Side by Side Comparison of: Scotch vs 3M

This is the same laminator I use at work which is why I decided to purchase it for home use. It warms up quickly and is extremely easy to use. I appreciate the fact that you can buy various sizes of laminating sheets to use with different products.The plastic piece in the back that pops up to help hold the item in place as it goes through is slightly flimsy which makes it awkward to work with but it doesn't affect the process at all.

I'm a teacher and this is perfect to have at home when I am working on projects for the classroom and need to laminate. Thicker than what we have a school, love it.

I have had this laminator for one year.I use this laminator "occassionally", not "commercially".My primary use for this laminator is for 8.5 X 11.0 sheets for large-print recipes printed on them for use in the kitchen and "no parking" signs in my alley.After one year I can report the following:- I fully recommend this Scotch product for non-commercial use (although I noticed my neighborhood pack-n-mail store uses the same product for their lamination for a dollar a sheet - so at 30 sheets I have paid for the unit!).- I have had no mechanical or electrical problems after one year use - light use.- I have had no problems laminating, say, 12 items one after the other. I have not tried to laminate 100 sheets in succession. Someone else reported overheating at 40 sheets.- You have to wait a few minutes for the unit to heat up before starting but it is just a couple of minutes, no problem.- It is for general/residential use/volume. It is not for commercial or high volume use. For instance, 500 laminated sheets would be an all day project to do (slow speeds and probably some "cool down" periods).- Yes, it has a slight smell from the heat as it "melts" the sheets into place.- I have had no problems with the sheets coming apart (just be sure to wait for the unit to reach full temperature before starting - the "ready" light comes on).- If you let the items sag as they come out then it will be permanently curved down. If you lift up on the item as it comes out it will be permanently curved up. If you hold it perfectly level as it comes out it will lay perfectly flat. If you allow it to come out on the desk/counter it will curve up slightly. I place it at the edge of my desk and hold the item perfectly straight as it comes out and it remains perfectly flat once it cools within seconds. It retains whatever curl it has or doesn't have as it cools within seconds.- The laminated sheets are impervious to water and soap (for instance, I use the recipe sheets in the kitchen and then wash them afterwards with zero problems, I also use them for "no parking" signs in the alley in the rain with no problem - perfectly tight lamination). I have not left them in the sun for extended periods of time to see what the sun would do to the lamination.- See the other reviews for class room use: apparently highly recommend for classrooms by the teachers and that seems very reasonable to me from my home use. I could see laminating 30 items for 30 students - great price for non-commercial use like this. I looked at commercial laminator units - I could buy and wear out 10 of these for the price of one commercial laminator.- Amazon has the best price I found after seeing this unit on Amazon and two or three brick stores.- I have had no problems with the sheets provided with the unit or with Scotch sheets purchased afterwards. I don't understand how others have had any problems with the Scotch brand products made for this Scotch brand unit. Am I missing something here?- Yes you can laminate thin or thick paper (say 18 to 24 pound paper and photographs easily). I have not tried poster board thickness but I wouldn't hesitate to do so - maybe give poster board a little extra room at the edges is all.- Yes you can trim it down. For instance, 5X7" pictures laminated for 8.5" X 11.0" paper then trimmed with scissors. I have had zero problems with the seal after trimming these down. Let the unit fully heat up before you laminate and then let it fully cool down before you trim it. It only takes seconds, not minutes, for it to completely cool down before you can trim it as you like. An extra 5 seconds of patience makes all the difference.- Read the little manual for hassle free usage. (duh!)- Warm up: I just tested it. It took 6 minutes to warm up in a 70 degree room with 3ml lamination selected. In that time I still haven't found my lamination sheets. I have never never found the warm up time to be a problem. I walk into the office to laminate, I hit the on button, and before I find my sheets and carefully insert my item the unit is ready for lamination. After that, I just leave the unit on until I am finished with my laminations for the day. It smells a bit like hot electrical wires - especially at the 3 minute mark after months of being turned off.- I would never leave the unit turned "on" for any length of time for safety reasons - I only turn it on when I need the unit. I basically turn the unit off when I', done with the job and leave my den.- The unit handles 3 ml sheets and 5 ml sheets. The 3 ml sheets seem plenty thick for everyday use. I have not used 5ml sheets yet. Not sure why I would ever need 5ml sheets - heavy duty garage usage maybe? I would probably let it warm up a little longer for 5ml just to make sure it is hot enough to melt the sheets together.- I have never really needed the "release" lever - when it drops the sheet it's done and ready for the next sheet. Wait, now I remember, I have used the "release" lever when I insert the item completely and utterly cock-eyed and I just want to pull the whole thing out and start over because it is going in at such a weird angle that it will soon jam at one edge or the other...duh! This is a human problem - not a product problem. Oh, by the way, I like the little "flip-down" entry door on the back with guide bars. Close it and it saves space. Open it (and use the guide bars!) and it works just fine to line up the sheets perfectly for entry.- Make sure you have your paper lined up inside the lamination sheets just as you want it before you insert the item for lamination - once you start, let it finish. If you have some "rare" item you are laminating I would practice first before laminating it. You could always cut it loose if you don't like the results such as placing your item in crooked or something. I have done this and all you do is cut it out and just toss one lamination sheet - no big deal, easy to do. - The cord is 5'3" long. It is not retractable but there is a place to wrap any extra length you may have. I just discovered this and wrapped up about a foot and half of extra cord length off my desktop.- Standard USA 120v two-plug, no 3rd ground plug required.- Made in China.- United Labs listed.- Off white color.

