Reviewer Rating: 3 out of 5 possible Should you buy one? If you need to do a lot of CD/DVD labeling and money isn't an object, yes. However, if you need a new printer anyway, the HP Photosmart C5280 all-in-one gives you a disc and paper printer, copier, scanner, and more, all in one box that costs less than half the price of the DiscPainter. You can also buy HP LightScribe external drives for much less, but the media is quite expensive.
If you DO buy one, remember to include the cost of BeLight Disc Cover to replace the Discus for Dymo software.
Pros
Fast high-resolution printing
Very quiet
Does the job it is designed for, despite software shortcomings
Does excellent job of printing directly on CD/DVD media
Cons
Software isn't very Mac-like
Printer footprint larger than it needs to be
No power switch, can't turn it fully off without unplugging
Very Expensive ($279.95 MSRP, about $250 online)
Be sure to check out the Gallery below for more pictures of the Dymo DiscPainter.
Likewise, trying to pick the "TUAW Green" for the text on the label, I thoroughly expected to see the standard Apple color picker so I could use the little magnifier tool to go for the green. No such luck. I finally figured out that I could option-click one of the custom colors to make the color picker appear (see below).
Fortunately, other CD/DVD labeling packages support the DiscPainter. I highly recommend trashing Discus for Dymo and purchasing BeLight's Disc Cover ($34.95). If you can get Avery's free Design Pro software to work with the DiscPainter, please leave a comment and let the rest of us know how to do it.
Hardware and Printing
Clicking the Print button in Discus brought up the standard Mac OS X print dialog with the DiscPainter pre-selected. I used all of the defaults and then watched as the blank CD was pulled into the tall part of the printer and slowly started inching out. It's cool to watch the printing, which occurs from the hub of the CD outwards. The colors matched those chosen in the software very closely, and the resolution was very nice (600 dpi). It took about two minutes for the printing to complete.
A DiscPainter with a slot-loader would make the footprint of the printer half the size of the current DiscPainter. One other gripe -- there's no power button to turn the printer off. You need to unplug it to totally power down.
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.
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.
Welcome to another Mac 101 here at TUAW. Mac 101 is our recurring feature where we point out some tips and tricks for folks new to the Mac. Remember, if you're a Mac expert this post isn't for you.
Have you ever tried to unmount a disc in Mac OS X, but it simply wouldn't come out of your Mac's drive? Here are three ways of removing discs from your Mac's drive. If your Mac is currently using the disc you won't be able to eject it, so make sure that isn't the case first. If the disc isn't in use and you still can't eject it, give these a try.
Step 1: Drag the disc to the trash can Find the disc on the desktop and drag its icon to the Mac OS X trash can. As you start dragging it towards the trash, the icon will change to an eject button, release the mouse button when the disc's icon is directly over the eject button.
Step 2: Try some command line goodness If you have tried to eject the disc by dragging its icon over the trash bin, then why not try a simple Terminal command to eject the disc. Open Terminal.app (found in /Applications/Utilities/Terminal.app; or use Command + Shift + U to in any Finder window to move to the Utilities folder).
Once you have Terminal opened, type (or copy/paste) the following command: drutil eject
Step 3: Restart your Mac while holding mouse button down If you've tried the other steps to no avail, then why not reboot your Mac while holding down the mouse button. Upon loading the Apple boot screen, your disc should be ejected.
Please note that if you have a disc that is actually physically stuck in the drive, this will not help. Stuck discs may need the assistance of an Apple Genius or certified Apple repair professional.
Avery Office Products, the purveyor of labels, blank business cards, binder dividers, greeting cards, and iron-on t-shirt transfers, has released a free application called Design Pro for Mac.
This software was demoed at Macworld Expo in January and is now available for download (registration required) from the Avery website. Design Pro contains over 2,000 clip art and photo images, as well as over 1,300 pre-designed templates for various projects. It is integrated with iPhoto as well, so you can use all of your own photos to create CD/DVD labels, birthday cards, and other fun projects. If you're burning your own music CDs, Design Pro can grab playlist or tune information from iTunes, and it's also able to use your Address Book for doing mail merges.
Avery Design Pro for Mac requires Mac OS X 10.4 or 10.5. Be aware - the download is 262MB in size!
