Looking for the Perfect Laminator Machines For Your Office Documents

If you work in an office, then you will know the different equipments that are required to make office work easier and more convenient. They include binding machines, punchers, photocopiers, scanners and printers, fax machines and last but not the least, the laminator machine.

A laminator is one of the most important and useful office equipment because it helps protect important documents like identification cards and other similar business-related documents. They are also used for signages and other visual aids that may be required in some aspects of the business.

In looking for a suitable laminator, it is best to do a little needs analysis first. There are two general types of lamination processes--- namely, the cold lamination process or the hot lamination process.

The hot lamination process involves the use of heat-activated laminating sheets. The document is inserted into a laminating pouch that is the fed into a thermal laminator which bonds the transparent adhesive on the laminating sheet to the document through the use of heat.

The cold process does not make use of heat-activated laminating sheets because it is equipped with a self-adhesive laminating film which can be bonded simply using a cold laminator that is usually built with a roller or a press that do not use heat (unlike thermal laminating equipments).

The main variables you should look at in buying the perfect laminator that will suit your needs are:

1. How big are the documents you will be laminating? For most office or home office scenarios, a 9 to 9.5 inch laminator will be adequate as most documents will not be bigger than the standard letter-sized document. It is a good idea to buy the biggest model you can afford because you can still work with small documents (e.g. photos, ID cards) using a standard 9.5 inch machine. Remember that you can trim the sheet to your liking if you used it for smaller documents. Bigger machines are usually used for industrial applications and other professional copy or printing services.
2. Hot or cold laminator? If majority of your documents are somehow heat-sensitive then a cold laminating machine may be in order. Otherwise, the usual thermal machine might be more than sufficient. There are units that offer both cold and hot laminating process so they are certainly a good option for those wants something versatile and multi-functional.
3. What’s your budget? Good news is that most laminating machines today are pretty affordable as you can get a standard-sized and standard-featured unit for only about $50, give or take. The laminating sheets themselves are also inexpensive and can be bought at bulk prices for more savings.
4. Which brand to get? There are a lot of brands that produce these types of machines but the top brands include 3M (Scotch) and GBC. You will probably not go wrong choosing either of these brands. It is advisable to check the specs carefully to make sure that you get the functionality and features you need out of your laminator. One thing you could do is to do your research first before buying by looking for laminator machine reviews on the Internet and look for feedback from users.