I normally don't review the things I buy on amazon, but after buying this and using it extensively for a classroom, I absolutely had to review this for anyone still doubting. Working with students in the 6 - 7 yr range, anything you're using over and over again absolutely must be laminated, or it will be destroyed. The things I laminated using this held up amazingly well - far better than the paper I had laminated onsite by the school.Pros:Good quality plastic, very thick, holds up to bending and heavy useCan be cut to make bookmarks or other shapes without peelingSimple and easy to useCons:Slow!Over heats after laminating about 40 consecutive sheetsIf you have the time and are looking for a laminator that's affordable, I would recommend getting this.

This unit is of the sort that you can plug in and use immediately after only a cursory review of the operating instructions. Very easy setup, very easy to select the variable thickness of the pouches available, and capable of doing 2 sheets at once (front/back) in the lighter pouch, if it is sent through on the thick setting. I and two friends used it about a dozen times right out of the box in a chilly basement, and it warmed right up and functioned like a champ.I have NOT been using it long enough to give a suitable use and wear review, but I anticipate no troubles.This is perfect for tabletop gamers, parents who want to make chores lists, businesses who need semi-permanent schedules, delivery persons who need a resilient route map, cooks who like to keep a 4x6 or 5x7 file of stain-proof cards, memorializing articles for long term keepsakes, or any other task that would benefit from use of a laminated cardstock, provided it is not substantially thick, and is 8.5 x 11 or smaller.I have not tested an alternate sized paper.Overall easy, good quality, well worth the price.

This is my first laminating machine and I am really enjoying the functionality, steadfastness and reliability so far of this work-horse. Mainly, I'm using it with Scotch's thermal laminating pouches (business card size) and it does a great job sealing. The machine is surprisingly quite as it churns out perfect laminated 3 x 5 business cards. It is ready to use within a few short minutes and so far, hasn't over-heated or barfed up anything unusual. I like this laminating work-horse; it does a decent job at an affordable price for what I need it to do.

This product is awesome! I was surprised at the quality based on the low price. I use it primarily to create learning materials for my little one. We have laminated pieces to games and manipulatives. We also laminate sheets for dry erase markers (such as handwriting skills). This saves a tremendous amount of paper and my little one loves using the special markers on these laminated pages! I bought it on the recommendation that you can laminate and then cut the paper (without precutting) and have done this several times. It peeled once when I did this, but it was exposed to a small child and a liquid.I love how this machine is:Compact, quiet, quick/efficient, quick to heat, easy to store, fun to useI don’t love:That the sheets are 8x11 or smaller, but that is the fault of the plastic sheets and not the machine) as it limits larger projects.

