Filed under: Accessories, Hardware, Peripherals
TUAW Review: Dymo DiscPainter Part 2
Size, Installation, and Setup (continued)
The DiscPainter comes with a Mac OS X / Windows installation CD that installs drivers and Discus for Dymo, an application that helps you to the design the disc image. After plugging in the USB cable and restarting your Mac, the instructions take you through making your first disc.
Software
I was underwhelmed by the Discus for Dymo software, which despite a 2007 copyright date appears to have been written while Mac OS X 10.2 was still all the rage. It has a cheesy, Aqua-like interface (see below) that looks very unprofessional and is obviously a port done by Windows programmers. My first thought was that I needed to update the software. No, version 1.1.1 IS the latest version.
Discus for Dymo does its job, but is uses many Mac OS X features incorrectly. For example, I wanted to use a picture from my iPhoto Library as a backdrop on a CD so I clicked on the Photo button expecting the standard Apple media browser to appear immediately. Instead, I had to navigate to my Photos folder before the media browser appeared.
The DiscPainter comes with a Mac OS X / Windows installation CD that installs drivers and Discus for Dymo, an application that helps you to the design the disc image. After plugging in the USB cable and restarting your Mac, the instructions take you through making your first disc.
Software
I was underwhelmed by the Discus for Dymo software, which despite a 2007 copyright date appears to have been written while Mac OS X 10.2 was still all the rage. It has a cheesy, Aqua-like interface (see below) that looks very unprofessional and is obviously a port done by Windows programmers. My first thought was that I needed to update the software. No, version 1.1.1 IS the latest version.
Discus for Dymo does its job, but is uses many Mac OS X features incorrectly. For example, I wanted to use a picture from my iPhoto Library as a backdrop on a CD so I clicked on the Photo button expecting the standard Apple media browser to appear immediately. Instead, I had to navigate to my Photos folder before the media browser appeared.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Tom said 7:32AM on 6-29-2008
I wrote this for Part 1 of the 4 part (same day) review, and I'm pasting it into every other part's page just so it gets seen...
Are your corporate overlords now forcing you to write multiple page reviews when this incredibly short 4 parter would have easily fitted on one page? The screenshot app from barely over a month ago is at least 2 or 3 times as long as all these 4 pages combined.
I am really disappointed with this move and do believe it will be the end of TUAW, as well as the rest of Weblogs Inc. if it catches on.
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Allister said 10:10AM on 6-29-2008
Hear hear!
This is the kind of thing I would expect to see from a large print conglomerate who doesn't understand new media, but from a technology focused blog?
Disappointing.
eh said 1:35PM on 6-29-2008
Gaah.
A note for those who make websites: I never click through multi-page articles that don't need to be multi-page. Really, really, really long articles that are broken up into logical sections (like dpreview.com) are somewhat acceptable because then I can jump to a particular section if I'm not interested in the whole thing. But still unnecessary and annoying.
I also never click through interstitial ads: if I want to read an article and clicking on the link brings me to an ad instead of the article, I hit the back button or close the browser. It's not worth it.
Unless the article contains nudity :)
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totoro said 2:00PM on 6-29-2008
holy crap thats a big NEXT button.
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Aaron said 9:13AM on 6-30-2008
A one-pager cut into a 4 pager is 3 more opportunities to have ads in the story. One more page for a total of two would be ok but cutting a short story into 4, what a waste of server resources. Allister suggests that it is something he would expect from a print conglomerate ('cept they would have worked out how much 4 more pages cost in paper and then said forget it), I would add that they (the publisher) don't get it.
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