GBC CombBind C500 Plastic Comb Binding Machine Review
Formerly known as the ibico ibimaster 500, the GBC CombBind C500 is both a plastic comb binding machine and a 3:1 pitch twin loop wire binding machine, making it possible to use Plastic Combs, Double loop wire, Proclick and Zipbind all with the same machine. Beyond a great selection of binding options, the C500 also provides simple, fold-up storage, allowing you to hide the machine away with a minimum of effort. In addition, the streamlined design of the machine gives it great form, as well as function. All of these features work together to create an excellent option for your comb binding needs.
Features:
The C500 has many useful features, beginning with dual punching slots to punch a 3:1 pitch round hole wire pattern, and 19 hole rectangular holes for plastic comb binding. It is also capable of binding documents up to 9/16″ with wire, documents up to 2″ thick with combs. The round hole 3:1 pitch punch is also compatible with 3:1 pitch spiral coil. All of this combines to make the C500 one of the only machines available on the market that can use twin loop wire, plastic combs and spiral coil binding. In addition, the C500 is capable of punching standard sized and oversize covers, which can be an excellent and versatile feature. In addition, the C500 includes a plastic comb opener and a twin loop wire closer. This allows you to effectively finish both comb-bound or wire-bound projects.
The C500 offers form, as well as function. It boasts an ergonomically-designed punching handle. This handle is the ideal solution for operators who are either left handed, or right handed, this allows a greater number of personnel to work on the machine. In addition, the C500 has a compact design, which makes it very suitable to folds up for storage making it ideal for organizations that are short on space.
Limitations:
Although the C500 is an extremely useful machine, it is not ideal for organizations that need to bind odd sized documents. The reason for this is that the C500 machine does not include a depth of punch margin control or disengageable dies. Both of these features are good to have in a binding machine, and without them, there are limitations, particularly with larger volume projects. In addition, the fact that the machine is manual can also be problematic for larger projects and can become quite tedious for organizations that bind a large number of documents.
Finally, the machine does not have a coil inserter. This can be a potential problem, because the very popular 3:1 pitch spiral coil must be inserted by hand, making the entire process longer and somewhat inconvenient. This, along with the other limitations, should be considered when making decisions on the suitability of binding equipment for your needs.
Construction:
The C500 is not an extremely heavy-duty machine. Because it has a plastic body and handle, it is not suitable for long-term, high-volume use. For moderate use, however, this equipment is very suitable for moderate volume applications. In this scenario, the C500 should hold up quite well for most of your binding needs, both long and short term. The wire closer uses a plastic adjustment mechanism to set the closing gap. If this mechanism is not properly cared-for, this equipment could potentially wear over time, and could cause issues that could cause problems later.
Recommendation:
The C500 is great for small and mid sized organizations, unsure of the binding-type they need. Because the system offers five major choices (including: Combs, Wire, Coil, Zipbind and Proclick) it is a very versatile machine and is highly recommended for applications requiring versatility. The convenient, fold-up design makes the system easy to store, but it you are interested in high-volume binding, the C500 may not be the ideal for you. So take a good, hard look at the C500 and see If it is the right equipment for you.
