GBC Professional Laminator, Thermal Pouch, 18" Max Width, 1.5 - 10 Mil, HeatSeal H700 Pro (1700500)

Purchased this unit for our company in November 2020. We rarely use it as we are a small facility and just use it when we need to update signage around the plant. We have laminated maybe 100 sheets. Now the machine will not work. For almost $2K this thing should laminate for years! Every page now gets stuck halfway through, and it is making a grinding noise. Tried to reach out to GBC customer service on their website and have not had a response. Cannot figure out how to reach out to them through Amazon yet. We have a warranty but cannot reach anyone to honor it.

I manage a publications department for a defense contractor. We laminate and ship thousands of cards to customers yearly. We need a laminator that will withstand a production environment that laminates lots of cards on a daily basis. During my research, I settled on the GBC HeatSeal laminator series due to how solidly it's built. There's not much plastic in this unit. It is very heavy and extremely solid. We originally used the GBC consumer-model Jupiter laminator, like is sold in the office supply stores everywhere. We burned through that unit in no time. So we settled on the HeatSeal H700 as a replacement to our H600, which failed.The problem we're dealing with is we have a production environment that is cranking out lots of laminates weekly. My assumption that the HeatSeal line was made for a production environment was incorrect. It *is* a very solidly built piece of equipment. The bearings and gears are solid metal as is the chassis and other components. We found the gears would wear out within a year and the rollers and thermostat would eventually fail.What I want to communicate here is this particular unit is an excellent laminator for a light- to medium-duty setting. It's not designed to be operated long term in a production environment. We went through three H600 HeatSeal units and this one H700 unit in about three years. If this unit is going to be operated in a school or a church that will only require periodic use, then this is an excellent unit to consider, although it's very pricy.If you're thinking of adding this to a production environment, like a print shop, I'd highly suggest you consider the GBC Catena line. The Catena 35 has a cheaper price tag and is designed for heavy use. The Catena laminators are roll laminators. You purchase a roll of laminate film and cut the laminate down after sealing it. The savings in roll versus pouch lamination is considerable. There is the added cost of purchasing a cutter, which isn't too expensive, but the amount you'll save on consumables (rolls of laminate) is substantial. The cost of roll laminate film compared to pouch laminate is about 50% cheaper.I wanted to make others aware of the difference between this unit and other units. The H700 is a very expensive unit that works well in a light- to medium-duty location, but be aware that the pouch price is also very expensive. Before purchasing, consider how much use this laminator may get, and then compare the price of a GBC Catena laminator with roll laminate film. You might find it's a better fit to go with roll lamination over pouch lamination.