Seems to work well. Just don't try to cut them 'seamless' because if you do then the plastic doesn't really bond to the paper, just itself. You will loose the effectiveness if you cut too much seam away. I like to leave around 1/8" at a minimum. We have 'signs' for the kids outside to 'remind' them of outdoor chores. After years the paper still holds up.It does take a bit to warm up and we're not at 100% success on each lamination, but I can't complain for the price.

Great laminator for home projects. Key product features include:Laminates items up to 9 inches wideTwo roller system with two temperature settingsThe TL901 is designed to be used in a home or small office environment.We recommend only using the machine on 120V, 60Hz.Will laminate pouches up to 5 mil thickTwo 9.4" x 11" laminating pouches included

I love this thing, it's my new favorite toy. I have laminated tons of stuff in the past month (I am about to buy my third box of 100 pouches) since I bought it and it's still running great. It warms up quickly and runs smoothly. I LOVE IT!! I am a tracher and use it at home for my classroom. It saves me hours in the library with the large laminator and I can buy thicker laminator sheets than the school gets.

If you know me, you know how much I love office supplies! It's actually quite surprising how long I waited to get a personal laminator. But I got this one and I absolutely LOVE it! It's SO simple to use: just turn it on, let it heat up, feed the stuff you want into the laminator enclosure, and feed it through! I use the Scotch brand laminator enclosures with this because they work well and don't bubble up. I thought it would take me a few tries to figure this out but it went perfectly on the very first try. I kind of laminate everything from to-do lists to checklists for work and even social media management sheets to keep track of my business accounts. It's awesome to be able to design my documents in Photoshop, print them out, and then laminate them so I can mark things off with a dry-erase marker. It's so easy to use and doesn't take up much space. I don't leave mine plugged in unless I'm using it just for safety (and I have little ones). It smells kind of like a hot glue gun when it's being used, but that's to be expected since you are melting plastic. My only complaint would be that it only came with two enclosures. I would rather pay a higher price and have it come with an entire pack.

I just received this yesterday and absolutely love it! When I first took it out of the box, I thought it couldn't possibly do what it and the raving reviews claim it does because it's so small and light and seemed almost flimsy. So, I plugged it in, turned it on and waited for the green light while feeling skeptical. I placed my items in the included pouch and slid it into the tray until the machine grabbed it and pulled it though and watched in amazement as it came out perfectly laminated.It is extremely quiet whether it's warming up or you're feeding something through. There is a slight odor the first couple of times you use, but it goes away. I ordered a 50 pack of the letter size and 20 pack of the legal size pouches to go with it. I run an in-home daycare/preschool and this machine is perfect for my needs. I probably laminated more than 100 items last night. One of the items I laminated was a giant wall calendar for morning circle time. I was able to fit 12 date squares in one letter sized pouch with plenty of room between each one. Then I just cut them apart and they were each perfectly laminated!This is definitely worth the $30 I paid for it and I have so many great ideas for incorporating it into my program and crafts.The only thing I would change if I could, would be to make the tray that feeds into the machine a bit longer. It was a bit tricky trying to laminate many pieces at once and a slightly longer tray would have made it a bit easier. However, once I did it a couple times I sort of developed a system and had no issues.

A good laminator and does the job well enough. it is limited to 3-5 mil thickness laminations, Do not try to run 10 mil as it will not seal properly.The good: it is sufficient for most common home owner and non-commercial type work. Works very well with standard printer paper thicknesses.The less than good: the guide rails for the "In-feed" rollers is very flimsy plastic and can easily have the rack and gear disengage.(but it is easy enough to pop back in place)CORRECTION, This unit does not need a CARRIER ENVELOPE . My mistake, The smell the people mention is the release agent that the manufacturer uses to make sure the plastic doesn't stick to the hot rollers.

This really does the job. Well worth the long wait.

This product laminates well. It is a little tricky to keep the sheets straight, I believe the tray on it that guides the sheet is not sturdy enough. I feel like if it were sturdier then the sheet would stay in straight.

Works just fine with Scotch Thermal Laminating Pouches, 5 x 7-Inches, 20-Pouches (TP5903-20) ! Just follow directions that comes with the box and you should be good to go. :) Just don't let pets/children near it. I live with roommates, so they don't enter my room and mess around with my things. Keep it on good hard surface and not have cloth/plastic near it when you are working with it.Cons: None yet so far, Had it for about year and about to start season 2 of badges so will try to keep update on this!

