GBC Ultima 35 EZload 12″ Roll Laminator Product Review
For years, roll laminators have been used in schools, churches, print
shops and larger organizations to laminate all sorts of different
materials. However, the size and cost of these machines kept most
smaller users from purchasing a roll laminator. Most individuals simply
didn’t want to spend thousands of dollars on a laminator or didn’t have
a place to keep a machine that weighed over 100 pounds and was almost
three feet wide. With this in mind, GBC (General Binding Corporation)
released a new 12″ wide roll laminator that was designed to address
some of these problems. I took this new GBC Ultima 35 EZload roll laminator for a test drive and here is what I discovered.
Features:
After you get Ultima35 out of the box, get it all set up and turn it on
the first thing that you will notice is that it is very quick to warm
up. In fact, it only took between 1-2 minutes for it to warm up.
Compared to most roll laminators (and a lot of pouch laminators) this
is extremely fast. This makes it possible to increase productivity by
decreasing the time that it takes to laminate your first document.
One of the main reasons that GBC developed the Ultima 35 was to address
issues with users loading their laminating film backwards on their
machines. Every year, the single most common reason for service calls
on laminators is that users load the film with the adhesive side facing
the rollers and end up with a huge mess. The Ultima35 eliminates this
problem by using special laminating film that has keyed rollers. One
side of the film comes with a light blue adaptor on it and the other
side comes with a dark blue adaptor. The two sides are different sizes;
this means that it is impossible to load the film into the machine the
wrong way.
The Ultima 35 is actually a fairly versatile machine. It accepts roll film that is 1.7mil, 3mil and 5mil thick. The specifications from GBC
state that it can also handle 10mil film. However, 10mil film is not
currently available and there is no expected date for its release at
the time of this review. In addition to regular gloss films, GBC also
released some matte films for the Ultima35. These are new offerings for
the 2008 calendar year.
In working with the Ultima35, there were several other features that I
noticed that are worth pointing out. It has an adjustable speed dial
that will allow you to adjust for different materials that you are
laminating and for thicker films. It also has a forward and reverse
feature that can be used to help with the removal of film wraps or
jams. Finally, it has a built in trimmer to assist in cutting the
finished laminated materials from the machine.
Limitations:
At this point, you might be wondering “what’s the catch”? Well, every
great machine has a few drawbacks. One potential drawback of the
Ultima35 is that the supplies for it are proprietary. This means that
you will need to purchase the special laminating rolls that are
designed specifically for this machine. These supplies are slightly
more expensive than standard laminating roll film. However, the machine
is considerably less expensive and this is a reasonable tradeoff for
such an inexpensive feature rich laminator.
The Ultima-35 is limited to 12″ wide rolls. This means that you can
laminate anything up to twelve inches wide. However, it will not be
able to handle posters or other large format documents. If you are
going to need to laminate these types of materials you will need to
look for a larger machine. The Ultim35 Ezload is also not capable of
using specialty laminating films and won’t do mounting. These are not
common applications but I thought that I should point it out just in
case you are looking for a machine that can do these things.
The final limitation that noted with the Ultima35 is that even though
it is impossible to load the film backwards, it isn’t really any easier
to load than a traditional laminator. You still have to carefully
thread the film through the correct path in order to get it threaded
onto the machine. This can be a little bit tricky and it might take you
a few times before you master it.
Construction:
The Ultima35 appears to be built well and should hold up over time. The
sides of the machine are plastic and the feed tray is metal. The gears
inside are metal. You might want to be careful with the trimming device
on the back of the machine, it might get broken if you aren’t careful.
The only other thing that I noticed on the machine that I was looking
at was that it was a little bit loud when I had it on. There is a fan
near the back of the machine that helps to cool the unit. This fan
sounds a little bit like a loud computer fan. It is more of an
annoyance but it is worth noting.
I wouldn’t be doing you justice if I didn’t mention the fact that you
should be careful about what you feed through your laminator. You
shouldn’t try to laminate things that will melt, plastics, sharp
objects, glitter or materials with glitter on them or 3D objects. All
of these things can quickly ruin your laminator and it will not be
covered under the warranty if you do attempt these things.
Recommendation:
The Ultima35 is a great machine for a small office, home office, or
organization that needs to do a bunch of laminating and is looking for
a low cost roll laminator. It has a number of features that you won’t
find on any laminator in its price range. If you are looking for a 12
inch laminator and want a cost effective solution, the Ultima-35 Ezload
is a good bet.