Filed under: Accessories, Hardware, Peripherals
TUAW Review: Dymo DiscPainter
I have a mountain of CDs and DVDs in my office. Some of them are in sleeves, others are stacked on spindles. For the most part, my disc labeling consists of grabbing a Sharpie ultra-fine-point marker and scrawling something right on the top of the disc. I've tried sticky labels before, but stopped after I had a few CDs that wouldn't come out of my iMac's SuperDrive slot.Dymo, the labeling company, is now shipping the DiscPainter. It's a single-duty printer designed for one thing; printing directly onto inkjet-printable CD and DVD media.
Size, Installation, and Setup
The first thing that hit me when I opened the DiscPainter box was how big it is. Given that it is a single-tasker, it takes up a lot of room on a desktop (roughly 5.75" x 10"). For those with limited space available, this may be a reason not to buy the DiscPainter.
Following the included Quick Start Guide (yes, I RTFM), I removed the usual tape and plastic cruft encasing the DiscPainter, popped in the single ink cartridge, and connected the power cable. The initial user experience is excellent.
Read on for the full review


![TUAW [Cafepress]](http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/www.tuaw.com/media/tuaw-cafepress-promo.png)


Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Tom said 7:31AM on 6-29-2008
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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Tom said 7:35AM on 6-29-2008
This is what I was referring to by 'screenshot app':
http://www.tuaw.com/2008/05/05/tuaw-faceoff-screenshot-apps-on-the-firing-line/
LuminousNerd said 9:32AM on 6-29-2008
Lol, it's not going to be the end of TUAW, though it is incredibly annoying.
Allister said 9:48AM 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.
kleinias said 4:52PM on 6-29-2008
Before I went to post this comment, I was wondering if anyone else would feel the way that I do about having to click "next" multiple times just to get through a simple review. For what it's worth, it's pretty annoying and is something that will discourage me from reading anything more than what is on the first page of future reviews here.
I don't want to go overboard with this, but it would be nice if TUAW gave their readers a little more credit.
guilt+1 said 7:44AM on 6-29-2008
How do we know which page to leave comments on ?
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Tom said 9:49AM on 6-29-2008
For now, there's one comment on part three by a guy saying he gave up because it's annoying to keep going page to page, and that he knows it's for ad impressions (to make the ad spots worth more). On page four, there's one post complaining about how scrolling and pages don't match, pick one or the other (so either click next with no scrolling, or just make it a long scrollable post), as well as one acknowledging this 'pages' thing is for ad impressions.
I have summarized the comments on pages two (none but mine), three (one other than mine), and four (two other than mine). So far, all are just upset about the new 'pages' thing.
Darren said 8:46AM on 6-29-2008
I wanted to chime in, as an owner of the Dymo DiscPainter (which I LOVE!) regarding the size of the unit.
I don't want anyone to be misled into thinking this thing is huge. Even though actual dimensions are listed in this review, calling it big is misleading. Granted, if you have a very small desk, with limited space, it will take up room! However, I was utterly shocked at just how petite this unit really is!
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Mike Greenberg said 1:36PM on 6-29-2008
Yeah, I have one too and I find it tiny! The review calls it big and expensive.. but I find it small and affordable.
Last printer (rimage everest II) I used was about 4x the size and cost several thousand.
donnacha said 9:15AM on 6-29-2008
Yeah, this is a nasty move, I think this will be looked back on as the point at which TUAW became too greedy and killed the golden goose.
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FamousPete said 10:19AM on 6-29-2008
Agreed. This is a rotten ...
FamousPete said 10:23AM on 6-29-2008
Click NEXT to go to page 2 for part 2 of this comment.
FamousPete said 10:27AM on 6-29-2008
Wow. Can you imagine if things actually worked that way? Can you imagine having to go to another page and then another page and then still one more page to see all the content and all the comments. That sure would be lame. I'm so glad TUAW would never subject us to such a thing. ;-)
Ryan McLean said 10:19AM on 6-29-2008
That looks impressive, but $279 is a bit hard to chew when you can get Ink Jets what will print onto CDs for much less. Granted, it looks like the Dymo could possibly do a better job...but $279?
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FamousPete said 10:21AM on 6-29-2008
Agreed. This is a rotten ...
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steve ballmer said 10:48AM on 6-29-2008
Nice machine!
You didn't mention though that it does not work with macs!
http://fakesteveballmer.blogspot.com
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Mike Greenberg said 1:22PM on 6-29-2008
It works with macs... I have this printer..
steve ballmer said 4:51PM on 6-29-2008
Yeah, but you must use parallels, bootcunt or some of that other crap!
http://fakesteveballmer.blogspot.com
Able-X said 11:23AM on 6-29-2008
What is this, WSJ? What's with the lame freaking "next". Just let us read the article in one place, or dont' bother.
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Unregistered said 12:04PM on 6-29-2008
Yes, I echo that!