I haven't been using this machine long, but I've been happy with it so far. It's a very simple device, and it's easy to use. The various users in our office have all been pleased. It doesn't come with a ton of sleeves, so be sure to order more if you plan to do a bunch of laminating.

No one, not this site or the manufacture's site, warns you about the blinking red light. So I'll tell you. If you plug this in and the light starts to blink... it's broken! Send it back! Amazon.com was very good about replacing it. Once we received a new laminator that worked, it worked well. Very simple to use and we have had good results. Why wouldn't anyone explain about the blinking red light?

I bought this laminator on a hunch, without any recommendation, to use for transferring Laser/toner printouts to copper clad PCB's. I had wanted to try using a laminator to make PCB's but was put off by buying one through the mail - these are stocked at Walmart (usually#. Right out of the box, without any "mods" to the thermostat, and using cheap paper I cut out of a magazine, I got a great, clean transfer which made a really nice board. On the 5 mil setting a 1/16" double sided copper clad board fed right through like this machine was made for it. I fed the board through probably, 10 times and when it cooled the magazine paper popped right off without soaking and about 99% of the toner had completely transferred to the board - there was no toner left on the paper. I was pretty astonished #in a good way# and Im left wondering if Scotch got smart and some of this performance wasn't engineered into the machine #this is version 2 of this machine#...probably not but no matter...it seems to get just hot enough for a clean transfer...if I can repeat these results I wouldn't even think of modding it. Be prepared for the laminator to take 4 to 5 minutes before the 'ready' light comes on... Probably best to gather up several items to be laminated to avoid frustration of the warm-up delay! Does a great job on sealing in the contents...no bubbles...no creases...

I've had this laminator almost a year and gone through almost two 100 sheet pouches with it and have loved it. For the price this is a great home laminator. I've had some issues with items I've cut separating, especially with thicker paper, but I have cut them right along the edge of the paper so it didn't have that plastic laminated border. I haven't had issues cutting things I've professionally laminated (thicker, higher-quality lamination) when I've only laminated one sheet (vs laminated two sheets together), but I'm not sure if that's the quality of the pouches or the laminator. When I haven't cut items or cut them outside the sealed border, I haven't had any problems. My only wish is that it were more compact and easier to store. The paper guide comes off, but I would much rather it folded over and/or the machine itself were a little smaller since I have limited craft space.

At first I thought this little laminator felt pretty cheap, but held up and did the job just fine. I laminated several sheets of Bible verse cards for my Sunday School class and didn't have a problem with laminating or cutting them out. You just need to make sure it's on a smooth surface so that as the laminated sheet comes out it doesn't get snagged on anything (like the rim/edge of the fold out table I was using.) It's not super fast, but it's not too slow either. While one sheet was going through the laminator I had time to put another paper into the next laminating sheet and have it ready to go. Glad I made this purchase because it was on sale at a very reasonable price and it is nice having a laminator at home. It is simple to use, and is very small, light weight and easy to store.

I have two other laminators and got this one for a spare. I like it's weight and size. I don't think it seems to get as hot as the others I own. There have been a couple of times when I sent an item through again. However, for the most part it seems to do just fine.I laminate cards, so I put six or so between two pieces of paper and send them into the laminator. On my other machines, the paper goes up and out. On this one it goes down and out. I find that it's hard to keep the cards in place when they are at that angle, so sometimes they slip together and stick slightly. As a result, I think this would be better for one page items being laminated. I'm making it work, but I do have to pay a bit more attention.If the price is lower for this than for others, this is a perfectly good substitute for Scotch, Swingline or any other brand, in my opinion. I'm glad I got it and think it was a good purchase.

Fun little piece of equipment. Not sure how much I'll do with it considering it creates a plastic waste stream (that I was aware of before I bought it). But, have you ever had that "special" recipe card handwritten and slopped on from your grandmother or late mom that you want to save? Yeah, me too. So, I have now preserved lots of spattered, hand written recipes handed down for generations in plastic. Yay me!Seriously, if used for mementos and sparingly, this is a great gadget to own. It works seamlessly if you follow the instructions. I have yet to destroy anything with it. The highlight was taking a 50 year old recipe of my grandmothers, faded beyond belief and having the laminating process bring back most of the handwriting to amazing clarity (though not perfect). Every grease spot, every stain now lovingly and completely preserved.Makes great coasters out of those silly, but artistic thin cardboard ones you tuck in your purse from your favorite local brew pub!

