Marking up laptops

[Symbiosis]

Hi all

 

We have several laptop banks and need a way to mark up the spines of the laptops with a location and number. It needs to be semi-permanent (IE so the kids cant remove it or rub it off but so we can if the laptop changes details later).

 

We have tried various asset stickers and various marking/paint pens but nothing seems to last for long - does anyone else do this and have any suggestions please?

 

Cheers

[Nblakey96]

I`d be interested to see how people deal with this too, we`ve tried using a Dymo and printing our own labels, both of these only last a couple of days before being peeled off.Have you tried using a Sharpie, it seems to come off pretty easily with an antibacterial hand gel.

[DrBeaker]

Id be interested to see how people deal with this as well.

 

Dymo labels - pulled off

Asset stickers - rubs off, peeled off by kids.

Sharpie - rubs off eventually.

Labels - Tried on laptops and kids peeled them off with the expected "it's always been like that" even when they were only put on a week before - by myself - so I know it's NOT "always been like that" you little (insert $teacher or $student) where applicable

[dhicks]

We have tried various asset stickers and various marking/paint pens but nothing seems to last for long - does anyone else do this and have any suggestions please?

 

Standard paper stickers, printed via sheets through a laser printer, just saturated in superglue, so that the entire sticker is soaked through. Might work better with thinner paper, maybe - I haven't tried with Dymo labels yet, but we're planning something similar over the summer as we re-label a bunch of laptops.

[PotNoodleTech]

Do you have a laser cutter / engraver in your DT department? You can successfully mark most plastics & anodised metals with even the cheap HPC chinese laser machines.

[Rob_D]

Someone (I think it was librarian) duck-taped labels to the underside of the laptops. So far they have't come off.

Normally we use dymo labels, but as others have said, they don't stay on that long (or they leave a horrible mess when you take them off).

[Symbiosis]

Thanks for the suggestions, we looked at engraving etc but of course that is non reversible if the laptops get re-allocated.

 

Glad we are not the only ones finding it tricky to find an answer to this!

[keyboards]

Mark them in UV pen or something of that ilk, that can only be seen under a uv light?

[Symbiosis]

Good idea Keyboards but we (and other members of staff) need to be able to see them at a glance

[theeggmaster]

Could you put the label underneath the battery, or have a custom desktop background for each?

[jthompson]

We get by with dymo lables or paper labels here (with serial number and asset tag also written in sharpie under the battery). Perhaps some kind of paint or varnish that won't wear off but that you can paint over with when needed (i.e. paint a white block then use black to paint your label details. When it changes, paint a new white block over it, etc.).

[SamanthaD]

Gold coloured Sharpie - one on the spine as a sacrificial label, then one under the battery as somewhere to see when the spine rubs off. Issue Gold coloured Sharpie to whoever is looking after the laptops locally, tell them to write new label when old one rubs off. JD.

[robyholmes]

I've used a tippex pen before. Basically a paint pen but its reliant on your hand writing.

[elsiegee40]

We used Tippex. Not very scientific, needed checking, but did the job

[mavhc]

Or etch it with a number/phrase, and print out labels for the storage compartments/lists of where they're currently allocated.

[TLARWise]

How about ultra destructible vinyl labels that come off in very tiny pieces when kids try picking at them. This way they usually give up before they actually get to the important info on the label. Bit of a pain to remove yourself when you do actually need to get them off though.

[DrBeaker]

How about ultra destructible vinyl labels that come off in very tiny pieces when kids try picking at them. This way they usually give up before they actually get to the important info on the label. Bit of a pain to remove yourself when you do actually need to get them off though.

 

Got any links for them that you use, preferred brand etc?

[TLARWise]

Got any links for them that you use, preferred brand etc?

 

We got ours from Woden Labels several years ago but any custom label company should be able to supply something similar.

[mikes]

We had the labels that peel off in tiny "square" fragments but over time (about 2 months) the kids will peel most of them off. It is a habit thing, when you are bored at a computer, you pick and fiddle with labels; a month or two of this and the label is gone.

 

Putting labels on the back worked better, but that isn't good as they are not easily visible at a glance.

 

I didn't find a solution to this, what I ended up doing was permanently modifying the cases with Dymo labels, and using that superglue with a brush applicator and applying a thin layer of superglue over the top of the dymo label; this stopped the labels coming off for about 5 years. Then if we changed rooms we just superglued a new label on top of the old one. Not sure how Lenovo would have reacted if I had to send one back for warranty repairs though.

[ricki]

We had the labels that peel off in tiny "square" fragments but over time (about 2 months) the kids will peel most of them off. It is a habit thing, when you are bored at a computer, you pick and fiddle with labels; a month or two of this and the label is gone.

 

Putting labels on the back worked better, but that isn't good as they are not easily visible at a glance.

 

I didn't find a solution to this, what I ended up doing was permanently modifying the cases with Dymo labels, and using that superglue with a brush applicator and applying a thin layer of superglue over the top of the dymo label; this stopped the labels coming off for about 5 years. Then if we changed rooms we just superglued a new label on top of the old one. Not sure how Lenovo would have reacted if I had to send one back for warranty repairs though.

We use mark lid stickers like this https://weprint.avery.co.uk/laptop-stickers please note our reprographic a great them so the cost is lower Richard

[Symbiosis]

Thanks for the replies all, much appreciated.

 

As we need the spines marking specifically, we are going to try a small engraving machine - that way we can strike out the description if needed and add a new one next to it

[chazzy2501]

I've been using our laser cutter for years to security mark the laptops (school logo), but for marking I just use a fat permanent marker, it lasts ages and with the right cleaner can be removed. Also easy to touch up.