Given the choice between buying a physical DVD and grabbing a downloadable iTunes version of the same movie, you might choose what's behind door #2 for convenience, iPod playability and speed; that is, if you're willing to wait it out while the DVD-only window ticks away. Up until now it's been about 30-45 days post-DVD release, with a few exceptions, before the iTunes version showed up. With a report from the NY Times yesterday that Warner Brothers was moving to "day-and-date" digital release, simultaneous with the disc ship, we expected to hear something from Apple promptly, and we have.
According to this morning's press release, it's bigger than just Warner Bros. Multiple studios' films -- 20th Century Fox, The Walt Disney Studios, Warner Bros., Paramount Pictures, Universal Studios Home Entertainment, Sony Pictures Entertainment, and more -- will now be delivered to iTunes customers at the same time that DVD buyers can snag them in stores. "American Gangster" and "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly" are two of the first movies available on the new ship schedule.
Does day-and-date change your attitude on buying movies from iTunes? Inquiring minds want to know.
Following Fox's lead, Lionsgate is signing up to add a 'Digital Copy for iTunes' to their DVD releases. Owners of DVD's with the extra content will be able to pop them into their Mac (or PC), enter a code into iTunes and have an iPod/iPhone/Apple TV-compatible copy added to iTunes. The copy is only valid for a single iTunes library and the process does require an iTunes account.
Lionsgate is kicking off the program with "The Eye," and – I feel a palpable swell of collective anticipation – "Rambo." That's right, you get a supernatural thriller... and a Stallone sequel. Your iPod has never been so happy, right?
A while back reader Michael Coyle was nice enough to send us this write-up on how to customize Leopard's Guest account, and just recently he sent along another guide that you might not need right away, but will come in handy when you really need it. He's got an in-depth look at how to create a custom menu style when authoring a DVD in Toast Titanium 8.
As he says, the default styles that come with the application are a little less than formal, so if you want to create a professional menu for the DVD that fits your needs, this will show you how. As far as I can tell, the style is just a Photoshop file with various layers for the DVD to use as a menu (selected, frames for videos and the border around them, and so on); so the trick is finding the right layers to edit and leaving everything else alone (so nothing breaks).
If you've got some DVD authoring in your future, and plan to use Toast to get it all done, there you go.
If you're like me, you take one or more of your DVD movies, TV shows, podcasts and other content with you on your iPod or iPhone when traveling. Heck, I even take stuff for long car trips across town, or to watch when I'm sitting in the waiting room at the doctor's office.
Most of the time, it's pretty simple to get movies, TV shows or podcast content onto your iPhone or iPod touch for viewing at a convenient time -- you can simply use iTunes to download it (for a suitable fee). Things get a bit more complicated when you want to watch a commercial DVD from your collection on one of these devices.
Fortunately, as we reported recently, there's a great tool called HandBrake that accomplishes this task quite nicely and has just been updated to a fully-compatible, Leopard-only version. OK, but now that you have the software, how do you use it so you can watch that 300 DVD when you're on the train to work tomorrow?
The folks at iPhone Atlas have taken care of that one for you; they've just posted an article that guides you step-by-step on how to take video from that purchased DVD and get it onto your iPhone or iPod touch. It's a pretty simple and painless process that yields surprisingly good results -- especially when watching something on the very nice, touchable screen of the iDevices.
I'm probably one of the few bloggers here who hasn't shelled out for a .Mac subscription (and an iDisk) -- I've just never personally come across a situation where I needed one. For transferring big files I usually either throw it on a DVD or an FTP site, or I use YouSendIt for free -- there's a 100mb limit, but in all of my file transferring, I've never had reason to break it (most of what I send is audio tracks for podcasts).
And now they've released the application version of their interface -- YouSendIt Express is now available for the Mac. Unfortunately, it seems like the standalone app doesn't have some options that the web interface does (specifically checking delivery confirmation and a download limit), but for just shuffling a file off to someone else fast, it does the trick.
From everything I can find on the website, it works just great with the free account version of YouSendIt, so if you find yourself shipping off files quickly enough that you need a dedicated app to do it, there you are.
