Fellowes Thermal Binding Machine, Helios 30 (5219301)

OK, review time...I have only been using this binder off-and-on for a few short weeks now. And I have only used it to bind about 10 or 12 projects so far. But I have learned a few things while using it that I think are important. 1. The machine is only as good as the materials you use in it. 2. That burning smell goes away after a few uses...or maybe your nose just adapts to it. 3. Reading the directions every time you use the device will cut down on mistakes. There are only 5 steps. Pay attention to them. 4. Go back and re-read #1. That is the most important thing I can tell you. This machine is great. It does exactly what it is supposed to do. It is simple to use. Follow the steps each time and it will work. Having said that, pay close attention to what you use in it. Does this impact the review for this machine? Absolutely not. But I think you should know about it when purchasing this equipment. I use the Fellowes binding supplies as well as others that work for this sort of machine. Regardless of supplies, I recommend purchasing a good stapler that will staple through the amount of paper you are binding. I staple AND bind using the machine and that makes all the difference in the world. Otherwise I personally feel that the glue might not hold as well as I would like - and that is NOT a failing of this machine by any means. The binding machine does exactly what it is supposed to do, and does it well. But if you make a cake using subpar ingredients and then bake it, do you blame the oven when it comes out bad?

For the price, this is excellent. Works better than expected and feels well-made. Only minor complaint is that it could come in more color options. Just being honest.

This was a waste buy. 50% of the pages did not seal and within a few days of use, the next 50% came apart.

Needed an option to bind my presentations without buying expensive equipment or going to Kinko's, this works well. I like the spiral bound in that you can lay the presentation out flat, where this is bound like a book so you can't flip each page over, but for the money and how simple it is, it works for me.

Did what had to do. Easy to use ... i am usually happy when product meets advertisement. I use it to bind my online magazines and books to have a hard copy to read , so far no complaints

As a Professional Organizer one of my business practices is to create an individual "maintenance guide" for my clients after we complete the organizing job. These guides usually range from 5 to 15 pages maximum. I usually have just stapled them together or put them in a report type binder cover (the kind with the slide on bar) but when I saw the opportunity to review the Helios 30 I thought it would be a perfect more professional looking option for my guides. I have had great success over the years with Fellowes brand paper shredders so I was certain I would like this product. First of all, set up is quite easy (ya gotta love those picture only Quick Start Guides). I was quite put off at first at the amount of Caution statements in the manual. I mean, I know this is a heated element machine but really, is it that dangerous? After initial set up my machine took a bit longer than 4 minutes to heat up. I didn't know if that was because it was the first time (I get to that later). I decided to just go for it and put the entire 15 pages in the binder that came with the machine (please note that binders don't generally come with the machine, Amazon Vine provided the 1/16th inch 1.5 mm binders that can accommodate UP to 15 pages for testing purposes). After the binding cycle was complete I wanted to see how hot it actually was before cooling. It is hot. Now I understand all the caution statements. After the document was completely cooled I checked for overall boundness. All of the 15 pages were bound where they wouldn't fall out but I noticed the bottom bound edge was a bit uneven. I figured that was due to me not putting the pages in completely straight my first time. I tried another set of pages and used only 7 that time. The machine took less than 4 minutes to heat up this time but of course it had only been off for about 20 minutes by then so I still don't really know a consistent heat up time from cold. As I use it more I will edit my review and let you know. The 7 pages bound beautifully and it looked really professional. I will definitely be using this machine for my future maintenance guides. I don't know how it would do for more than 15 pages at a time as my use for it would not exceed that. It makes me wonder though about the fellow Vine Program reviewers here that stated that you used more than 15 pages and it didn't work...did you get a different package of test binders than I did or did you purchase different sizes on your own? I think it is important that people coming here to read accurate reviews know about actual product flaws and not "operator error" flaws. In short, I would recommend this for home use and small business use. If a small business is using it I would definitely say take an hour and hold a training session. The product has a 2 year warranty and i think that is fair as it is most like if it breaks down it will be within that two years. I would have given it 5 stars but some of the plastic pieces seem flimsy. Also I wish that power source outlets for machines like these were on the side instead of the back of the unit.

Manual said do not use staple, but when I make photo book, I should to use staple to make strong bind. Otherwise lose pages.

Good value and excellent, easy-to-use product if you have booklets you want to bind for a professional presentation.

Este es mi segundo producto fellowes, el primero es una engargoladora muy bonita y muy útil por cierto. Esta encuadernadora la compré por varias razones; precio, disponibilidad de amazon mx, prime, y por su apariencia también pues otras están muy sencillas o feas y otras de plano parecen hechas en casa con herramientas rudimentarias. Es un producto que en fotografía se ve más pequeño pero cuando la recibí y desempaqué me di cuenta que es muy ancha y a mi en lo personal me hubiera gustado que fuera un poco más compacta aunque cambiara un poco el diseño, es muy ligera y parece que no tiene partes de metal por el peso, cuando no se está utilizando se cierra y no ocupa espacio verticalmente y es bonita En cuanto a la operación pues es muy sencilla, en la parte inferior izquierda tiene unas guías en donde se indican los ajustes para encuadernar cualquier proyecto de hasta 300 hojas en el caso de la helios 30 y 600 en la helios 60, emite un sonido cuando se selecciona el nivel y tiempo, y también cuando termina el ciclo de calentamiento para sacar el documento y dejarlo en la parte trasera para enfriar por 5 minutos. Las portadas térmicas de la misma marca son un poco caras por el momento, pero espero que pronto tengan disponibles otras marcas o incluso las tiras de pegamento para poder usar cualquier portada como estás disponibles en amazon usa. El documento terminado tiene una apariencia muy profesional, limpia y elegante, no se compara para nada con los otros métodos de encuadernado o engargolado, ya sea el espiral metálico o los de plástico, la recomiendo mucho para las personas exigentes en cuanto a la calidad y presentación de sus proyectos. Si en el transcurso de los meses surge nueva información la publicaré como actualizaciones.

Dear Amazon We have contacted Fellowes directly about our faulty product which is dead out of box and not working. They said that you hold the warranty. Although it is beyond the 30 days return, they said that you'd accept the faulty product and replace it with a new one because they couldn't troubleshoot it with us. Please can you respond as soon as possible as this is needed for a key event! Thank you! D Hanlon

Fonctionne à merveille

Este producto lo compre con el objetivo de hacer fotoalbums, me funcionó perfectamente, tengo varias fotos y las convierto en un fotobook con este aparato.. lo recomiendo al 100%

I thought I would like this a lot more then I do, I wanted to use it to make up my genealogy books since I have been working on my family history for so long and thought this would make the information I collected look very good but I was disappointed since it really doesn't seal that well and the clean cover buckled. The Thermal Sheets are expensive for what you get. I'll try another book and if it doesn't work well I'll just return the product.