No, they may be called something else in the USA but out here in Oz they are still called Dymo (Letra Tag XR), it's a battery hand held unit with an lcd readout. The old style plastic tape you are thinking about would be way too thick.
It looks like this one http://www.dealsdirect.com.au/p/dymo-labelmaker-letratag-xr/
I'm not fanatical about it, but handy to know how old the batteries are.
cheers,
Geoff