TM-C3500 vs CW-C6000A

TM-C3500 vs CW-C6000A – Which Epson Printer is Best for your Business?

If you’re in the market for a color label printer, you may be wondering why you should consider owning one. Let’s take a look at some of the benefits.

The Ability to Print on Demand

Being able to print on demand is very important. Instead of having to waste time with order minimums, you can now print as soon as the order is made. The saying goes “Time is money” The more time you save, the more money you save.

Don’t need to order minimums from 3rd party printing companies

Having to deal with third-party printing companies can be frustrating. Getting charged to use their services is bad enough, but to make matters worse, they aren’t always reliable. Removing yourself and the company away from these 3rd party printing companies will save you from a lot of unnecessary stress.

Lower Printing Cost

As a business, the main goal is to make more money while using less. This leads to an increase in profits which makes everyone happy.  By having a lower printing cost, companies will be able to save hundreds, even thousands of dollars creating labels. But, if you want to save money, you need to find a reliable printer. Here are two great options for you to look into.

Two of the Most Popular Epson ColorWorks Printers – TM-C3500 and CW-C6000A

When it comes to some of the most popular Epson color label printers, the names Epson TM-C3500 and the Epson CW-C6000A often show up. Both are great, but one may suit your needs better than the other. To help you decide which is best for you, here are some specs and general information about both printers.

ColorWorks TM-C3500 

If you need a device that can create quality labels but don’t need them in high quantity, this is a great option. The C3500 was designed as an low-volume color label printer which makes it great for smaller businesses. Obviously, low-volume is a vague term. What one company considers low-volume can be completely different from another company. To provide more information and clear up any confusion, low-volume with this printer refers to under 10,000 labels per month.

Four Colors and Individual Ink Cartridges

The inkjet printers system provides up to four colors of pigment ink (Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, and Black). To help save you money, the individual cartridges that the colors come in will only refill the missing color. By doing this, the printer will avoid wasting ink and in return, it will save you on the overall label costs.

Larger Label Rolls Can Be Fed Through the Back with a Label Holder

On top of that, this printer can print from a roll-fed, fanfold, die-cut, continuous label roll. It’s also compatible with Inkjet Label Rolls up to 4” in diameter as well as the ability to print up to 4.25” wide. Since it can print up to 4” per second, this means that you will get up to 20 feet of labels per minute.

720 x 360 Resolution

While the standard resolution is 720 x 360 dpi (dots per inch), you have the option of changing the resolution to 360 x 360 dpi. Lowering resolution allows the printer to print at a faster rate. This can be great if you are short on time.

Built-in Auto Cutter 

Efficiency is key when making labels. Being more efficient means being more productive. Even some of the best workers can’t produce labels at the same rate as a machine. With a built-in auto-cutter, labels will be created in a quick manner while making few to no mistakes. With fewer mistakes, wasting products won’t be as costly to the business. The auto-cutter also allows you to cut custom-sized labels using continuous label rolls instead of ordering custom label sizes.

Certified to print BS5609 Labels

Being BS5609 certified is one of the most important features when looking for a printer to print chemical labels. When a printer is BS5609 certified, it means that it can print approved BS5609 labels. Labels with a BS5609 certification are usually used by chemical manufacturers with labels that are used on hazardous chemical containers transported by sea.

ColorWorks CW-C6000A

Epson has dubbed this printer as “The first printer specifically designed as a color upgrade to black-and-white thermal printers” and “Engineered for mission-critical applications.” If something is going to be labeled as such, you would imagine that it comes with a decent number of features. Let’s take a look at everything that’s offered.

1200 dpi resolution

With the inclusion of a 1200 dpi resolution, you will get extremely clear images. Not only that, but the droplets come in various sizes. This helps you get a very detailed looking image. And of course, you can change the resolution of this printer as well to speed up the process.

Built-in Auto-Cutter

The addition of an auto-cutter lets the printer meet the high demand applications you need from it. The cutter is 4” and covers all of the label sizes. Creating variable-length labels is now a possibility that makes separating the labels a much easier task.

Prints up to 5” Per Second

Most people can agree that having to constantly pre-print wastes valuable time and is downright tiresome to deal with. Luckily, that is no longer an issue because now you can print up to 5” per second with the CW-C6000A.

Uses individual ink cartridges 

As with the TM-C3500, this is a pigment printer that uses individual ink cartridges and uses the same four colors (Yellow, Black, Magenta, and Cyan).

Compatible with 3” Core Inkjet Label Rolls up to 6” in outer diameter

Having too many restrictions makes work much harder than it needs to be. By being compatible with 3” Core Inkjet Label rolls up to 6” in diameter, you will find the even the most tedious task to be less of a nuisance.

Certified to print BS5609 Labels

Not every printer is protected from accident-prone environments, but this one is. Even if someone does find a way to cause damage, the printer comes with a one-year warranty to help keep you covered.                 

TM-C3500 vs CW-C6000A Ink Cost Per Label

In the example above is a 4″ x 4″ Sample soup label with low ink coverage. With the Epson TM-C3500 the ink costs out to about $0.024 per label, while the CW-C6000A ink costs to approximately $0.018 per label.

It should be noted that the ink cost per label is different between the two models. The CW-C6000A is the cheaper option and has a price of $0.018/label.

The TM-C3500 is slightly more expensive at $0.024/label. This is one of the reasons why this model is best to use if only a low volume of labels is needed.

Summary

To wrap things up, let’s take a look at the similarities between the two.

  • Built-in auto-cutter
  • BS5609 Certified
  • Pigment Color Label Printer
  • Individual ink cartridges

Despite the similarities, you have to choose the right one if you want to receive the full benefits each one offers.

They are both great, but they were made for different situations. If you are going to be printing over 10,000 labels a month, it’s recommended to go with the Epson CW-C6000A. For a limited time, order the CW-C6000A from LabelBasic and get $250 in free label credits with your purchase.

If your business won’t be printing less than 10,000 labels the Epson TM-C3500 would be the better option. Purchase the Epson ColorWorks TM-C3500 from LabelBasic and get $200 in free label credits with your purchase.