- Silently prints labels up to 2.5 inches wide in 2 seconds each
- Direct thermal print technology eliminates ribbons, toner, and inks
- Integrates directly with Microsoft Word, Outlook, GoldMine, and ACT!
- Comes with Dymo Label software with built-in designer and list manager
- Approved by U.S. Postal Service to print Internet postage
Technical Details
Product Details
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Product Description
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The allure of a dedicated label printer naturally depends on how often you print labels. Given the awkwardness of feeding sheets of labels into a general-purpose printer, then tediously calibrating your layouts to ensure that they line up properly with the sheet's multiple columns, even labeling dilettantes might benefit from a specialized device for cranking out the occasional address sticker. Dymo-CoStar's LabelWriter is available in three models - the EL 40, EL 60, and Turbo - but we reviewed only the top-of-the-line Turbo version, a flexible and speedy contraption that commands a $100 premium over its cheapest sibling. Aside from maximum label size capability and printing speed, the three LabelWriter models are essentially identical. Housed in a rounded enclosure that might remind you of a Rolodex, an office tape dispenser, or perhaps even a plastic snail, the LabelWriter sports a pop-up lid that allows easy replacement of label rolls. The self-adhesive labels get fed past a thermal printhead, where the miracle of heat transfer emblazons your information onto the label's surface. The LabelWriter requires special thermal labels available from Dymo-CoStar and Avery, but needs no ink-jet cartridges or other consumables; the printhead is rated for 500,000 labels. Though the printer is designed for the serial port on older Macs, it works just fine with a serial-to-USB adapter.
On the software front, you have a couple of choices. Since the LabelWriter comes with a standard Chooser extension, you can prepare labels in your preferred application (AppleWorks or FileMaker Pro, for example) and print to the LabelWriter just like any other printer. Alternatively, you can use the included Dymo Label Software to create label templates, compile addresses, and then send them off to the label printer without changing the default settings in the Chooser. We have mixed feelings about the label software, which provides some clever convenience features via a quirky and unfamiliar interface. Given the program's robust data-importing capabilities, you might be better off transferring addresses from a database or contact manager whenever you need to print labels, rather than trying to manage them within the label software itself - especially where disk and videocassette labels are concerned.
While these hardware and software features are common to the LabelWriter series, two features set the Turbo model apart and justify its higher price. First, there's its speed; capable of spitting out a no-frills address label in just two or three seconds, the Turbo is more than twice as fast as the EL 40 and EL 60 models. Second, the Turbo shares the EL 60's expanded selection of label types. With a maximum width of 2.25 inches versus the mere 1.5 inches of the EL 40, the two higher-end models can tackle such exotica as shipping labels, disk labels, and name badges. But for those whose labeling needs don't extend beyond normal addresses, file folders, and videocassette spines, the $149 EL 40 model might be a more prudent purchase. -- Mark Simmons
Good News: Cranks out labels easily and quickly. No consumables other than labels. Automatic bar code insertion.
Bad News: Funky label design software. Internet postage available only for Windows.
©1999 MacAddict
Customer Reviews
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The perfect solution for printing contact addresses.,
By A Customer
This review is from: DYMO LabelWriter Turbo (Office Product)
I've used this product for over a year now and wouldn't trade it for the world. I print all of my business contacts in batches and from MS Word. It saves me countless hours over the course of a year! I love it.
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