As a therapist, I have a lot of worksheet based activities I use repeatedly, especially with younger clients. Over the long term, laminating them will save me on paper and ink costs. When I saw the price and great reviews for this product I decided to give it a try. I received it the other day and laminated about a dozen items. The process was fairly quick and the quality of the lamination was very good. Certainly a great deal for the price. The only "sticky" part of the process is that the lamination sheets tend to be very "staticy" which makes it a bit tedious to get the paper centered how you wish between the lamination sheets. Once you've accomplished that, however, it's as simple as inserting it into the laminator and letting it do its thing. One thing to watch out for: the laminator doesn't exactly "eject" the product when complete. The tailing edge can still remain in contact with the heat source and build up heat. I never let it sit there long enough to find out for sure, but I wonder if you aren't there to actively pull the sheet out when finished, if it wouldn't eventually melt/damage the final product. I certainly wouldn't suggest ever leaving this unattended while hot to begin with, but you may also want to be sure to pull the item out as soon as its finished.

Pretty happy with this laminator for the most part. It does have a tendency to pull sheets through crooked, and i've messed up a few different sheets because it didn't matter how hard you try to go straight it still went crooked. I wish it just had a slightly bigger opening to allow for some room to play. Otherwise it's a great machine.

I always have issues with these small laminators catching the corners of the sheets while being fed through. Sometimes they just bend/curl a little. my last one, however, would jam it all up and I had to get a new one

I ordered this item on January 1. I started to use it for the new school year and find it has broken. No one used it, but it was a great machine while it lasted. I guess there is no warranty. Next time I will order the item with one year warranty... It is worth a few bucks more when it breaks after only nine months.

Overall it works well for the money, but loading the sheets in can be a real pain. The cheap flimsy feed tray doesn't always line up with the opening, and if the sheet isn't at the EXACT proper angle it hits an immovable object just inside the opening. This means you have to wiggle and fight with the sheet to get it into the machine, meanwhile everything you had neatly arranged to laminate is now laying underneath and on top of one another.Patience is highly recommended when using this thing.

The machine works great! However, the paper guide does not stay folded up. In order to protect the guide when not in use, I need to rubber band or somehow tie it up. Disappointed that I just saw the same machine at Target for less than $21.

Great laminator. Just wished I had shopped around a little more. You can pick it up for $20 bucks at Walmart and Target. :/

Lasted just under 1 year. Now its knocking, and won't run sheets through it.

This is a great, inexpensive laminator. I am a little disappointed, however, because I think the heat settings are a little low. There are only two options to change and they aren't even labeled as heat settings -- simply what density of document you are laminating.I bought this laminator to do some gold leafing. And since I don't think the heat setting is quite high enough the project didn't turn out.I have yet to try to laminate anything, which I can't review on. But, this is a basic laminator with two settings which will probably get the job done. Untested on that yet.

According to the box, 2 laminating pouches were to be included but were not. There are no instructions. I turned it on and waited for the "ready" light to turn on, but it hadn't after 5 minutes. Since there were no instructions on or in the box, I didn't know if that was long enough or not. I moved the button from "5+ mil" to "3 mil" even though I don't know what thickness the pouches I had ordered separately were, and they don't say either. Doing that pulled my pouch in through the machine. It did laminate and seems ok.

I managed to go 40 years of my life without laminating a thing and never really wanted one. The Gold deal of the day had it at around 16.99 so we thought we'd get it for work. And then I realized I needed to laminate all sorts of things!Used it for protecting instructions and signs, but also for making my own white boards for messages!However, after about 80 sheets done over a 6 month period, it stopped feeding. It heats up but won't take the sheet, can't even manually feed it through, it's just stuck. Disappointing.

