The PC200 is positioned as a low-cost spiral
coil binding solution for low volume users. In this article, we take a look at this
machine and examine its strengths and weaknesses.
The PC200 is positioned as a low-cost
spiral coil binding solution for low volume users. Here we take a look
at this machine and examine its strengths and weaknesses.
Strengths:
The
biggest advantage the PC200 enjoys over almost all of its competition
is that this machine features 46 fully disengageable punching dies.
There is no other machine on the market in this price range that offers
this kind of flexibility. We are also very impressed to find
disengageable dies at this price point. Disengageable dies allow the
user to stop any of the machine's pins from punching, thus allowing
fully customizable punching patterns. The machine is designed to punch
documents up to eleven inches, but larger documents are possible too
using a two step process. All in all, as we said, it is almost unheard
of to find this kind of flexibility at this price.
The makers of the PC200 have seen fit to include a pair of spiral coil
crimpers with the machine. This is a great idea, because there is no
overestimating how important crimpers are to the plastic coil binding
process. These are special pliers that are designed to cut off excess
coil and crimp the end so that the wire stays in the document where it
belongs, instead of winding its way out. While the pliers are only
about a thirty dollar value, the fact that you don't need to buy them
separately is definitely worth mentioning.
You
might expect a binding machine at this price point to be made of
plastic. We did too, but were pleasantly surprised to find that the
PC200 is made of metal for the most part. It looks to us like a very
durable machine, and should last for ages if used in a small office or
home setting. The PC200 may not stand up to industrial use but it isn't
intended for that anyway.
We also really like the
PC200's adjustable punching-depth control, and the coil size selector.
These are the kinds of things that make spiral coil binding just that
much easier.
Weaknesses:
For low volume
production, say a handful or so of documents per week, the PC200
shines. However, you should be aware that the punching process used by
this machine is manual, and can get just a little tedious over the
course of a bigger project. The punching capacity of 12 to 15 pages per
lift isn't too bad, but again, for larger projects it will prove to be
a lot more work than you intended.
The inclusion
of crimping pliers is a nice touch, but it makes us wonder why there
isn't a spiral coil inserter on the PC200 as well. This just means that
you will be spinning the coil onto your document by hand. Again, not
that big of a deal for a handful of books, but the time it would take
to insert the coils on fifty to a hundred documents would be
significant.
The process for binding documents
larger than eleven inches is a bit time consuming, and can take the
inexperienced user some effort to learn to do correctly.
If you are interested in purchasing the PC200 Coil Binding Machine for your office, you should really check out MyBinding.com. They offer an excellent price and free shipping on this binding machine. Plus, they carry one of the largest selections of Spiral Coil Binding Supplies available on the internet. Choose from more than fifty different colors and twenty seven different sizes. Check it out today!
