As a reasonably priced small pouch
laminator, the HeatSeal H100 is designed for use in home offices or
small businesses that occasionally need to laminate small items such as
ID cards. In this review, we will take a quick look at
the H100 and give you what we found to be some of the machine's
strengths and weaknesses.
As a reasonably priced small pouch
laminator, the HeatSeal H100 is designed for use in home offices or
small businesses that occasionally need to laminate small items such as
ID cards. In the following short review, we will take a quick look at
the H100 and give you what we found to be some of the machine's
strengths and weaknesses.
Strengths:
We have to say
that one of the things we like best about the H100 is the low price.
Coming in at about fifty dollars, this is an inexpensive laminating
machine that offers new and low volume users the ability to create
badges, ID tags, and other such items at will.
The H100 has a throat width of four inches. This should be plenty for
most of the smaller applications for which the machine is intended. It
should be mentioned that the H100's ability to use both 3mil and 5mil
pouches is also a plus. Many lower end machines will take one or the
other, but not both.
We were happy to find that
the warm up time for the H100 was pretty quick, with a handy light to
tell the user when the machine is ready to go.
The GBC H100 is a very easy machine to use, which is great for those
who haven't used laminating machines before. All you need to do is to
wait for the aforementioned glow light, and feed the pouches through -
there are no speed or temperature settings to fret over.
The GBC name alone lends a lot of legitimacy to this machine. As one of
the most trusted and respected manufacturers in the industry, the name
alone carries weight. GBC has faith in this machine as well, as they
offer a one year warranty with purchase. In most cases, if you have a
problem with your machine, GBC will simply replace it with a new one.
No hassles. That is really nice for the consumer.
Weaknesses:
The H100 is limited to running two thicknesses of
laminating pouches: 3 and 5mil. While this adds a little flexibility to
the machine, it turns out that most of the smaller laminating pouches
that might be compatible with the H100 aren't readily available in 3mil
thicknesses. This just means that you are pretty much limited to using
5mil pouches with this unit. Not a huge deal, but something that you
should keep in mind.
The throat width of around
four and a half inches is perfect for a lot of applications, such as ID
tags, badges, and other items that are around the size of a driver's
license or a little bigger. However, you will not be able to laminate
sheets of paper or larger cards with the H100.
The H100 is not the fastest machine out there, but for small projects
it really shouldn't matter all that much. Just realize if you are
looking for a machine to produce hundreds of laminations per day, you
might want to find one with more capabilities.
The H100 is without some of the features that some more expensive
machines have, such as a reverse function or a jam release lever to
help with paper jams. If you do have a pouch jam after the warranty is
out, the machine will most likely need to be replaced. These units do
not have replaceable or repairable parts.
If you are interested in more information about the GBC HeatSeal H100 Laminator, you should really check out MyBinding.com.
They offer a great price on this machine and they even offer Free
Shipping on all orders over $75. Plus, they carry the entire line of GBC Heatseal Laminating Pouches for use with your pouch laminating machine. Check it out today!
