real difference between a 3k$ laminator and 12k$ laminator

[bigben]

Hi, I would like to know what is the difference between a 3k$ (ex: ustech) and a 12$ (ex: kala mistral) laminator. Does the price difference is really justified?

Thanks.

 

[GAC05]

I'll bet they take you to dinner before they take the 12k out of your wallet.
For 3k you'd maybe get a coupon for a happy meal.

I would think it would be like anything else, the hi dollar unit should have better components that will save you downtime and repairs much farther into the future.
I can't afford the good stuff so I make due with the low end gear.

wayne k
guam usa

 

[Gene@mpls]

There is mid level equipment as well. I have had two Royal Sovereigns and no problems... we use them a lot. Gene

 

[rjssigns]

Seems to be a number of folks here quite happy with their $3K laminators. We run a Royal Sovereign, but it came with the printer. If I had to buy outright I'd get a $3K(or less) rig.

Bet if you took a US Tech and that Mistral and stripped them down to their bare components you'd find them shockingly similar.

I used to build industrial paper processing equipment and every bell, whistle and "added for ease of operation" trick is another point of failure.

As I've said before; Laminating is an art not science. You have to figure out what your rig wants.

It took a little while to figure out our RS, but we've done full rolls(150') with a 1/4" drift on our RS.(you'd die laughing if you saw my infeed set-up)

 

[bigben]

Great! Thank you all for the info. So I guess there will be 9k left in my pocket. Now if I only could find a XY trimmer cheaper than the fotoba... Any suggestions?

 

[TDFcustomSL]

Laminators are essentially very simple machines. rollers, a motor, a speed controller, and a switch really. Maybe some heaters if your going heat assist. I was impressed by the build quality of my us tech. It is really stable and works great.