I am self employed, and need to bind small reports. It works great for small jobs, and is much cheaper than Kinko's! I have over-sized covers, and actually found it really easy to line up the paper and covers. Perfect for my needs. Fellowes Starlet Personal Comb Binder, Gray (Starlet)
I spent hours trying to decide whether or not I should buy the Fellowes Starlet or Fellowes Star binding machine. I couldn't find any reviews on either of them and the only differences I could see by looking at the pictures and specifications were the Starlet can punch 7 pages at a time for a maximum of 90 pages and the Star could punch 10 pages at a time for a maximum of 150 pages. They look like they are the same size and shape other than the handle on the Starlet for punching the pages is on one side and the handle on the Star runs across the machine and connects to both sides (I'm guessing they did this to allow you to use more force while punching through more pages). But my one major question when considering to buy either the Starlet or Star was why does the Starlet only allow you to bind a book up to 90 pages? Couldn't you just buy a bigger spine? I know it would take longer to punch a book with 150 pages only being able to punch 7 pages at a time, but is 7 pages really much different than 10? Well, after deciding to go along with the purchasing the Starlet (since it is 20-40 bucks cheaper) I found out that yes, you can indeed make a book with as many pages as you like.. as long as you are patient enough to punch 7 pages at a time (or less at a time if you don't want to make mistakes punching the holes).
There are two major problems that I found with this machine. One is the handle on the left hand side which is used to open the spines. After making around 5 books the plastic handle split and I couldn't open the spines anymore. I was able to fix this by replacing the plastic handle with a metal one found at a hardware store (but it was inconvenient and cost another $7). The other problem is unless you really take your time feeding the paper into the machine and making the pages line up correctly, you are bound to make mistakes punching the holes. The holes are very close to the edge of the paper, which is why it is easy to make mistakes. It is also a little difficult to feel whether or not you've placed the papers far enough down the slit for punching.
Other than that, there are some good things about this machine listed below:
Pros:
-Smaller than typical comb binding machine (folds up nicely)
-Relatively lightweight
-Has handle for carrying it on the top of the machine
-Has a drawer on the side to carry spines and a guide to tell you which spine size to use
-Has a viewing window to show you when it is time to dump your holes
-Has an adjustable device that allows you to punch in the same spot each time (e.g. you can move it over if you have a cover that is a little bigger than your pages)
Cons:
-Punches 7 pages at a time (less if you don't want to risk making mistakes with the holes)
-Plastic handle for opening spines breaks easily (perhaps the handle on the Star is stronger to allow you to open up bigger spines)
-Easy to make mistakes punching - Binding Machines - Fellowes'
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