Scotch Cold Laminating System, No Electricity (LS960)

This product gets some things right and some things very wrong. I didn’t even know how to begin to rate it star-wise, so I gave it the average of the following:

***** 5 stars for the idea, which is to make an easy-on-the-environment non-electric laminator that anyone can use (even children or people living off the grid who might want to make some signs for their next big protest). If you could depend on the laminating cartridge to work flawlessly (see “2 stars” and “1 star” below), it might be a very handy thing for anyone making signs and lots of them.

**** 4 stars for the relatively small footprint and sleek look of the laminator sitting across the room on a desk. Sticks easily in a closet and doesn’t tie up valuable electrical real estate. How nice not to have yet another cord to deal with!

*** 3 stars for the price, which I think is way too much for a simple positioning aid (which is really all it is) made of fairly flimsy black and metal-looking plastic bundled with a short 18-foot sample cartridge of laminating material instead of a standard 90-foot cartridge. (And how are you going to know how the real thing, which is pricey, is going to handle if you have difficulties, like I did, with the sample cartridge? Again, see “2 stars” and “1 star” below.)

Like cheap printers with toner cartridges that cost more than buying a new printer, replacement cartridges for this laminating system are where Scotch is going to make its money, and that’s where the quality control is going to be most important. Buyers of the system need to feel confident that every single cartridge they buy will either work properly or be replaced at no charge. If Scotch wants to stick with the sample cartridge model, people would be more willing to take a chance on the LS960 if the upfront “try me” cost were a whole lot less; they might then be more likely to purchase replacement cartridges once they see if the system is going to work for them.

** 2 stars for the pitiful instructions, which do not even tell you how to properly insert the guide tray or operate the cutter, much less how to seat the two-sided laminating cartridge—which may be why my first three efforts to laminate a letter-sized sheet of paper resulted in highly unsatisfactory stuck-together ridges and folds so that the sheet would not lay flat and had to be thrown away. (I am giving Scotch the benefit of the doubt here that the brief little tri-fold instructions I received were not intended as the only instructions and that an operating manual was supposed to have been sent but mistakenly wasn’t included; otherwise, the instructions would rate 1 star.)

* 1 star for the fact that, once the two sheets of laminating material start feeding cockeyed and wrinkling/sticking together, there is no way that you’re going to get them straightened out again, not without wasting reams of material and employing several other people to help you—and then it’s a big IF that you would succeed. There are no troubleshooting tips to tell you how to deal with a problem like this—I suspect because there IS no way to deal with a problem like this—or whether it could be caused by an old or defective cartridge or, whatever the case, what the remedy is. Life these days is stressful enough without having to contend with whopping big sticky messes. I think I’d have better luck with a box of self-adhesive laminating sheets.

I wanted this laminator for two reasons: to make nice-looking durable signs to thumbtack to a display at an upcoming writers’ conference (well, scratch that idea!) and possibly (although not an advertised feature) to make write-on/wipe-off garden planning layouts. I tried to use one of my fluorescent write-on/wipe-off pens on the laminating material, and it didn’t adhere. A grease pencil might work, but I’m not going to bother buying one because my garden layout is so crumpled/stuck together as to be useless. I would have been happy if I just could have made my signs.

I do hope Scotch will keep working on this product to resolve the problems with it. I hope, too, that one day I’ll be able to order a cartridge for this laminator and trust that I can pop it in and laminate sheets without difficulty. I don’t have that trust now, so this product is going to be stashed in the back of a closet.

I have been shopping for a laminater for quite some time and was having a issue finding something i knew would work. I use this type at work and knew it worked so of course i had to have this one!! Very happy with it and its so easy to use!

I love this laminator. The sheets lay on perfectly, no bubbles or creases, and the fact that it is non-electric, heat-free means that it is very durable and always ready to go. I do occasionally have a problem with making sure the edges of my 8 1/2 X 11 documents are lined up to get exact coverage, but over all I highly recommend this.

So easy to use! So much better than the heat laminate machine I had. Easy & quick!!!