Tamerica LP-120 4" Pouch Laminator

Staff Review

Tamerica LP-120 Pouch Laminator Review

An extremely inexpensive laminator that is capable of laminating small documents such as ID cards, photographs, business cards, name badges and luggage tags.  The Tamerica LP-120 is a relatively new laminator to the market but has gained a lot of attention. It offers a number of features that are only found in larger pouch laminators and is prices at around $60 US.  Here are some of the strengths and weaknesses of this pouch laminator.

Strengths / Features:

• The most important thing to note about the LP-120 is that it comes with the ability to handle laminating pouches from 3mil to 10mil in thickness. Most other small pouch laminators in this price range are only able to handle 3mil and 5mil pouches and since 3mil pouches aren’t available in small sizes they end up being limited to 5mil thicknesses. This machine will laminate documents with all of the different laminating pouches available on the market.
• The LP-120 comes with a fully adjustable temperature setting that allows you to choose a temperature from 100-160 degrees centigrade. This means that you can turn down the temperature if you find that you are getting waves in your laminate or turn up the temperature if you are seeing silvering or cloudiness. Many other small inexpensive laminators don’t have this feature.
• For such an inexpensive machine, the LP-120 is actually extremely well built. It has a heavy duty metal housing and looks like a laminator that should cost at least a hundred dollars more than it does.

Weaknesses / Limitations:

• The first time that I ran the LP-120 to test it I noticed a burning odor. After contacting the manufacturer they assured me that this is normal when you first break in the machine and sure enough it disappeared after an hours use. Still it would be nice to have the laminator without the smell of burning.
• The LP-120 has a throat width of approximately 4.7″ this means that you can use it to run laminating pouches that are up to 4.5″ in width. This is ideal for laminating small documents including photos, id badges, nametags and luggage tags. However, it can’t be used for larger format items.
• The box for the LP-120 says that it has the ability to run cold laminating pouches. However, I couldn’t seem to find the cold setting. You may need to simply turn the heat all the way down on the laminator if you want to run pressure sensitive selfseal pouches through it.
• With the LP120 that I tested, the motor runs continuously once you have turned the laminator on. This is not a problem for users who infrequently need to laminate documents. However, eventually the continuous motion of the rollers will cause the LP-120’s gears to wear out and it will fail. If you plan on using this laminator a lot this is something to keep in mind.
• The LP-120 only comes with a 90 day warranty. Generally this should not be a problem if you plan on laminating just a few items. However, if you need to laminate thousands of items per year you can probably expect to replace the laminator within a year or two. However, the nice thing about this laminator is that it is priced so low that you can replace it two times and still have spent less than other comparable laminators on the market.

Recommendation:

• For a small office, home user or organization that needs to laminate a few name badges or other small materials the LP-120 is ideal.
• For larger organizations and higher volume users, a heavier duty laminator with a better warranty and a non continuous motor would be highly recommended. Still, if you are on a tight budget, there is no better bang for your buck.