Customer Reviews

Fellowes Pulsar 300 Comb Binding Machine (5216601)

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(16)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I am a homeschooling mom who downloads a lot of e-books. I have used this to make several books for school and it works great! It is solid, nothing seems flimsy or like it could break. I've made 100 page books with it so far and it works great.

***UPDATE*** 12/2/11

Still using this product and it still works great. No issues whatsoever.

Pros: Comb fingers are made of metal, not plastic

Handle arm is metal with a rubber grip so it's not going to break when you try to punch 15 sheets repeatedly

Storage tray is great, holds 25 3/8" combs with no problem

Has that heavy, "quality" feel, it doesn't feel like a plastic kid's toy

Cons: There are no reference points/lines on the underside of the lid to let you know if your paper is sitting in the puncher level

The rotary edge takes a little playing around with to get your papers punched evenly at the top and bottom (this is a minor issue)

I was debating on whether to buy this machine or the Starlet, also by Fellowes, but in the end decided to buy the Pulsar since it seemed like portability and size were major selling points with the less expensive Starlet. This machine takes up about the same space as my Brother HL-2040 printer, so while it's not huge it's not something you can hide on a shelf somewhere out of the way. In the end, I opted to pay more for what I felt was a higher quality machine and I'm glad I did.

This comb binder punches smoothly through paper, cardstock, clear covers. Maximum paper punch is 15 pages but strengh required, I found it easier to punch 10 pages at a time. Love the versatility, storage drawer with measurement guide, comfortable handle, and the supplies included with starter pack. The vertical document loading is fantastic, it really keeps your paper stack aligned, so much better and easier than horizontal loading. The only drawback is that this machine is the size of a small typewriter and quite heavy, not portable at all or easy to store away. I like the capabilities but wish it were the size of the Starlet model.

My spouse and I have owned a small business for five years and from the beginning, we wished for a comb binder for all the monthly reports we generate. Until recently, though, we made due with a three-hole punch. And, let's face it; the punch is a pain to use and too easy to use backwards. I had holes in all the wrong places.

So, I hadn't used the punch in two or three years. I have stacks of reports held together by alligator clips. Or I did. . . Once the Fellowes comb binder arrived, things changed.

The binder is a breeze to use. While it can punch more pages, I usually slip about 15 in at a time and haven't made any spare holes in my sheets since the first try. The combs are inexpensive and they, along with the covers, make the reports look professional and businesslike, even though I'd get an F in businesslike if anyone was grading me.

You can buy all sorts of combs and varieties of cover stock and the prices are right on Amazon and elsewhere. (By the way, I mainly use card stock from Costco for my covers.)

I'm also a writer and I now have the sexiest looking scripts in town, thanks to the Fellowes binder. The presentation looks as good as I hope the pages inside read.

I'm so glad I finally have a comb binder. If I'd known five years ago, I wouldn't have hesitated to part with the money. It's quick, easy, and gives you a product you'll be proud to present. Every piece of Fellowes office equipment I own is a workhorse and this is no exception. Highly, highly recommended.

I bought this machine over a year ago and have been very pleased with it. I have used it for severaonhome projects with my kids as well as calendars, fixing sheet music and cook books. It is very smooth and even though it will punch 15 pages at a time I am more comfortable doing closer to 10. I personally would prefer the spiral bindings for my projects, but the plastic combs are fine. I would definitely recommend this product to others. It does what I need it to do.

I agree with others that the instructions on this thing is very poor. I had no idea how to use this thing, despite reading the instructions (it doesn't even say the proper orientation of how the comb should be inserted); I had to look up a video on youtube to figure out how to use this.

- This device definitely takes practice to use. I would DEFINITELY not go and punch some important documents on your first attempt. I've messed up many times on practice papers. I would end up punching too much to the edge because it is difficult to see if the paper is properly touching the end of the feeder, even if it feels like it is.

- This thing is pretty big and heavy (like a size of a printer); unless you plan on using this often, it can be a space problem in your home/work place. The storage compartment is nice, but I would give that up just to have a more compact version of this device (I could store the combs somewhere else anyway)

- This may be picky, but I find the edge guide dial to be cheap, inaccurate, and takes greater time to adjust; I don't know why they couldn't just make it like a slide mechanism like they have on most printers.

Once you master using this, it does make your projects look more professional; however, to be honest, I always find it to be a hit or miss when I am punching the papers and find the risk factor to be high when needing to punch important documents. I think having a more precise reliability and guarantee that the paper is sitting on the edge and being properly aligned, it would make this device more comfortable for me to use.

I purchased this new Comb Binder to replace a smaller one that I had. My decision was a good one. I make photo/scrap-booking calendars every year for family Christmas presents and I wanted a Comb Binder that could cut the thick pages easily and then combine them easily.

The Fellowes Pulsar Office Comb Binder is perfect! In addition to my crafting use, we use it regularly for my daughter's school projects. She's the only one in her classes to turn in projects that are bound and her projects always look great!

The Fellowes Pulsar Office Comb Binder easily cuts through and combines the thickest of papers, effortlessly.

I would definitely recommend this product for home office and home crafting use.

A sturdy and artfully designed machine -- heavy -- it stays where you put it -- instructions are complete and well written. A little instruction, proper placement and punching of the front and back covers, the mylar sheet protector, and the pages (15 pages maximum-- good idea to make them double sided!), place the comb, move a lever, place the materials, move the long handle, and voila -- a binding job with a professional look!

I would like to see some improvement, though -

1)I used a marker, drawing a line to indicate where to place the papaers and covers for proper punching. A mark needs to be on the loading area above the punch.

2) Capacity - Only 15 pages? This would be ok if they were double sided and this was a short presentation. I realize there is another Fellowes binder that will take more than 15 pages, but is it possible to purchase an adaptor so the Pulsar can accommodate a few more pages?

Aside from all that, I look forward to taking all my shorter-length printouts that I have accumulated from conferences, and binding them instead of stapling them or binder-clipping them; they will look SO much better and will last longer after getting a Pulsar treatment.

I have this comb binder at home and the family has been using it for a variety of projects. It performs well each time. The most we've bound is 13 pages of laminated photo paper and it cut through them without a lot of effort. We made several calendars for the new year and have used it for some school projects using both cardstock and thinner paper.

The machine is quite large and if using it at home like I do, it's probably easiest to have a craft area where the binder can stay out instead of having to move it around and store it. Its size and weight, however, are what make it feel like such a sturdy machine instead of binders made of plastic that feel like something will break with each use.

I've probably bound 200 pages using this Fellowes comb binder and the results are the same each time. The machine shows no signs of wearing out and the completed projects look just as good as any Kinko's could do. I have found that it is a handy machine to have with my group of crafting supplies.

This is a solid and well-made machine. It comes with a starter pack so you can make ten binder packets right off the bat. I used a premium presentation paper which is a heavier-weight paper and works better in the binder.

The instructions, sadly, are not very helpful. But if you look at the binding combs you can figure out how to orient them in order to complete your packet. Once you understand how it works it's very easy to use and is efficient.

The machine punches cleanly. There is a built-in drawer for waste which also serves to hold your binding combs. It also has a thickness gauge to determine additional comb sizes.

All in all, I appreciated the mechanical quality of this sturdy machine and am happy with the presentation packets that I have made. This would a good machine for a small company that needs to make multiple packets and avoid copy shop costs.