DYMO LabelWriter 310

...saw an advert for a DYMO LabelWriter machine which prints out one label at a time. Whoppeee!!! I thought. This sounds like the answer to my prayers. Now, my company uses a local firm which supplies office stationery and equipment and it gives us very good discounts because we do spend quite a tidy sum with them throughout the year. So, next day, off I trotted to get the catalogue to see if I could get this item. Oh, goodeeee, it’s in there! There ...
...decided I would get the Dymo Label Writer 310. It was exactly what I wanted but it was quite pricey (details at the end of the review). Anyhow, I decided that I would order it – it would save having to dispose of the hardly unused toner cartridges.

My machine arrived the next day – our local firm are brilliant – if they have it in stock then we are assured it will be delivered the very next day.

Was I or was I not excited ... more

Have you ever had the misfortune to put a sheet of sticky labels into your printer and for that same sheet to stick to the roller? What was the result? Big, black splodges all over the paper? Well this happened to me and what a resulting mess. In the end, I had to dump the hardly-used new cartridge and put another new one in so this was an expensive mistake – each toner cartridge cost approximately £120. Now I know there is a label on the market now that claims they don’t stick in the printer but I am not too sure about them.

My company (well, it’s not actually MY company but you know what I mean) buys boxes of labels (usually 14 labels per sheet) and they are absolutely great if I need to print off a whole sheet of a particular address but what happens when I only need one label? Most times, I can put the envelope into my printer and print the address straight onto the envelope but for some envelopes this is not possible. What if I want to put one label onto a file? It’s great to put a sheet of labels into the printer and then just print the text on one of the labels. The rest of the sheet is then prone to sticking on your printer roller when you re-use it in the printer again, as described above. I like my files and paperwork to look neat and tidy and have typed labels on them. I hate to see handwritten labels on the files, I think they look totally unprofessional.

So, my dilemma, how do I get around this problem?

Watching TV the other week, I saw an advert for a DYMO LabelWriter machine which prints out one label at a time. Whoppeee!!! I thought. This sounds like the answer to my prayers. Now, my company uses a local firm which supplies office stationery and equipment and it gives us very good discounts because we do spend quite a tidy sum with them throughout the year. So, next day, off I trotted to get the catalogue to see if I could get this item. Oh, goodeeee, it’s in there! There were actually quite a few to choose from. However, I decided I would get the Dymo Label Writer 310. It was exactly what I wanted but it was quite pricey (details at the end of the review). Anyhow, I decided that I would order it – it would save having to dispose of the hardly unused toner cartridges.

My machine arrived the next day – our local firm are brilliant – if they have it in stock then we are assured it will be delivered the very next day.

Was I or was I not excited about this piece of office equipment? Well, ecstatic, to say the least!

It arrived in quite a large box – 30cm high and 23cm wide and it was very well packaged inside. The contents of the box included:

 Dymo 310 fast high resolution label printer
 CD-Rom installation
 Labels swatch book
 Warranty booklet
 Cleaning card
 Quick start user guide
 Roll of labels
 USB cable
 LabelWriter 310 AC Adapter
 LabelWriter 310 switching adapter
 Power cord

I couldn’t wait to get this kit installed but, unfortunately, my systems administrator has to do it! Our IT department does not allow us to install software ourselves. So, I wandered off down the corridor and spoke very nicely to Tony (systems administrator) and he came directly down to my office to install it. It’s amazing how fluttering your eyelashes can get a gal what she wants!

Now, as I didn’t install the software personally, I cannot state that it was easy to do so BUT I was standing behind Tony watching his every move and it did seem real easy – just follow the directions on the CD. Insert the CD-Rom into your CD-Rom drive and double click on the DYMO Label Software Installer icon. Follow the on-screen instructions to complete the installation. At some point during the installation you will be asked to connect your LabelWriter printer to the USB port. Connect the power cord to the DC power connector on the bottom of the printer making sure that you push the plug in completely. Plug the USB cable into the USB port on the bottom of the printer. Then put the printer onto your desk, or work surface, and plug the power cord into a power outlet (ie. electric switch). You will then be prompted (and the printer must be turned on) to plug the USB cable into an available USB port on your computer. The installation will then automatically continue when the system detects the LabelWriter printer.

