Customer Reviews

Dymo 69110 LabelWriter 400 Turbo

5 star:		(18)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(9)

 

 

The Dymo LabelWriter 400 Turbo works great. What doesn't work well is the "No-Monthly-Fee DYMO Stamps(tm) postage labels." Everything works great until you want to purchase postage for your package you are shipping. With the free software provided you can print a wide range of pre-selected postage amounts, but you cannot print a specific dollar amount. To ship your Priority Mail package with the correct amount of postage, you will still have to go to the Post Office or purchase a $9.95 monthly service plan. Of course, this is not explained to you until after you purchase the unit and set up your account. In my opinion the "No-Monthly-Fee DYMO Stamps(tm) postage labels" is clearly bait and switch. If you ship a few packages a month, the monthly service charge is not worth the cost.

The one and only reason I purchased this label printer was for the highly touted Dymo Stamps feature, supposedly giving you the ability to print your own postage stamps onto thermal postage labels for no monthly fee, only the cost of the printer and the thermal label refills. According to the Dymo Stamps website, Dymo Stamps gives you the ability to "Print Exactly the Amount of Postage you Need" and "Eliminate the Need for Costly Postal Meters." What the consumer is not told upfront is that these "precise" amounts of postage can only be in denominations of the Dymo Stamps software's choosing, not any amount you want. In fact, the only postage denominations that can be printed are those already available in stamp form at the post office, basically just your run-of-the-mill $0.39 stamps, $4.05 Priority Mail stamps, and postcard stamps. This software also does not give you the capability to print postage for Parcel Post, Media Mail, or Express Mail, and doesn't allow you to add additional postage for services like insurance or certified mail at all. How this saves you any trouble over buying stamps from the post office is beyond me. Conveniently, you can only overcome all of these limitations by subscribing to Endicia (Dymo Stamps' backbone provider) for a monthly fee. Heck, you can't even go to an office supply store to buy the thermal postage label refills that you need to print postage on; they can only be ordered online through a link in the Dymo Stamps software. Especially given the fact that even the least expensive Dymo Stamps capable LabelWriter model is over $100, this will NOT save you any money in postage, will NOT save you any time, and ordering stamps online from USPS (or getting them from the local post office) is just as convenient, if not more convenient, than ordering the stupid thermal refills online from Dymo and waiting for them to arrive. Thankfully, Amazon is great at accepting returns.

I have been using Stamps.com for my online business for about 2 years. Up till now I have been printing postage using a standard laser printer. Using this method I had to load individual sheets to print just 1 label, and often had paper jams, which sometimes resulted in lost postage funds. Not anymore! This dymo 400 turbo works flawlessly with stamps.com and prints individual postage labels in seconds. No more messing around with label sheets and loading trays. Best of all it doesn't use any toner, it uses thermal label rolls. (Laser toner is expensive) The 3-part postage label rolls are quite inexpensive, and the print quality is excellent. This baby should be paying for itself within 6 months. Cut my packing & shipping time almost to half. BTW, it also includes it's own software for making custom labels.

December 2007 Update
Yep, I still love this machine. Just walked down the hall and printed 26 stamps in less than 1 minute.

Initial Post/Jan 4, 2007
I purchased the LabelWriter 400 Turbo and then read the reviews. I was a bit scared that I had purchased a lemon. However, it arrived today and I couldn't be happier.

Setup was easy for both the LabelWriter and Endicia Stamps. I printed my first stamp within 10 minutes of opening the box. It took 2 tries for the machine to align the stamp labels properly but after that it's on target. Notice, I said the machine aligned the labels; I did not have to do anything except for ask it to print a test label. Yes, you can print test labels both in the setup and on the Endicia site before you actually print your postage.

Endicia offers a large variety of denominations for stamps. If you need a larger denomination, it is not necessary to purchase multiple 39 cent stamps, just combine larger denominations. If you need media mail, buy that denomination and then Write Media Mail on the envelope. Don't make it harder than it has to be.

The LabelWriter has a 2 year warranty and that should be sufficient to replace anything that goes wrong. After 2 years, I should hope that the company is innovative enough to have improved on this product.

I almost bought this machine a few months back but I walked away. I am so glad that I own it now and that Dymo has partnered with Endicia to offer postage without a monthly service fee.

I bought a Dymo 400 Turbo several years ago (also at Amazon) and decided to get another one for a separate business computer. There were some really nice improvements in the equipment and the software. Big compartment for forms is big enough to just drop a roll in without putting on spool which saves time. Also, the form feed button on the front is new which is a fast easy way to align forms to make ready for use.
I highly recommend this very practical product.

I bought one on sale and it is so convenient am shopping for another for my assistant. Although you do need to use Dymo brand labels that shouldn't be a surprise to anyone as most printers require their brands of ink, supplies, etc. The Turbo is very fast and labels look crisp and professional.

I purchased one of these printers in order to make use of the DYMO/Endicia joint venture dubbed "DYMO Stamps" because I was under the impression that doing so would save me a lot of trips to the post office without a lot of exorbitant monthly fees. I got taken.

They very cleverly prevent you from running their DYMO Stamps application at all until you actually purchase and connect one of the three most expensive printers DYMO manufactures, thereby ensuring that you will never see just how horrendously crippled and useless it ultimately is.

You can't print any denomination of postage you like or require, you must choose from a list of about ten options, and needless to say, those options are all just 39 cent increments; nothing you couldn't accomplish with a roll of stamps for less money and less hassle. Heaven forbid you should need to send a Priority package that weighs 1lb 2oz, it simply cannot be done, so you pretty much have to go to the post office for everything anyway. The only real difference is that now you have a $150 gizmo on your desk that consumes $20 rolls of paper with a pretty blue light on it.

And what's worse, the printer itself didn't even work very well. It was incredibly loud, and had a really difficult time handling graphics; everything was horribly streaked and text was nigh-illegible. I got better performance from dot-matrix printers 20 years ago.

If you need to print shipping labels, get yourself a cheap HP LaserJet and a huge pack of generic labels instead of this heap. If you need to print postage, go to Pitney Bowes and don't fund Endicia's shady little operation.

works very well and saves me alot of time in not having to go the post office for stamps and not be charged a monthly fee. haven't used the other options yet, but i expect they will work as well. great product!

Does every as advertised. I had no problem installing or running this printer. The software included is sufficient for printing many types of labels. The only gripes I have is finding various labels, even Dymo has a back order on labels and the cost of spare spools ($10.00 each) to simply changing label rolls. Still overall it is a good little machine for the home or home office.

I didn't really need it but bought it since it was on sale. Turns out this labelwriter is very easy to use and convenient, whether I want to print just one, or ten. The quality of the label is outstanding and printing is super fast. Just love it... Things manufactured in China are inexpensive but durable and well-made. Look around your home, I bet 90% of the things you have are made in China.