Customer Reviews

Swingline LightTouch High Capacity Desktop Punch, Adjustable Holes, 20 Sheet Capacity, A7074030

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

 

 

This hole punch worked fairly well for a while (perhaps 1500 pages of punches), though I was never very successful when approaching 20 pages. Since then, one of the punch heads has needed to be pushed by hand toward the rest of the unit while the punch is being operated. And now I am unable to get one of the other heads to retract; hence, the punch is unusable until I replace that head or buy a better unit.
The handle is nice, however.

This hole puncher worked for about 6 months and then failed. The outer puncher's spring popped out, leaving the punch to be ineffective (would not go back up after a punch due to the spring being out and jammed in). I suggest trying the Carl or Sparco brands of hole punchers if you are looking for increased guarantee of durability over the long run. I am sure this defect is not 100% prevalent but this problem does not seem to be uncommon so I would stay away from these.

We use this triple hole punch at my office and there have been no complaints to date. The design works well and I have not experienced any occasions where it has failed to punch through the pages inserted. Punches through heavier stock nicely as well.

Having used several manual punches over the years made me curious about the Light Touch claim. I tried a staplier claiming light touch and was very pleased with the result and the same applies to this product. The holes are clean and the claim for 20 sheet capacity is accurate. I have used heavy duty punches but they require much force. One could almost do as much punching with one hand. Cost is a consideration but if you are doing any project that requires punching, this is the machine for you. I would direct the person doing periodic punching towards this and leave the electric machines to those big projects. The dies are positionable so multiple punch variations can be had but this is basically a three hole punch.

PROS:
light, easy to carry/move
handle can be "locked" down to save space
easy to operate and clean
sturdy - survived a drop off the desk
can hole punch through multiple sheets (about 10) at a time
punches holes all the way through paper (no hanging chads)

CONS:
can only be used if you want the standard 3-hole punch - it cannot be shifted to do 2 holes (unless you use a small sheet of paper that doesn't reach the 3rd hole holepunch slot) so it's not particularly handy for arts and crafts if you're making things that need to be hung up

punches effortlessly. its not low profile, but it works, hasn't jammed yet and seems like excellent quality for the price.

I use this punch once a month. This is better than the other cheaper one I have. Looks good to keep on the table and is very sturdy as well.

Bought it for college... So much better than the one it's replacing. The lockdown function makes it much easier to store, and it doesn't take much force to punch through even close to twenty sheets at a time. I also like that it catches and stores the punch-outs.

The only reason I gave it four stars instead of five is that if you have a packet that's stapled together with more than twenty sheets (say, 50 to 100) - which several of my teachers have liked to give out, the staple has to be removed first. This wouldn't be a problem, except that it's a little challenging to then find a stapler that'll go through that many sheets when it comes time to re-staple the packet. This could be solved with a cutout on one side of the three hole punch. That would also enable three hole punching a paper that's longer than 11 inches (not that there's much demand for that, I just thought it'd clarify what is otherwise a pretty vague sentence). Despite the minor design flaw though, it's a good product and I'd recommend it.

As a freshman in college, I only use my hole punch occasionally. It works very well, and I like that the lever locks down so it takes up less vertical space on my hutch. I also chose it because of the warranty, so even though it cost a few extra bucks, I know I don't need to worry about it breaking for a few years.

I've had it for about a month, and so far it's worked exactly as I have expected.