DYMO LabelWriter 320

Author's product rating:   

Picture quality	Good
Printing speed	Fast
Colour sensitivity	Satisfactory
Ease of use	Easy
Value For Money	Good

Advantages:	Handy to use, great quality labels, never runs out of ink
Disadvantages:	Quite expensive, noisy, can't print colour

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

At the beginning of this year, we ordered a Dymo Labelwriter 320 from PC World Business.

I had never used one of these before, but we were in definite need of one, myself in particular. I work in a busy Accounts department and Sales Invoices and Payments are sent out nearly every day. We couldn't use Window envelopes for the invoices, due to the way they were set out, so each time I needed to send an invoice, I would use a sheet of 21 Address labels. It got to the point where not only was I getting peeved at being at the printer every five minutes for one measly label, but our printer was unreliable and so messed up a lot of the labels, resulting in a lot of waste. That's when the Dymo labelwriter was mentioned by a colleague who had used one in a previous job.

I originally went onto www.dymo.co.uk to check out the Labelwriter. It was here that I found there were actually 3 different models:

•Labelwriter 310 - The most affordable label printer. Prints sharp text & images on labels up to 40 mm. Perfect for dozens of applications such as envelopes, file folders, bar codes and much more. Includes software, or print directly from your favourite programs such as Word & Excel. Cost £76.59 from Dymo Website
•Labelwriter 320 - The most versatile label printer for any office. Prints labels up to 59 mm wide for envelopes, packages, file folders, disks, videotapes, name badges and much more. Improved and 30% faster print speed. Use on USB. Windows or Mac. Cost £102.12 from Dymo website.
•Labelwriter 330 Turbo - For optimum speed and productivity, the LabelWriter 330 Turbo handles all the same labels as the LabelWriter 320, with the same print quality, but prints twice as fast. Just 2 seconds per label. Cost £127.65 from Dymo website

After careful consideration, I opted for the Labelwriter 320. This was due to the fact that as we ordered it from PC World Business, we managed to get it for around £85.00, rather than Dymo's suggested price of £102.12. It was networkable, which meant that anyone on our network could use the printer. We felt that although we didn't want to dearer one, we also didn't want the cheapest one. The Labelwriter 320 was perfect for what we needed.

The Labelwriter was delivered the next day and duly set up by one of our IT guys. Now, I don't know how easy it was to install, as I didn't do it - not that I didn't know how, but because you have to be a Network Administrator to be able to add new Programs to the work PC's. I know it didn't take very long - around 5 minutes from beginning to end.

The labelwriter comes with full detailed instructions, Power pack, USB cable for connection to your PC and CD installation software. It also came with 2 rolls of address labels, so we were able to start using it straight away and 1 year free Warranty with Dymo, providing that we registered our product with them.

A desktop icon is created when it is installed and when I want to create or go to saved labels, I click on this. I am then able to either create a new label (size of labels below) or open a saved label. I initially started by creating new labels but now they are all saved, I very rarely have to create new ones.

**Main features of the Dymo Labelwriter 320**
Direct thermal print technology eliminates the need for ribbons, toner and ink cartridges.
Can print labels up to 59 mm wide (Lever Arch file size)
Prints each label in under 4 seconds
Connects to USB port
Automatically captures addresses from popular applications for instant address labels with no retyping (an icon is provided in each of your Office applications should you wish to use this)
Easy to share over a network
Works with Windows 98, 2000, Me and XP. Also Macintosh OS 8.6, 9, 9.1, 10.2.4 and 10.3.

**Labels**
There is a varied range of labels that can be used with this printer: However, I won't list them all, as there are quite a few. I have however listed the labels we use most often, so you can get a good idea of the price:

Address Labels - 130 labels per roll, 2 rolls per box
Size: 89mm x 28mm - £8.99 - Usually for invoices and payments we send out

Shipping Labels -260labels per roll, 2 rolls per box
Size: 89mm x 36mm - £17.99 - For any Software CD's we send out to Customers

Transparent Address Labels - 260 Labels per roll
Size: 89mm x 36mm - £19.99 - We used these rather snazzy transparent labels for Invitations we sent out for our yearly exhibition

CD/DVD Labels - 160 labels per roll, 1 roll per box
Size: 57mm diameter - For any Software CD's we create for Customers

Lever Arch File Label Large - 1 roll x 110 labels
Size: 60mmx190mm - For labelling our files

The Labelwriter, is fast, efficient and easy to use. The Instructions are clear and concise and the Software is easy to use. Although the labels are slightly pricey, the printer never needs any toner, ink or cartridges so the price does even itself out. It's a handy little machine that even matches my PC and Monitor - the labelwriter is black and silver. It is neat and compact, weighing just 0.680Kg.

I would definitely recommend this product.

verticalsales@dymo.com
DYMO Corporation
Waterside House, Cowley Business Park
Uxbridge, Middlesex UB8 2HP,
United Kingdom
Monday to Friday: 9am - 5:30 pm
020 7341 55 29