Amazon.com Review

Amazingly easy to use, the Brother LX900 Cool Laminator does the work for you. Forget fumbling with those slippery sheets of laminate and trying to find the correct size pouches for your job. And stop worrying about turning the machine on early so it can warm up or that funky burning smell that comes from so many laminators. The Brother Cool Laminator can handle anything you might want laminated, be it a sign, your kid's certificate for winning the school spelling bee, a 3-by-5 photo of your Mexican vacation, or a business card.

Start by inserting the film cartridge and follow the very concise directions in the instruction manual (it's similar to inserting a toner cartridge in a printer). Then plug the AC adapter into the machine and the other end into the wall. Press On, and you're ready to go. No humming, rumbling, or burning odor. Better still, this laminator is the size, shape, and weight of a standard printer--not a heavy, cumbersome machine like those of yesteryear.

The LX900 comes preset for 0.18-inch borders, but you can choose a "no border" setting or turn the option off and cut your own borders. Like with a printer, to laminate, you simply slide the document guide to cradle your paper and press Start. Within five seconds, out comes your laminated document. And since this is a cool laminator, the paper can be handled immediately. If you want rounded corners, insert the corner of the laminated document into the corner cutter on the bottom right of the machine and hold it there for four clicks. Remove, and the sharp corner is now round and smooth.

The laminator comes with a roll of double-sided laminate. If you prefer, you can also use adhesive- or magnetic-back laminates with this machine. When your film roll gets low, a colored tape will show (it can be peeled off), and the roll will need to be replaced immediately.

As an added bonus, a CD of PrintMaster Gold is also included. This software, once installed on your computer, will allow you to create signs, banners, and templates for your own designs. --Dana Van Nest

Pros:

• Ready for almost immediate use
• Lighter and less cumbersome than most laminators
• Includes fun software

Cons:

• Film-laminate cartridges need replacing

Features

• Finishes both sides of the document in 1 easy step
• Built-in cutter automatically trims laminated document
• No heat, no warm-up time
• Easy and safe to use

Reviews (14)

Excellent for home use!

I recently purchased this product for a number of home projects and I have been extremely satisfied. Upon receiving the LX900, it took me less than 10 minutes to unpack, set-up and begin laminating. I found the instruction manual to be clear and well written in English, not sloppily translated from Chinese. There aren't too many settings on this laminator, so even someone as inept as myself can avoid making mistakes.

Two things I absolutely love about this product. First, you can power it on and immediately begin laminating. No waiting for it to warm-up. I use this at home, so it's not powered on all day like it would be in an office. When I realize I want to laminate something I can literally have it done within 1 minute, and get back to work on my project. Second, I love the auto-cut feature. This laminator does an amazing job of auto-sensing the size of the paper, and cutting the laminate to the desired border size. No painfully sharp edges either! Note, I'm only laminating rectangular items (index cards, 8.5 x 11), so I cannot comment on how it handles irregular-shaped items (circles, children's artwork, etc...). The cuts are so good that the discarded laminate just falls off; you don't even have to pull on it! One other thing I've noticed is that since it doesn't use heat, it doesn't discolor item's that may be heat-sensitive. I use label makers that use heat-sensitive labels. Other laminators would be so hot, that it ruined the labels. Not the LX900!

All in all, I would highly recommend this laminator for any home user. The only thing I can't comment on is whether it's durable enough for an office, or for laminating odd-shaped items. However, it wouldn't surprise me if it handled those equally well.

What a "COOL" Laminator!
Brother's "Coollaminator" is conviently compact in size; only 14" Long and 12" wide. Designed with a very stylish grey body and trimmed nicely with a purple document alignment tray and faced paper dock. I found it to be easily moved and transported from room to room, as it only weighs approximately 5 to 7 pounds. I am very pleased with the finished document it produces! My work is clean, bubble and wrinkle free! I am very happy with it's professional output. Brother also supplies a variety of lamination effects to work with its machine. Dual lamination tape, adheasive tape and magnetic backing tape. These different tapes allow me to finnish many of my office needs, but it also sparks many different crafty ideas for my home too. Place mats, holliday decor- ations, bumper and window stickers. The automatic trimmer cuts away excess film with or without a border! It's user selectable features allow you to choose how you want your finished document to be trimmed! I can't say enough about the Brother Coollaminator. Thanks, Brother, for another fine product!

I like it!
Easy to set up, ran 100+ sheets the same day, fast to laminate. Using two pieces of paper back to back.

Only bugs are the slightly sticky finish, and the fact you lose 1" of laminate each "print".

A couple of tips, you get one more letter size laminate after the red stripe appears. Expect to have a crinkled first laminate on first use, or if the machine has been standing. Refilling cartridges do not seem to do this.

So-so, but then...
When I got this it worked OK and gave me B- type results. That's fine, because I was just using it around the house for miscellaneous stuff so I didn't need quality. Then, after only 3 months, *poof*, no power. The unit is dead. Too much hassle to go through Brother Inc. for warranty (pay S & H charges, wait 3 lifetimes to get it back refurbed, etc.).

Not for Professional Photo Qualtiy Lamination
I had to bring mine back the same day. Lamination Inkjet prints results in thousands of tiny tiny bubbles, visible only close-up, not from 3 feet away. But The image contrast is thereby ruined, and closeup viewing will reveal the horrable quality. For Inkjet Photo lamination only HOT lamination will do a perfect job, but that requires a photo quality HOT laminator. ... Read more

Features

• Laminate any document up to 12 inches wide
• Finishes both sides of the document in 1 easy step
• Built-in cutter automatically trims laminated document
• No heat, no warm-up time
• Easy and safe to use

Features

• Safe no-heat technology
• Manual operation
• Requires no electricity or batteries
• Acid-free adhesives
• Includes starter cartridge (5 feet of permanent adhesive-only film)

Reviews (2)

Lots of uses!
I bought this little multi-finisher to apply adhesive to photos and other items for my scrapbooks. I have since come up with all different uses. There are 5 different cartridges and I use them all. I've made magnets out of photos, special stickers for my children's school projects and I've laminated all my recipe cards. This little machine uses no heat, no electricity and no batteries. It is so easy! The cartridges snap in without difficulty. I love this machine. I've purchased a few of them as gifts for friends.

Great for the Kids!
My kids love crafts and this little Backster has been a wonderful addition to our craft project collection. In the past, their paper projects have been thrown out after awhile because the edges get frayed or the entire item gets torn. Not anymore! They simply laminate their finished project and we can keep it forever! The machine is also a great size - very small -so storage is not a problem either. If you have kids who enjoy crafts or photography, you need the Backster! ... Read more