As the least expensive spiral coil binding
machine that offers disengageable dies and an electric coil inserter,
the PC200E is well positioned in the marketplace. Here is
our opinion of the PC200E spiral coil binding system.
As the least expensive spiral coil binding
machine that offers disengageable dies and an electric coil inserter,
the PC200E is well positioned in the marketplace. Presented as a
binding solution for small or home offices, this machine has some
strong features and a couple of weaknesses worth mentioning. Here is
our opinion of the PC200E spiral coil binding system.
Strengths:
At
this price point, it would be reasonable to expect the PC200E to be
made of cheap plastic parts. We certainly did, and were very pleasantly
surprised to find that this machine is of solid metal construction. As
far as we can tell, this is a machine that is built to last a long
time, and if used in a small office or home setting, it may just last
forever.
The most impressive feature of the
PC200E is that it all of its punching dies are disengageable. This is
almost unheard of for a spiral coil binding machine at this price
point. For the uninitiated, what this means is that you can stop any
one of the punching pins from punching. That enables the user to bind
documents of just about any length without worrying about a half hole
on the edge of your paper. The open throat design that the PC200E
features allows users to bind documents that are longer than eleven
inches, using a multi-step process. This is some pretty remarkable
flexibility to have at such a low price.
The
PC200E includes an electric spiral coil inserter that is operated by a
foot pedal. This is bordering on brilliant as it allows the user to
hold the pages of the document together with both hands during coiling.
We found this very handy, as it were, and were very impressed at how
much easier and more efficient it made the whole process.
We can't stress enough that to do spiral coil binding correctly you
need to have a pair of crimping pliers, and the PC200E has the
foresight to include them in the box. While it's only about a thirty
dollar value, it saves the user from having to find a pair of these
pliers somewhere, or worse, attempting to finish the binding process
without them.
Weaknesses:
We thought the
handle was a little laborious to use. The machine we tested, in fact
had a handle that was designed differently than we have seen in photos
of the machine. A lot of similar machines have an extension at ninety
degrees that make it just a little bit easier to operate. This is not a
big deal for smaller project, but it may increase the tedium and
discomfort if the user is going to bind a large number of documents.
The twelve to fifteen pages per lift capacity of the PC200E isn't too
bad for businesses or organizations that are only going to be binding a
few books in an average week. However, that kind of capacity would not
be appropriate for larger projects or heavy use.
The inclusion of the spiral coil inserter is great, but we found its
placement at the top of the machine to be a little bit unwieldy. Other
machines place the inserter on the front of the machine where it is
more convenient to reach for coil inserting.
If you are interested in purchasing the PC200E 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!
