup consists of snapping in the tape cartridge and rechargeable battery that it comes with and then plugging in the supplied USB cable. The software is stored in the printer itself, which looks like a USB drive to Windows or Mac OS X 10.5 or above. When I tested it on a Windows Vista system, an AutoPlay window opened as promised, asking if I wanted to run the program.

The small size and built-in software make it easy to move the PnP from one computer to another if you like. Once it's been set up the first time, setting up on other systems consists entirely of plugging in the USB cable and letting the program run. A particularly nice touch is that because the batteries recharge over the USB cable, there's no power adapter to deal with and no need to worry about recharging.

Printing
The program stored in the printer is straightforward enough so you can print labels with little to no learning curve. You can also download a more full-featured version from DYMO's Web site.

Printing is as simple as creating the label in the program, giving the print command, waiting for the label to finish, and then pushing a button for the built-in cutter. Print time varies with the length of the label, which in turn varies with how much there is to print. Printing a roughly 2-inch label with the text, This is a test took 4 seconds. Printing a 3.5-inch label with the text, PCMag: Printer Speed Test took 6.5 seconds.

The closest the PnP comes to having a drawback is the relatively small number of choices for tape, with only 25 tape cartridges to choose from in only three widths—0.25 inches, 0.375 inches, and 0.5 inches. However, even 25 cartridges is enough to offer a reasonable assortment of color combinations and choice of materials, including a flexible fabric for curved surfaces like cables. Direct prices range from $18.80 to $26.20 per roll, with most rolls offering a tape length of 23 feet.

If you need to print on wider tape, you'll want to take a look the Brother PT-2430PC or the DYMO LabelManager 420P, both of which can accept wider tape rolls. And if you want the option to print with or without a PC as needed, the 420P is the obvious choice. But if you have no reason to print on tape wider than half an inch and don't need a printer that can work without a PC, the LabelManager PnP offers an impressively elegant design. It won't take up much space on your desk, doesn't need a power cord, and is easy to use. The combination makes it an Editors' Choice, ready to print from any handy PC you care to plug it into.

COMPARISON TABLE
Compare the DYMO LabelManager PnP with several other printers side by side.

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