The ZD421 is the versatile model in the ZD600 series and the mainstay of Zebra's desktop range. It gives up the colour touchscreen of the ZD621 and offers interfaces as options instead, which brings the price down and widens its practical reach.
How the options work
Interfaces are USB, serial and Ethernet, selected at order. A single station at a counter needs USB. Centralised networked printing needs Ethernet. Legacy equipment needing a serial port can have one. You pay for what the job uses.
Resolution comes in 203 and 300 dpi versions. 203 dpi handles standard labels and shipping documents; 300 dpi handles small, dense content such as component markings, pharmaceutical labels and jewellery tags. Both come from the same model, so the choice follows the smallest character height on the label rather than a whole different machine.
Output and media
Up to 150 mm/s, with print widths of 104 mm or 108 mm. Thermal transfer and direct thermal are both supported, across coated paper, synthetic stock, PET and tags, with automatic media calibration.
A frequent complaint about desktop printers is that every media change means re-tuning parameters. Calibration on the ZD421 handles the routine switches between similar stocks without adjustment.
Where it fits
Price and delivery labels in retail, fixed asset and document labels in offices, packaging and traceability labels in light industry, picking and tote labels in warehousing. Moderate volume, mixed label types, one machine covering several jobs.
Consumables
Coated paper with wax or hybrid ribbon, synthetic with hybrid, PET and solvent-resistant work with resin. On 300 dpi versions, start at hybrid or above: wax ribbon holds fine lines back. Huaishi produces labels and ribbon together and test-prints against the actual printer settings before a batch run.
