By Bob Gatton
If you ever work with anything involving any kind of wire or cable, I'm about to make your life a lot easier. At a recent trade show I stopped by the booth for Dymo, a company long known for its quality label makers for the home and office. They recently introduced label machines for the builder, and they were demonstrating one: the RhinoPro 5000 (suggested retail $149.95). I had to get my hands on it—and am I glad I did. You will be, too.
This affordable and versatile labeling machine will help you organize like never before. It is perfect for identifying circuit breakers, wire and cable networking, home automation, communication, entertainment, HVAC and security systems. When it comes to labeling cables, wires, patch panels or almost anything on your worksite—quickly and professionally—this is the best portable labeler I have come across.
With labels as wide as 3/4 inches and an astonishing print speed of 1/2 inch per second, you'll be able to work fast and efficiently. Inside its tough rubber bumper, the RhinoPRO 5000 prints on plastic coated tapes in a variety of different colors and styles. The "hot keys" automatically format labels for wires and cables, terminal blocks and patch panels. The labeler has a large backlit display and many other carefully designed features that help you zip your way through label-intense installations and leave a great impression behind.
Features
- Label compatibility: Handles RhinoPro labels: flexible nylon, permanent polyester white/metallized, clear polyester and colored vinyl.
- "Hot keys" provide automatic label formatting for wires and cables, terminal blocks, patch panels, vertical and fixed length labeling.
- "Symbol keys" make it simple to add the most commonly used symbols (ohm, ground, data, phone, fax) to labels. Many other symbols are also available.
- The large backlit display includes a battery life indicator.
- Advanced wire gauge function. Simply select wire gauge or cable size and RhinoPro sets up the label just right. Prints up to 12 characters across a 3/4" tape.
- Underlines 6's and 9's automatically for wire and cable marking.
- Smear-proof thermal printing resists solvents, heat and moisture.
- Prints horizontally and vertically.
- Stores up to 10 labels in memory for fast recall.
- Prints five text sizes.
- Includes impact-resistant rubber bumper.
- An automatic shutoff saves battery life
- The bright yellow color means this tool won't get lost.
- And it fits in the palm of your hand.
Specifications
- Label width: up to 3/4" (19 mm)
- Print speed: 0.5" per second
- Recommended volume per day: <100 labels
- Battery requirements: 6 AA batteries (not included)
Additional Accessories
- RhinoPro 5000 Hard Carry Case which retails at $29.99
- RhinoPro 5000 AC Adapter which retails at $24.99
And for those of you who aren’t ready for the RhinoPro 5000, there is also a RhinoPro 3000. It has fewer bells and whistles but will still make any project a breeze to organize.
Bob Gatton is a Knoxville, Tenn.-based home-theater and -electronics consultant and writer.
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