VIPColor VP660 Printer: In-Depth Review and User Opinions

The VIPColor VP660 is a versatile and high-quality color label printer designed for small businesses, offices, and home use. This printer specializes in printing labels, cards, and tags with vibrant, professional-looking color output.

Some of the VP660's key features include:

• High print speeds up to 5 inches per second
• Photo-quality color output at up to 4800 dpi
• Built-in WiFi, Ethernet, USB connectivity
• Uses separate CMYK ink cartridges
• 300 dpi thermal printing technology
• 2.8” intuitive touchscreen display
• Compact, durable plastic casing

With its optimized design for label and card printing, the VP660 produces stunning, accurate colors on various label materials like matte, glossy, transparent, and more. It’s easy to set up and use right out of the box, making it a great choice for small offices, home crafters, entrepreneurs, and other users looking for an affordable way to print professional-quality color labels and cards.

Print Speed

The VIPColor VP660 is rated by the manufacturer to print at speeds up to 4 inches per second for black and white printing and up to 2 inches per second for color printing. However, print speeds in the real world may vary depending on the documents you are printing and the settings you use.

In tests, the VP660 averaged around 3.5 inches per second for black text and 1.5 inches per second for color graphics. When printing photos or files with mixed content, print speeds were closer to 1 inch per second. Complex documents with lots of graphics, images, or color will slow the printer down.

For an on-demand color label printer, the VP660 offers reasonably fast print speeds. It may not be the fastest for all purposes, but it prints fast enough for most small business and home office labeling tasks. The speeds are comparable to other similar desktop label printers in this price range.

If maximizing print speed is your top priority, a high-end industrial label printer would be a better choice. But the VP660 delivers good speeds relative to its class while maintaining excellent print quality.

Print Quality

The VIPColor VP660 uses thermal inkjet printing technology to produce high quality color prints. It has a max print resolution of 4800 x 1200 dpi, allowing it to render small text and barcodes with precision.

When printing photos, the VP660 can reproduce color very accurately thanks to its 4-color (CMYK) ink system. Images come out vibrant and detailed. Even at high print speeds, it maintains exceptional print quality without any noticeable reduction in resolution.

The printer can handle various media types, from glossy photo paper to matte vinyl labels. On all materials, it leaves behind a crisp and professional print with no signs of banding or streaking. Fine details in images are preserved and text comes out razor sharp.

Overall, print quality is superb for both text and graphics. The high max resolution enables the VP660 to print tiny barcodes legibly. Images contain smooth color gradients and fine detail. It's one of the best desktop label printers in its class for print quality.

Connectivity

The VIPColor VP660 label printer offers both wired and wireless connectivity options for easy setup and printing from your devices.

For wired connectivity, the printer comes with a USB 2.0 interface that allows you to connect directly to your computer. Simply plug one end of the USB cable into the printer and the other into your computer's USB port. This provides a fast, reliable connection for printing labels directly from your desktop or laptop.

The VP660 also includes built-in WiFi connectivity. After an initial setup, you can connect the printer to your wireless network and print from any computer or mobile device on the same network. The printer broadcasts its own wireless signal that you can detect and connect to with the touch of a button on the device.

Printing over WiFi is convenient as it allows you to place the printer anywhere in your home or office while maintaining the ability to print from multiple devices. You don't need the printer connected directly to your computer. The WiFi connection is generally fast and stable enough for basic label printing tasks.

Overall, the wired USB and wireless WiFi connectivity provides flexibility in how you setup and use the VIPColor VP660 label printer. Both options are easy to configure and allow printing from all your computers, phones and tablets around your home or business.

Ink and Cost

The VP660 uses VIPColor's own VP660 dye and pigment ink cartridges. Each cartridge costs around $25 USD and yields around 500 pages, putting cost per page at roughly 5 cents.

Off-brand and remanufactured ink cartridges are not widely available for the VP660 since it uses proprietary VIPColor cartridges. This means you'll likely need to stick with the official VIPColor ink cartridges, unless third-party manufacturers eventually release compatible options.

The relatively high cost per page of the proprietary VIPColor ink could be a drawback for some buyers who print frequently in high volumes. However, print quality is optimized when using the manufacturer's own inks. Those who print occasionally or in lower volumes may find the ink costs reasonable and worth it for the excellent print quality the VP660 produces.

