Home > Consumer Reviews > Fellowes CD Label Kit (99940)

Several people seem to think that this kit is a headache, and makes it difficult to produce good-looking labels. That's not the nature of my complaint.

I used the NEATO applicator and matte labels (2up template) to make labels for my DVD+Rs. I was more than satisfied at first - I made about 25 labels, and had a blast giving my once-blank discs a facelift. It wasn't until I actually went to watch the DVDs that I had any trouble. About 70% through the movie, the image and audio would begin to seriously mess up, until it would just stop playing. This happened not only in my standalone DVD player, but also in my DVD-ROM. I thought that the discs themselves were bad, or my drive had burnt them improperly, or my burning software was corrupt. Nope - it was the labels all along. Old movies that played fine without a label wouldn't play properly after having a label put on them. Not only that, but my new movies that wouldn't play right would played just fine after I peeled the label off the disc. I don't know why this happens, and I don't know if it applies to labels other than the matte ones, but it's a serious issue and nowhere in the labels' documentation does it give any warning of such problems.

In summary, don't use these labels for your DVDs. They'll compromise your discs' ability to play properly, turning your good movies into coasters. Now, I've got to peel these damn things off of twenty-something discs. Save yourselves the trouble and stick to the tried-and-true black Sharpie when it comes to labeling your discs.

* / *****

Having grown tired of writing information on CD-Rs with a permanant marker, I looked for new ways of labelling the media. At first I tried Avery; I bought a package of CD labels and downloaded the software from the internet as is advised on the back of the Avery labels' package. Big mistake. First of all, you only get to use the software demo ten times. Second of all, no matter what I did with the software, the labels, and my printer, I could never get the calibration right, which resulted in all sorts of messed-up CD labels. I visited my cousin, and he was burning disks and using the Fellowes kit, so I bought it. Excellent choice. I didn't have to calibrate my printer (a Lexmark) AT ALL with the Fellowes software, which is included on CD rom. I just put the labels into the paper tray, hit print, and the labels came out printed just perfectly. Also, Fellowes gives you plenty of labels, including matte and glossy ones, so that when you go to buy Fellowes label refills you can get whichever you prefer after having tested out both with your printer. Now I use a label just about every time a burn a CD. As an added bonus, there are many, many templates for other types of labels, such as for diskettes and ZIPs. My experience with Fellowes was very good, and I rate this item high. It's so much fun using a photo of an musician as the graphical element for the label, and then playing around with text to create the CD title and track listings. When using images with Avery constant manipulation was needed to modify the picture to fit it onto the label. The Fellowes software automatically centers pictures and text, and gives you many more options that are easier to work with than the Avery software. And the Avery software advertised that you don't need an applicator to apply their labels, but their method is VERY tricky, and uses a jewel case in addition to the users very steady hands and excellent eyes, leaving little room for success. The Fellowes applicator is much better...just put the label on the surface, put the CD data side up on a spring-loaded disk that sticks up through the middle of the applicator, and press the CD down, affixing the label to the disk FLAWLESSLY and lined up PERFECTLY. All in all, a good purchase.

While I'm glad that other people have had wonderful experiences with this kit, I can't say the same for myself. I purchased it with the usual expectations: "Cool! Now I can make my CD-Rs look awesome with custom labels." They weren't met.

The labels themselves, while of decent quality, are a tiny bit small for a CD's label surface--on my Memorex media, I get a small gold ring on the inside and outside. They're also *very* serious when they give anti-curling instructions.

The install CD includes many interesting high-quality background images. My only complaint is that the "Compact Disc Digital Audio" is black on white and isn't transparent--it erases any background you try to use it over.

The software, however, has been a complete headache. Unlike every other package I have ever heard of, this package requires you to "calibrate" by printing a test pattern on an actual label page (which does not ruin the labels themselves). You're then supposed to enter the printing offset in .04mm increments. Then you hope that the thing doesn't independently alter those by 12mm (1/2") or more, completely ruining a label. In addition, despite the label sheet's having its own layout descriptor file, the top label and bottom label on one sheet are never aligned at the same time. You have to print each separately and then change the vertical offset in between. And make sure not to put any text within about 1/4" of the edge; even calibrated, you never know what's going to get cut off. It also can't use GIF files "because of legal restrictions" (which only apply to software that *creates* GIF files, not uses them, and which expire in 2000 anyway).

Overall recommendation: Blah. If you're *really* set on having CD-R labels, get a CD-labeling kit, but be prepared to deal with some headaches.

This product is great and dead easy too use. I have tried the product from memorex, but the Fellowes one is ten times better.

Some of the problems I've encountered...
(I use it to make audio CD labels)

1. Will not line up properly on the printed page despite calibrating my HP printer many times. Tech support could not resolve this problem. If I print only one label at a time I can get it to work.

2. Interface not intuitive, takes a while to learn, is limited in it's abilities (you will need a separate graphics app), and has locked up a few times... remember to SAVE as you go.

3. Text does not print exactly as shown on screen... results in text going off the page or not lined up to the background as you planned. I have wasted a lot of (expensive) labels because of this.

The good...

1. WHEN you finally get it tweaked the results can be outstanding. The blank label sheets are excellant quality, and the applicator works well.

2. Labels are readily available and this company seems to enjoy a good market share. This is important... if the label maker you use goes out of business, you've just wasted your time learning the interface and saving your work to an obsolete format.

3. They are improving their product with software updates and paper options. Hopefully this will continue, and the bugs I mentioned will be worked out.