The adapter and connections were real easy to figure out and Tony and I worked the wires through my desk to connect to the LabelWriter so that there weren’t any unsightly wires hanging loosely – which could be a health and safety hazard so make sure all the wires are properly taped up underneath your desk.

You must then load the labels into the machine.

 There is a multi-function button which needs to be pressed to eject the labels that protected the printer during shipment.
 Open the top cover and take out the label spool
 In your left hand hold the spool spindle and place the label roll on the spindle so that the labels feed from through from underneath
 Then place the spool guide on the right side of the spool and adjust it accordingly.
 Insert the label spool into the slots in the printer cover.
 The first label needs to be cut in half so there is a clean edge and insert the label into the label feed slot.
 The printer will then automatically feed the label through.
 Close the top cover

This LabelWriter is a direct thermal printer and doesn’t use toner, ink cartridges or a ribbon. Instead, it uses heat from a thermal print head to print on specially treated labels which can be bought from your office stationery supplier.

It is approximately 13cm high and 16cm wide and it has a dark blue wave design on the lower part with silver colour on the top part.

Now the machine was installed and labels inserted, I was raring to go! Talk about excitement. I thought it would be so easy to do because, after all, it was just a label printer. But this piece of equipment is really something else.

I printed the manual so that I had a full set of instructions as I found it was easier to consult the manual than keep going into help mode. The manual consists of 32 pages.

The first step is to familiarise yourself with the software. I should stress that you should really read the instructions step by step and you will be amazed at the number of functions this piece of equipment can do:-

 Choose label size from the label files
 Add graphic to label
 Change graphics
 Insert return address
 Add various fonts
 Save label either to the Label Files or create your own address book
 Label designer feature:
o Text
o Address
o Graphics
o Lines
o Rectangle
o Ellipse
o Barcode
o Counter
o Date/time
o Curved text

Just a handy note about the address book – this allows you to create address or data list files. The address list entries are automatically sorted using the first line of the address, ie. if this is the person’s name, then the entry is listed and sorted by the last name. If, however, the first line is a company name, then the entry is sorted by the company name.

The address book can be used to enter information into variable objects (address, variable text or barcode) on the current label. Therefore, if the label currently on display contains more than one variable object then you need to select the object into which you want the selected address book entry to appear.

Once your address label is correct all you have to do is press the print button but this little gem does have a clever feature called Smart Paste which enables you to copy/paste text. However, if you are copying say, three rows from a spreadsheet, then Smart Paste treats each row as a separate label and will create three new labels. Clever, is it not?

It can also be very versatile – printing labels from Microsoft Word using the Word Add-In; printing labels using other Add-Ins for Windows applications; using merge print from Database for database connectivity and using the LabelWriter printer driver to print labels directly from other programmes. It can also be used with Outlook, Palm Desktop, Goldmine and Cardscan and works with all other software through regular printer drivers. It can also be easy to use in a network environment.

SOME TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS:

 Direct thermal
 300 dots per inch (118 dots per mm)
 8 labels per minute
 works with Windows 98, 2000, ME and XP, Mac OS 8.6, 9, 9.x and 10.2
 paper handling – 30 metres of labels
 interface – USB
 dimensions:
o 12.4cm x 14.6cm x18.4cm
 weight – 1.5 pounds (0.68 kg)
 average print head life – 2,000,000 linear inches (over 31 miles)
 Two year warranty

HOW MUCH DID IT COST?

Well, as I mentioned previously, it is expensive and it retails at £155. However, my company bought it at a discounted price of £100.75.

MY VERDICT:

Although it is an expensive piece of equipment I think it is worth its value. In saying that, I do not think I could afford to spend this amount of money for home use. But for the office, it is a small, practical, looks neat and does the job it says it does plus more and I am enjoying learning more about this printer.

 

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