Got this through amazon around october 2012 and laminated several pictures that my kids made and it worked like a champ until may of 2013 and now it does absolutely nothing. It's almost like it just reached the end of its lifespan or something. It was a great laminator while it lasted so I will probably buy another and just make sure I go through with the warranty pocedure if something happens with this one.

*It laminates as intended.*The laminating materials may costs more than the unit depending from where you get them from.*The unit must warm up for about a good 5 minutes before it will be ready to laminate.*Some documents may require multiple passes for the perfect laminated look.*Must babysit with caution like a stove top. I wouldn't let this hot little thing running by itself in the office unless I had mad coverage.*First unit burned out instantly when flicked on. Replacement unit has been going strong since then.*In overall this is one of the cheapest professional laminating solutions out there.

I had a different model of scotch laminator that finally stopped heating up (lasted 5 years!) so I bought this as a replacement. Came with a few free pouches-and that's where the good news stops. This model heats up slowly. Sliding the pouches into the heated slot is nearly impossible! You have to line it up perfectly, pushing down on the tray while simultaneously trying to push it in--sometimes you can offer up a prayer at the same time in hopes that it all lines up perfectly. So far I have not had one time where it worked perfectly so it takes me MANY tries to actually get the pouch in. I used my last one 8-10 times a week. With this one, I curse if something needs to be laminated. Overall, I would skip this one and look at other models which will save you time and headache. Once getting the pouch in, it laminates items correctly.

I think this is rather cheaply made. Nothing special. It works and does laminate. The input tray on the back is flimsy cheap plastic that doesn't like to stay in place. I think the idea is that the input tray is supposed to stow. And that would be fine if it would just stay in place during use. I have also had a jam in mine once (my fault because the previous laminations were stacking up and eventually blocked the exit) and I was able to unplug and unscrew the case on the device to remove the jam. If I was to buy again, I would not buy this model.Update: (Reduce one more star)I really think this is junk. The input tray is very poor. Falls down constantly. Every lamination, practically, I must put the input tray back in place. I wish I never bought this because surely there are many others that are much better than this. I have had it longer than can be returned, so I am stuck with using this piece of junk or buying a different one.

The laminator itself still works, but one of the tabs that holds the back of the tray up (and out of the way of feeding lamination sheets) is already broken. Very disappointed!

IT DOES THE JOB BUT I HAVE TROUBLE WITH THE FEEDING TRAY STAYING UP. I ENDED UP PUTTING BOOKS UNDER IT TO HELP WITH THE PROJECT SO MY HUSBAND DIDN'T HAVE TO STAND THERE & HOLD IT UP. I SHOULD HAVE RETURNED IT AND PAID THE PRICE FOR A BETTER MODEL. I DO NOT RECOMMEND THIS LAMINATOR.

I just received my Laminator and needed to use it right away for a project. I have not been able to get one piece through without it destroying the paper. I have gone through 9 papers so far. It looks like there is a little plastic part that is sticking out in front that is making it not come through correctly...

I enjoyed the product until I ran into technical issues. For some reason, it can't be repaired at home and they advise us not to take it apart. How else are we supposed to fix it if there's a jam somewhere?

Worked fine for a few times but then rolled up my lamination and never worked again. Didn't hold a candle to my old Duck laminator I bought at Walmart back in 2006. Don't think they even make them anymore. That thing was a champ.

I bought this laminator in 2013 and it worked very well. I've only used it maybe ten or fifteen times since then but when I tried to use it today I found that the rollers have stopped working and it will no longer suck in the lamination pouches. I would have expected this to last longer than three years with infrequent use.

I purchased this specific model because I had used it in the past. The Scotch Thermal Laminator that I received does not look the same as the one in the picture. A month after laminating some flashcards, the flashcards have started getting air pockets. I'm disappointed in this product.

I've had this laminator for a few years with low use. I loved it! However, the last time I used it, it sucked the lamination sheet back in and ate it completely. There was no way to get into the machine to retrieve the sheet. I even tried unscrewing it and taking it apart to no avail. The machine is completely unusable now and needs to be replaced. I don't feel like I used the machine frequently enough to say I've gotten my money's worth either. It's unfortunate and I will be looking at a competitor when I purchase a replacement.

