A printer assembly for dispensing a printer media and printing on the printer media as it is dispensed. The printer assembly includes a housing with a container portion and a lid portion, and a latching mechanism configured to coordinate latching, unlatching and biasing of the lid with locking and unlocking of the printer media supply from a media supply assembly. The latching mechanism may be configured to urge the lid portion away from the container portion when the lid portion is unlatched. The latching mechanism can include a locking surface that is configured to engage a locking surface on relatively movable media support members, restraining relative movement of the media support members and locking down the media supply therein when the latching the lid portion closed. The locking surface is positioned external to opposing, relatively movable surfaces of the media support members enabling a compact assembly for hand held printers.