LABEL PRINTER STICKS AROUND
For years, I have had a variety of label
printers on my desktop. They kept changing because either the
companies eventually went out of business or the model I owned was no
longer supported by the companies that made them. For some time now, I
went without a label printer until recently when I rediscovered the
offerings from Dymo. Dymo offers a line of label printers with
different abilities but I wish to focus on their top-of-the-line model
if for no other reason than to say that it works with both Windows XP
and Macintosh OS X.
Windows XP and Macintosh OS X are each
platform's latest and "modern" operating system. And while both
operating systems will run legacy software (that's software that was
written before the existence of these new operating systems),
applications written specifically for them can take advantage of their
enhanced features. Nowhere is this more apparent than when it comes to
the software drivers that control specific hardware devices. I shudder
when I think of all those printers, scanners, digital cameras,
external drives and other specialty hardware that just won't work
anymore, not because there's anything physically wrong with them, but
simply because no modern OS software drivers for them exists. Many of
these devices are doomed to extinction because their developers have
no intention of creating new drivers for the newer modern operating
systems.
But some devices have received a reprieve thanks
to third-party developers. These software writers have found a
lucrative business in designing device drivers for orphaned products.
But even if there is a driver written by such a company, there's no
assurance that all of your peripheral's features will be supported or
even maintained properly. Unfortunately for my aging label printer, no
such third-party driver was available that would make it operate
within my shiny new OS X. And while my old Dymo printer also used an
outdated interface which is no longer supported, a new Dymo label
printer model has been released that fortunately does.
 The
LabelWriter 330 Turbo is a quality label printer from Dymo that
represents a third generation effort from the company. The printer can
print over 40 standard label sizes up to 2.3 inches in just 2 seconds,
or 32 labels a minute. That's very fast for a label printer. The 330
Turbo prints high-quality 300 dpi text and grayscale graphic images
and with the included software, it can print a variety of product as
well as postal bar codes. All of this comes in a tiny 5x5x7 inch,1.5
pound package.
A wide variety of label types include envelope,
shipping and even CD labels. Simply insert the roll of labels into the
little label printer and you're ready to go.
The 330 Turbo connects to your PC or Mac via a
serial or USB connection. Currently, the Windows XP driver and
application is now available. The Macintosh OS X driver is also
available now, however the OS X application will become available in
April.
www.dymo.com
More on OS X
 As
mentioned above, it's great to see existing hardware come out with
updated drivers for the modern operating systems. Of note is the Bravo
Disc Publisher from Primera Technology. The Bravo is the world's first
automated CD and DVD disk publishing system that burns disks and then
prints the image directly onto the disk without using any labels, and
it does all that from within a single unit. Using a little robotic
arm, the disks are first burned and then moved into position for
printing. The images printed are full color, 2400 dpi images. You can
stack up to 25 disks into the Bravo so you can burn and print the
entire stack unattended. What's new with both Bravo models (one is CD
only while the other burns both CD and DVD disks) is the addition of
the Macintosh OS X driver. Now the same Bravo works with both Windows
XP and Mac OS X making it even more versatile than it was before.
www.primera.com |
