Overview:

* The New Martin Yale BM101 booklet making machine is designed as a low cost semi-automatic booklet maker that is both feature rich and easy to use.

* It allows users to create booklets that are forty pages in length from ten, twenty pound bond sheets of paper.

* The BM101 is simple to set up, easy to operate and produces high quality booklets in just seconds.

Strengths / Features:

* The most impressive feature of the BM101 is its price. There are certainly more powerful and easier to use booklet makers available on the market. However, most of these machines cost two or three times more than the BM101. With a selling price of around $700, this is the least expensive automatic booklet making machine currently available on the market.

* The BM101 is actually quite simple to use. You start by determining the position of the staplers using the handy chart printed on the surface of the unit. Then, align your sheets on the machine using the printed grid as a guide. The stops self center to assure you are always stapling right in the correct position. Once the pages are in place you simply lower the lever of the machine to activate the staplers. Then after the document is stapled you simply reverse the lever and hold it down firmly to activate the folding mechanism and to complete the booklet making process. It is as simple as that.

* The BM101 has two staplers and four different stapling positions. This allows you to produce different sized booklets using different sizes of paper. The two most common papers used with the BM101 are letter size paper for the production of 8.5" x 5.5" booklets and 11" x17" paper for the production of letter sized booklets.

Weaknesses / Limitations:

* The Martin Yale BM101 uses two small manual staplers for stapling the documents. These small staplers are high quality staplers but they are still manual staplers and they may jam or have issues. It is important to use high quality staples with these staplers and it may be necessary to replace the staplers over time, especially for high volume applications.

* The BM101 is rated to handle ten sheets of 20lb paper. However, in my testing I found that the machine sometimes had difficulties folding the maximum thickness of sheets that it was rated for. It would be a good idea to keep your booklets to 9 sheets or even less than that if you want to use a heavier paper or a cover for the front and back. If you do decide to push the limits on the machine you may have to deal with some paper jams.

Recommendation:

* For users on a budget that need to produce moderate numbers of booklets, the BM101 is an excellent choice.

* This machine may not be as automatic as some of the other booklet makers on the market. However, it is simple to operate and offers a great value for your money.

* The only real feature that this machine is missing that other more expensive machines have is electric stapling heads. If you can live without these then the BM101 is an excellent choice for your booklet making needs.

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