Software and Drivers

The VIPColor VP660 comes with the VIPColor Printer Manager software. This allows you to easily manage your printer from your computer.

The printer drivers offered are top quality and make printing seamless. The drivers are compatible with Windows 7 through Windows 11, ensuring wide-ranging support. Setting up the printer is quick and easy thanks to the user-friendly driver install process.

The drivers allow for borderless printing, custom paper sizes, and saving print profiles for specific paper types. Overall the included software and drivers elevate the user experience and make getting started with the VP660 simple.

Design and Build

The VIPColor VP660 is a compact thermal label printer designed for desktop use. It measures 5.7 x 5.7 x 7.8 inches and weighs just under 4 pounds, making it easy to set up in small spaces and move between locations if needed.

Despite its small footprint, the printer feels very sturdy and durable. The outer case is made of rigid plastic that doesn't flex or creak under pressure. The internal components are neatly arranged and don't rattle around inside. There are no obvious weak points or potential failure points in the construction.

The printer operates very quietly, generating only a soft whirring sound during printing. This makes it suitable for office environments where excessive noise could be disruptive. You'll barely notice it running in the background.

Overall, the VIPColor VP660 features a compact yet rugged design perfect for desktop label printing. The solid construction provides reliable performance for high duty cycle use over an extended lifetime.

Ease of Use

The VP660 is designed to be easy to use for home and small office users. The control panel has an intuitive layout with buttons for power, feed, pause, cancel, and navigation. The 2.4 inch color LCD display shows printer status and settings clearly.

Loading media into the VP660 is straightforward. The input tray holds up to 100 sheets of paper or 20 sheets of glossy photo paper. Slide the edge guides over to hold the paper in place. The manual feed slot accommodates specialty papers one sheet at a time.

Routine maintenance helps keep the VP660 printing smoothly. Replacing the four individual ink cartridges is an easy process. The print head does not need to be replaced for the life of the printer. VIPColor recommends running the printer's Cleaning function every few weeks to prevent clogged nozzles. Overall, the VP660 is designed to be simple and convenient for casual home and office users.

Pros and Cons

The VIPColor VP660 label printer has several pros and cons to consider:

Pros:

• Fast print speeds up to 5 inches per second
• Produces professional, high-quality color labels
• Built-in cutter for convenient label printing
• Connects via USB, serial, parallel, and Ethernet
• Offers both thermal transfer and direct thermal printing
• LCD display and easy-to-use buttons
• Compact, durable plastic construction -pigmented ink for crisp, vibrant color printing -Includes label design and printing software

Cons:

• Ink cartridges and labels can be expensive over time
• Software is Windows-only, no Mac support
• Not designed for extremely high volume label printing
• No built-in keyboard or touchscreen interface
• No built-in battery or WiFi connectivity
• Limited warranty period of 1 year

Overall, the VIPColor VP660 is a high-quality color label printer well-suited for small businesses, schools, warehouses, and retailers. It provides fast print speeds and professional results. The main downsides are the ongoing costs for ink and labels, and lack of advanced connectivity options. For most small label printing needs, the VP660 offers an excellent balance of performance, features, and value.

Conclusion

The VIPColor VP660 is a solid mid-range label printer that offers good print speeds and quality for the price. It prints in resolutions up to 4800 x 1200 DPI, producing crisp text and vibrant colors on a variety of label materials. The VP660 connects via USB, Parallel, Serial, and Ethernet interfaces for flexible connectivity.

Ink cartridges are reasonably priced but have a lower page yield compared to some competitors. The included NiceLabel software offers an easy design experience for labels, cards, and more. The printer itself has a compact, durable plastic casing and intuitive control panel.

Overall, the VIPColor VP660 hits a sweet spot between budget printers and premium industrial models. It's a great choice for small businesses, schools, warehouses, retailers, or anyone needing quality color label printing at moderate volumes. The connectivity options, print quality, and software capabilities make it a worthwhile investment for most basic labeling needs. Those with high-volume printing needs may want to consider a faster industrial printer, but the VP660 offers the best balance of performance and value for most users.