GBC Inspire Thermal Laminator, 9 Inch, Black (1701857)

I am very pleased with my purchase of the Swingline Thermal Laminator, Inspire Plus- it is so easy to use and does not take long to warm up. I appreciate the indicator light that lets me know when the laminator is ready to process my projects. I also appreciate that the machine has a cool lamination function for products that are heat-sensitive. The machine also has a button that allows you to manually pull the laminating paper through the machine in the event that it jams. (I have not experienced any jamming while using my machine.) This laminator is efficient- it does not take long for the machine to process your project and the best part is that you only have to put it through the laminator once. Disclaimer: Please make sure that you are processing your projects at the right thickness- move the slider that corresponds to the type of project that you’re working on and read your user manual so that you can ensure that the materials in your project will not cause the machine to malfunction! I have a four year old son and being able to preserve some of his projects and achievements is very important to me. I am also in the process of laminating worksheets for my son to use dry erase markers on to help him continue to learn concepts when he is on break from pre-school and to work on after-school.

Just got this today and already tried it! It worked great. I had no issues at all. It moves a little slow but meh, who cares, lol. The plastic is a little sturdier than what I’m used to (school laminator, I’m a teacher). I was wondering how the cutting would go since the plastic was thicker. It went fine!! Wasn’t hard to cut and the paper inside stayed sealed. I like the idea of having this at home for quick little things I need for school without having to wait for lamination day : / or go and pay elsewhere.

I spent a long time researching on the perfect laminator to buy. I did not want to spend more than $50 yet I wanted something that was compact, lightweight and would give me great results consistently. My main use of the laminator is to make flash cards for my young child who manages to fold, bend and rip regular paper flash cards. I spent hours reading reviews for the Scotch Thermal Laminator (TL901C-T), Scotch Thermal Laminator 2 Roller System (TL901), AmazonBasics Thermal Laminator, and the Purple Cows (3016c). I narrowed it down to the Scotch (TL901C-T), AmazonBasics and Swingline. The AmazonBasics, while the most compact and cheapest, seemed to be least consistent in results. I read too many reviews about jams. The Scotch is a best seller on Amazon but it’s also about $10 more than the Swingline. Ultimately, I went with the Swingline because it was cheaper, smaller and seemed to yield good results per other reviewers.

I am happy to report that this laminator has lived up to my expectations. I have laminated my child’s artwork, photos and heavy cardstock for flash cards. I am thrilled with the performance of this laminator. It takes about 3 minutes to heat up. It sounds long but it takes me about that amount of time (maybe more) to lay out everything I want to laminate and put them in their pouches. A green light will light up to let you know the laminator is ready. I have experienced absolutely no wait time between laminates. I have laminated up to 14 pouches in a row with no issues whatsoever. It takes about 45-60 seconds to laminate an 8″x11″ pouch. There is a cold laminate option which I haven’t used and don’t think I really will need to use at all. The only thing I wish this had was some sort of guide for the pouch so that it would be fed in perfectly each time. There had been a few times where I fed in the pouch slightly crooked and made me nervous that it would come out warped but it has not happened at all.

All in all, I’m super happy with this purchase.

Reliable and easy to use. This is the 3rd one I have purchased. One for me, one for my employer, and one for a friend. Simply the BEST!

The fact that it cannot be used at all in the UK. Waste of money and seller is breaching all regulations!! So Amazon, are you going to replace the item as it’s gone past the refund stage due to the fact I wanted to buy a transformer in order to make it work but was told it was the wrong voltage and not compatible with UK voltage/wiring.

This laminator works like a charm. I did over 400 copies over a few days, using it for several hours at a time with no problem. No jamming, no overheating. Easy to enter the document within the side guides. Its not fast but I didn’t except that for the price. I just watched Netflix while doing my laminating! I highly recommend this over similar products at this price level.