I was a little hesitant at first about this laminator because I was afraid my smaller items would slide down in the pouch before they were laminated, but I had heard so many good things so I decided to give it a try. Just as I had thought, my fears were confirmed. I had three small square name tags in a pouch and as they went into the laminator, they all slid down. They came out overlapping and unusable. I thought that was going to be my only problem with this laminator, but it wasn't. The stoppers that hold your paper in line broke the first time I tried moving them. Now, unless I hold it myself, my sheet ends up going in crooked, making one end curl. Even though the products came out nicely laminated, it was just too much of a hassle, and I plan to return this item.

I do not like this laminator at all. I use to work in a print shop type of environment and we had a commercial laminator and a smaller one similar to this size. I needed a laminator for occasional home use and bought this because it happened to be 50% off that day on Amazon. It was a great deal.The Pros: Small, compact and light weight. Scotch is a decent brand so you know you're not getting some knock off product. Very easy to operate. Plug in, wait til light turns green, then switch on the mil that corresponds with your lamination thickness and feed through the top, the finished document comes out the bottom.The Con: If you are not picky about your laminations, this will work fine. What I found most annoying is that because it doesn't come with a safe feed sleeve, you feed the lamination directly into the machine without protection and the end result is a very wrinkled laminated sheet of paper. I tried laminating with both 3mil and 5mil and with regular 24lb paper, and with cardstock 65lb paper and it wrinkles on both. However, this laminiates 4x6 photos very well, with no wrinkles.I got a great deal, and this does get the job done but I would not purchase at full price.

Starting to make a loud creaking sound while using after the first 6 months.

Jammed within first 20 min of use. Strongly do not recommend this product .

This did not arrive as a combo pack. It only included the laminator, not the laminating pouches.

Didn't work. Arrived in a bag and not a box. Sent back for refund.

I have had two of these, and both of them smoked and quick working within two weeks of getting them. I keep them stored and placed on a table when using. I was only able to use each one once before it smoked.

It's a piece of junk! Used it once and it broke. By the time I took it out to use it a second time it was broken and too late to return it.

I used this laminator twice, and on the third attempt it would not heat up at all. The power light came on, but the unit never got warm and the "ready" light did not come on. I powered it off, unplugged it, and then retried turning it on multiple times - nothing. Hoping mine was just defective, but I am returning this one and I will likely get my replacement elsewhere. Good luck!

Although I purchased this 2-3 years ago, I have only used it a few times. Went to laminate something this morning, and it wont' work at all. Nothing visibly wrong. Very disappointed. (Wrote this review for the laminator, and inadvertently posted it on the pouches I bought. Those were great!)

This is a useless product. It doesn't work at all. I tried many times with different scotch self laminating sheet. Further, the seller wastes your time with pictures, doesn't cover shipping and charges 20% restock fee for the defective product. I will be contacting Amazon. Stay away.

It worked once for laminating 5-3 mil pages. I tried to laminate more pages the following day and the green light never lit. I am still waiting for it to heat up. I guess I bought a dud. Unfortunately, I did not use it immediately upon purchase. However, I did not have anything to laminate at the time. I guess I know not to make purchases in anticipation of needs.Apparently, it will not last longer than a 15 months even if sitting in box unused.Moral to story: you get what you pay for.... invest in a higher quality model.

Ten months after I bought this thing and after no more than a half-dozen uses, the element that heats the rollers to seal the laminating "pouches" quits. This is not a sophisticated machine--in fact, in a lot of ways, it's similar to a toaster. The thing was cheap, but I figured the brand name meant it would work satisfactorily if I were careful with it. No such luck. I thought at first that Scotch was selling the laminator cheaply and hoped to profit on sales of the pouches. Turns out it's the other way around--they must figure you'll have to buy a dozen of the laminators in order to use up an entire package of pouches.

I bought this product after reading all the positive reviews. It worked great the first time, the second time not so well. My daughter had worked on a project for an hour before deciding to laminate it. The laminator "ate" the project, by wrapping it around the inside, not even giving us the opportunity to use the "release" knob to get it out. We tried to unscrew the bottom of the machine to help remove the project but the one screw at the bottom of the machine was useless. I Would not recommend purchasing this machine.