Features:
One of the best features of the Ulitma 65 is that it is capable of handling laminating rolls up to 27 inches in width. Film is loaded onto the machine in pairs of matched rolls of laminate. The Ultima65 is incredibly versatile and includes the ability to accept rolls as narrow as 9" in width and as wide a 27 inches. Most users choose a 25" wide roll for this laminator. However, special projects may warrant a different width of laminate.
This machine is capable of accepting 1.2mil, 1.5mil, 1.7mil and 3mil laminating films. However, most users choose either a 1.5mil or a 3mil film for their machine. The most common film for this machine is a 25" x 500' roll of 1.5mil film (GBC Part number 3000004). This is worth noting since this particular size of roll is usually more cost effective to run since it is more popular and produced in greater quantities. However, if you are looking for a more premium look and feel for your laminated documents you might consider moving up to a 3mil film.
The Ultima 65 also includes a reverse feature to help with potential film jams. It also includes a convenient trimmer on the back of the machine to help you quickly and easily cut your laminated materials away from the machine (you will still need to trim the laminated materials with a pair of scissors or zippy knife after they are removed from the laminator).
Even though these are great features it is important to note that most schools and companies don't buy the machine because it is incredibly feature rich. Instead it is the most popular machine on the market because it one of the simplest to operate. It has an easy to use intuitive keypad without a lot of confusing buttons and knobs. Many other laminators require you to adjust the heat and speed and to get the setting just right. However, the Ultima65 is designed for teachers and parent volunteers who rarely use a laminator and don't have a lot of training.
Limitations:
The Ultima is designed for laminating banners, signs, visual aids and documents. It does all of these things very well. However, there are some things that it does not do. It will not accept laminating films that are thicker than 3mil. If you think that you might need to use a 5mil or 10mil film then this machine won't be a good fit for you. It is also limited to a one inch core size. This means that the cardboard core that the film is wrapped around has to be 1" in diameter. This limitation essentially eliminates the ability to run specialty laminating films since they are usually only available on 2.25" and 3" cores.
The Ultima65 is also not equipped for doing mounting (the rollers cannot be gapped) and is not a good solution for doing cold process lamination. If you need to do any of these things then you will most likely need to move up to the next level of laminator available on the market (probably the GBC Catena 65). This isn't to say that the Ultima is a bad machine; on the contrary, it does exactly what it is supposed to do. It just isn't designed for professional and specialty applications.
There were two other things that I noticed when I was testing this machine. First, it has a very long warm up time. In fact it can take 10-15 minutes to warm up. If you are standing by the laminator waiting to laminate something this can be very painful. Thus, it is a good idea to turn the machine on well before you are ready to start. Second, I found switching the laminating film to be somewhat difficult on this machine. Every time I go to switch the film I end up having to pull out the instructions and look at the diagrams. However, if you end up loading the film backwards you can end up with a huge mess. This just means that you are going to want to make sure that you are very careful when loading the machine.
Construction:
The Ultima 65 is built well and is designed for daily use in a school environment. The sides are plastic, the frame and the feed tray are metal. However, the most common problems with this machine usually are caused by users and not design issues. Items that are textured, contain glitter or are sharp should never be loaded into the laminator as they can damage the rollers. Additionally, the film should never be run backwards or with only one roll on the machine this will cause the film to stick to the rollers. Sharp objects should never be used to clean the rollers (using a 3M scotch bright scouring pad is the recommended method for cleaning the rollers). Other than that, the machine is highly durable and if it does have problems, parts are readily available.
Recommendation:
For a school, pre-school or church I would highly recommend the Ultima 65. It is incredibly simple to use, doesn't require a lot of maintenance and is a cost effective solution. However, for users who need a laminator for specialty applications this is probably not the right fit.
For more information or to purchase the GBC Ultima 65 27" School Laminator visit MyBinding.com