First-time users of direct thermal printers need to have access to good technical support. From various reviews, Zebra, Arkscan, Rollo and Sato have very good technical support staff. They are reliable, always available, prompt in answering queries and very friendly. Meanwhile, Dymo, Brother, TSC and Wasp do not get the same reaction from users.
CFrom our own experience, Zebra and Rollo have very good tech teams, but we've encountered many issues accessing technical information on Brother USA's page.