A rugged machine that is meant to be a low cost alternative to the Akiles Megabind E, the AlphaBind CE is designed to work mainly with letter sized sheets, in medium to high volume production environments. We recently took a look at this new machine and put together a list of some its strengths and weaknesses.
Strengths:
1. One of the things we immediately appreciated about the AlphaBind CE is its low price point for an electric punch. Designed to offer an economical alternative to the Akiles Megabind E, the AlphaBind CE delivers a rugged all metal machine at a price that makes high volume electric punching a possibility for just about any size organization.
2. Operation of the AlphaBind CE is as simple as can be with its very handy foot pedal. This is a really nice function because when you use the foot pedal, you are able to keep both hands on the stack you are punching. The advantage of this is that you will get a more accurate punch with less fanning than you might get with a lot of other machines.
3. With its 12 inch throat, the AlphaBind CE is ideally designed for creating books using letter sized sheets. However, if on occasion you find the need to produce documents that are larger or custom sized, the open throat design coupled with the fully disengageable dies make that a possibility. All you need to do is to punch one side, flip it over and punch the other. These two features add a lot of flexibility to the AlphaBind CE and it is nice to know you have those capabilities whether or not you ever use them.
4. The punching capacity of the AlphaBind CE is a rather nice 20 pages per lift. While you can find manual machines that have similar capacities, you can t beat the speed, ease, and productivity of an electric punch. On the binding side, the AlphaBind CE has the capability to bind books that are up to two inches thick, which is just about the limit for comb binding.
5. The AlphaBind CE has a four setting depth of margin control that allows you to set the distance from the sheets edge that the holes are made. This means that no matter the thickness of your project, you will always be able to ensure that the punches are appropriately set for the maximum functionality and durability of your books.
6. We really liked how large the chip try is, and how easy it is to get to and empty. There are a lot of machines out there that overlook this detail, and the result is that sometimes you have to move the entire machine in order to empty the tray, or it doesn t get emptied as often as it should and the chips build up a cause problems. Neither of these should be an issue with the AlphaBind CE.
Weaknesses:
1. The inclusion of the foot pedal is a great idea, but we found its plastic construction to be a possible detriment. For a part of the machine that will be used so often, we found ourselves wondering why is didn t seem as solidly built as the rest of the machine. It should still last you a good long time, but we can see how it s possible that the pedal may have to be replaced a time or two during the lifetime of the AlphaBind CE.
Author Resource:
Jeff McRitchie is the designer and Director of Marketing for http://www.mybinding.com .He has written over 500 articles on binding machines,binding covers,binders,laminators,binding supplies,laminating supplies,paper handling equipments,index tabs, and shredders.
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