DVD Printer from Dymo

[Steve Sobodos]

Anybody using this printer?

DYMO DiscPainter | Home

I have been using my R300 for a while but it is starting to bug me with the manual push thing (yes I did the mods listed on the sticky), and small lines like the head is touching the disk (doesn't do it on photo paper, etc.).

[Tripp Woelfel]

I hadn't seen this before. It's an intriguing concept but I have concerns:
- What if the technology doesn't take off?
- How stingy is it with ink?
- How good is the quality?

My main concern is that if Dymo only sells two or three of these things those owners will be left with $300 bricks when production stops, and more importantly, ink production stops.

I beat the snot out of my Epson 595 and it's still working without issue. For $300, I can get the printer and at least two full color ink packs. The price/value proposition doesn't work for me.

[George Kroonder]

I think there is a review on PVC. Actually I decided not to be lazy and look op Art Adams' review:
Dymo Discpainter: First Impressions
Dymo Discpainter, Part Deux

George/

[Tripp Woelfel]

Adams' review was hardly convincing for me. Unremarkable print quality and a fiddly software UI does not make for a glowing endorsement.

I found it curious that he tried to design labels with that software. Now the Epson disk labeling software is a bit ropey as well, but it's very easy to create the desired label in Photoshop, export it as a bitmap and drop it in as an image background. If you cannot do it in Photoshop, it likely cannot be done.

[Shawn McCalip]

I just picked up one of these things as part of a package deal from Discmakers a few weeks ago. I haven't run enough discs through it to get a good sense of how fast it goes through ink, but according to a little chart somewhere on Discmakers website, they have it listed as costing somewhere around .40 cents per disc. That's a little bit more expensive than some of the other models, but those other models require a heftier investment.

So far, I'm impressed with its speed. It is very fast- even printing a full-coverage disc at 300dpi. It takes a little less than one minute to completely print a disc. That's MUCH faster than my Epson R1800. However, my one complaint is with overall image quality. The DYMO does a mediocre to fair job of printing, and I think it does better with text than it does with images. If you look at a disc after printing, the curved pixels are quite obvious, even when holding it out at arms length. I have yet to try printing at 600dpi, so these artifacts may hopefully go away at that level.

I really wish this machine was automated, as I dislike having to sit around and manually change discs, but unfortunately, its not in the budget until I can get more duplication projects. Overall, I think its a decent piece of hardware at a reasonable price, considering the level of quality you get from it. No, it can't compete with the higher end machines, but then again, it costs 75% less than most of them. I think its nice to have a dedicated printer specifically for DVDs/CDs, and it might work out well for you if you're doing very small projects like 20 discs or less.

Hope this helps.

[Richard Gooderick]

I've been looking to buy one of these in the UK. All seem to be out of stock and one says the product is discontinued.
Dymo website only offers details of stockists in the USA.
Has anyone else had any luck?
I don't want to buy a piece of equipment that is being discontinued. Even if it does seem to offer what I need.

[Dana Salsbury]

I hope it or something else will help me replace my stinking Epson now that I'm doing $11 Blu-Ray inkjets!

[Richard Gooderick]

This is just ridiculous. The only company that I can find in the UK selling this printer is an Amazon retailer that I have never heard of with an 80% positive feedback score - no thanks.
But what really grates is that if I try to contact Dymo to ask about availability of their £240 printer in the UK I get referred to their 'knowledge database' and am told that in order to even contact them with a query I have to set up an account.
Excuse me, I emailed a producer of dried cod in Iceland yesterday to ask them how to prepare a snack of theirs (probable value £2.40) that was given me by a friend and got an answer within an hour.
Sorry Dymo. With this sort of attitude and your lack of distribution in the UK you have just lost my business.

[George Kroonder]

Originally Posted by Tripp Woelfel

Adams' review was hardly convincing for me.

Nor for me. Just wanted to point it out.

B.T.W. Adam used the 'fiddly' software to design the disc instead of Photoshopping it and printing the bitmap. I find all included software of all makes (so far) to be way to difficult for anything but simple text changes.

I use an Epson whenever I can't avoid it. I'm looking into getting a more professional printer like a Primera Bravo or Microboards; but the numbers aren't adding up yet.

George/

[Dana Salsbury]

Espons are nowhere near professional printers. I get a good print about one out of every five times. I cannot go on playing Mickey Mouse with my schedule.

[Tripp Woelfel]

Originally Posted by Dana Salsbury

Espons are nowhere near professional printers. I get a good print about one out of every five times. I cannot go on playing Mickey Mouse with my schedule.

Dana... Sounds like you have a pink one. My 595 has not failed me once in over 200 disks. Images on the Verbatim DVDs with printable hubs look terrific. To be sure, they do not look like professionally screened disks and there is a matte look to them, but that's the nature of the print media. I've heard you can waterproof the printing and give a glossier finish to the disk by spraying some sort of clear coat on the (top) surface of the disk after the ink drys.

Based upon the reports I've read, Epson's QC isn't where it should be. But given the options currently out there I'll keep using my Epson till it starts coughing up blood. When it does, I'll buy another one. At just over $100 a whack for my 595 I almost consider it a consumable item.