GBC Ultima 35 EZ Load Thermal Roll Laminator, 12" Maximum Width, Less than 2 Minute Warm-Up (1701680)

This laminator is a great product overall and is one of the best we've used. The quality of the construction used when making this unit is very sturdy and is a solid machine. It dosn't jam, it dosn't break down, and it works each and every time you need to laminate.We've used this unit for approx. 2 years and there are a few drawbacks to owning this model. First is the excess laminate that gets wasted when you first start a new lamination. There is approx. an 8 1/2" X 11" piece of laminate that is left over after each job, and needs to be cut off and discarded. Second, loading a new roll of laminate can be quite difficult. It's not that easy and can be quite confusing if you don't know what you're doing. I would highly recommend watching the video on how to change the laminate. Also, The heat shield on the front leaves a little to be desired. It takes some wiggling and proper placement to get this thing to stay on, but once on, everything is good. Make sure that the unit is cooled down before attempting to load. I made that mistake once after removing the heat shield, and got burned. (Not bad, but it was enough to make you say ouch for a day). The cost of the replacement laminate can be a drawback as well, but overall, for the price,(approx $75 per roll) you're getting a lot more laminate per roll than you would if you had to purchase boxes of the individual laminate sheets.Other than that, I would highly recommend this product to any small business or home office. It's WAAAAAAY better than having to use those stupid laminate sheets that you have to load one sheet one at a time. With the GBC EZload, you can laminate 50 sheets without stopping. It's fast and easy to use! Once you get the hang of it, this machine will be the last laminator you'll ever have to buy.

I have no complaints with this laminator and I have own quite a few. This one is a work horse and does quality and consistent laminations with ease. This is my second one, my first one had to be replaced and that had nothing to do with the unit itself. It was operator error (my fault) and it no longer worked. My second unit has been working non-stop for four years now. I mainly use the 3mm and 5mm lamination film. I found that when I use the 1.7mm that the rollers will squeak a lot, it just seems to be hard on the laminator. I have done hundreds if not thousands of laminations without any issues. It is so easy to load the lamination film, a no brainer. When you start to run out of lamination film, just stop the laminator, let it cool, then replace the rolls and keep on laminating. This is extremely faster than a pouch laminator. If you have a pouch laminator you will never use it again if you buy this machine. I will never use a pouch laminator again. Yes with this type of laminator you have to trim your pages, but it is totally worth it in ease, accuracy, quality and speed.

We have been very happy with this purchase. At first, I was hesitant, because there were not a lot of reviews, but then decided to take the plunge from a few good reviews we saw online. We make educational cards for homeschoolers and the laminating has been top notch and living up to our standard. The only thing we would ask is that the company provide better instructions for changing the laminating paper. If you purchase, definitely watch a YouTube video first on how to change the paper. Very satisfied. -ABC Crate

Less than a year in the top heater has failed, GBC customer service is very difficult to deal with and parts nearly impossible to get. The larger slower heating unit we use has been working without issue for 5 years and this one lasted 10 months in the same usage scenario. Unfortunately when I reached out to GBC to try and attain a PO for parts on this machine as we have internal maintenance staff that can repair all the offered was schedule repair tech and that's easier said than done in a secure facility.

I bought this machine in 2016 and I didn't even realize it's been that long because it's still working like I just unboxed it! If you have laminating jobs that involve more than a few pages at a time, it's better to invest a little in a great machine like this one, than trouble yourself with something cheaper and smaller that can only handle laminating pouches...trust me. This machine is pretty well priced for what it can do, and it's super easy to load. Once you get the hang of changing the laminate rolls, it takes maybe 3 minutes tops. Pro tip: When choosing the thickness of your laminating rolls, go 3 or 5 mil instead of 1 mil or 1.7 mil. Especially if you're laminating regular paper instead of something sturdier like card stock, your laminates will start folding in on themselves as they exit the laminator and it'll jam your machine. You'll have to watch each page come out carefully and basically pull the film as it's exiting to avoid jamming and it's a real pain. Save yourself the headache and get a slightly thicker film, even if it's a little more expensive. I still can't find another machine with better functionality in the same price range, so I'm going to keep my baby until she burns out, and when she does, I may just get another one. In 2016 I bought mine at $398 and it's $350 now. Hurry up and buy it!

I am torn between rating this all 5 or giving it only 1. So it works great, it is very easy to load (despite a few issues with that which you can see in my review of the refill film). My biggest issue is the WASTE. Seriously it wastes almost a full sheet and a half just getting started. Let's be crystal clear I mean EVERYTIME you laminate, not just on the first load. I thought it was user error, but watched tutorials on it and nope that is just how it works. The film is not cheap either. So hence the mixed review. The price of this machine as compared to others, I just don't know enough about them to justify the cost with that pretty big flaw