As of mid-June 2020, the Epson GP-C831 colour label printer is no longer being produced or sold in Canada. While you can still order GP-C831 ink cartridges, labels, and supplies as well as get support for the GP-C831, the time will eventually come when you need to replace the printer. Many Canadian business owners are already considering upgrading from the Epson GP-C831 to its replacement, the Epson ColorWorks C6500A colour label printer. If you’re looking for all of the benefits of the C831 with improvements in speed, quality, media management, and interoperability, now might be the perfect time for an upgrade. Here’s what you need to know about the new Epson ColorWorks C6500A colour label printer.

• Everything you loved about the C831 — First, the features you loved remain such as the 8-inch print width, rugged design, and BS5609 certification.
• Improvements galore — Epson added a host of improvements starting with Serial PrecisionCore TFP technology for superior image quality and a faster print speed. The Epson ColorWorks C6500A colour label printer has a 1200 dpi print resolution and can reach print speeds of up to 5 inches per second. It uses a newer ink formulation, Epson UltraChrome DL pigmented inks which produce more brilliant colours. When used in advanced black and white print mode, these inks offer permanence expected to last more than 400 years. Note: The Epson GP-C831 only printed up to 720 dpi, so now at 1200 dpi, you will note a very significant difference in print quality with the C6500A. Plus, if you prefer the faster print speed, you can still print in 720 dpi mode on the C6500A (the higher the print resolution, the slower the print speed).
• Media handling — If you’ve ever put off printing a batch of labels because you didn’t want to deal with changing out the labels, you’ll love the removable media spindles. Order extra media spindles and simply swap out label rolls without the hassles of feeding them through an 8-pin tractor feed as you’ve had to do with the C831. Since the C6500A uses roll-fed labels, you will now find a much broader selection of labels that you can print on with your C6500A printer compared to the tractor feed media we had for the GP-C831. This includes more label material choices plus many more different sizes and shapes like circles, matte and glossy polypropylene labels, etc.
• Interoperability — The Epson ColorWorks C6500A colour label printer is designed to compete with Zebra thermal printers, which are commonly used in large industrial label printer fleets. As such, it is compatible with a broad range of applications, operating systems, and middleware including SAP, Windows, Mac, and Linux, ESC/Label, ZPL II, and more. The Epson ColorWorks C6500A also has remote printer management tools so you can set it up and manage it remotely. You can even attach and control an applicator to its general purpose I/O port.

The Epson ColorWorks C6500A colour label printer is one of four new ColorWorks label printers in the C6000 series. There are two models of the CW-C6500, one with an auto cutter (CW-C6500A) and one with a peeler(CW-C6500P). The other two printers are the CW-C6000A (auto cutter) and CW-C6000P (peeler). They are both 4-inch printers whereas the C6500 printers are 8-inch printers.

The ability to print 8-inch GHS BS5609 chemical labels, agriculture labels, industrial labels, wristbands, and more made the Epson GP-C831 colour label printer a reliable workhorse for many manufacturers in Canada. Epson builds on this legacy with the Epson ColorWorks C6500A. Learn more about the CW-C6500A by watching the video below. If it’s time to replace your old C831, let us know. We’re happy to help.