More additional gear to carry for the lightest laptop you can buy -- Apple's external SuperDrive DVD writer, with a USB 2.0 connector and all the capabilities of a normal laptop optical drive. It's a $99 slot-loading 8x SuperDrive, full specs:
DVD±R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW (gesundheit!)
Writes DVD+R DL and DVD-R DL discs at up to 4x speed
Writes DVD-R and DVD+R discs at up to 8x speed
Writes DVD-RW discs at up to 6x speed and DVD+RW discs at up to 8x speed
Reads DVDs at up to 8x speed
Writes CD-R discs at up to 24x speed
Writes CD-RW discs at up to 16x speed
Reads CDs at up to 24x speed
It's USB-powered and, I'd expect, a legit boot disk source. While you won't need a DVD drive for installing software, it'll definitely be handy for watching movies (the ones you don't rent).
iTunes 7.6 is out, and it finally has something we've been hearing about for a long time: movie rentals. As announced at the Macworld Keynote earlier today, Apple has made deals with all of the major studios to provide streaming, downloadable flicks for you to watch on your computer, iPod or iPhone. Library titles are $2.99, and new releases will be available 30 days after DVD release and will cost $3.99. Each movie will be available to download within 30 days, and once you start watching it, you'll have 24 hours to finish.
There is good news for HD viewers-- HD rentals will be available, but they'll cost an extra buck (so $3.99 and $4.99 for library titles and new releases. There'll be 100 HD titles starting today, and more all the time. And of course, movie rentals will be sync-able with the iPhone and iPod, or have the ability to be downloaded straight on to the revamped Apple TV. Unfortunately, we haven't heard an official resolution on the HD (720p is one of the numbers being tossed around, and that's not great for serious HD viewers), but if we get to see one of these flicks, we'll let you know.
Get out the popcorn-- it's time to rent some movies from iTunes!
This is probably one of the coolest freeware applications on the Mac that I've seen in a while. Have you ever placed a disc in your Mac's drive, only to shut it down with the disc still in there? I know I have a couple of times. Now you will never do that again, thanks to DiscTop. When you load a CD or DVD into your Mac, DiscTop displays a disc-like icon on the desktop, letting you know that you currently have a disc inserted. When you eject the disc, the icon zooms off the screen.
The coolest thing about DiscTop is that when you insert a known DVD (say, The Simpsons Movie) you can set the artwork via an Amazon search and display it over top of the DVD icon. DiscTop even asks you what type of Mac you use and then positions the disc accordingly. For instance, I have an iMac Core Duo (early 2006 model), so when I use that profile DiscTop will make sure the disc's icon is positioned where the optical drive is located. Very cool!
If you want to give DiscTop a spin it's freeware and available at the developers website.
HandBrake is one of those applications that we adore here at TUAW HQ. It makes converting DVDs into a variety of digital files a snap (though only use it with DVDs you own. Don't be pirates, kids). Chris Breen, of Macworld fame (and an amateur astronomer it would seem) shows us how to use HandBrake like a pro. Breen goes a step beyond 'use the presets' and delves into what many of the options HandBrake offers up actually do, and how they impact your files.
Check out the video, and get to ripping your DVDs!
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.
Welcome to another 
Given the choice between buying a physical DVD and grabbing a downloadable 
Following 
A while back reader Michael Coyle was nice enough to send us this write-up on how to 
If you're like me, you take one or more of your DVD movies, TV shows, podcasts and other content with you on your iPod or iPhone when traveling. Heck, I even take stuff for long car trips across town, or to watch when I'm sitting in the waiting room at the doctor's office. 
I'm probably one of the few bloggers here who hasn't shelled out for a .Mac subscription (and an iDisk) -- I've just never personally come across a situation where I needed one. For transferring big files I usually either throw it on a DVD or an FTP site, or I 
More additional gear to carry for the lightest laptop you can buy -- Apple's 
This is probably one of the coolest freeware applications on the Mac that I've seen in a while. Have you ever placed a disc in your Mac's drive, only to shut it down with the disc still in there? I know I have a couple of times. Now you will never do that again, thanks to DiscTop. When you load a CD or DVD into your Mac, DiscTop displays a disc-like icon on the desktop, letting you know that you currently have a disc inserted. When you eject the disc, the icon zooms off the screen. 
