Apr

7

DFG EC2000 Electric Spiral Coil Binding Machine Review

April 7, 2008 |

The DFG EC-2000 is a heavy duty electric spiral coil
binding machine that is designed for users that are looking for a high
quality durable machine but don’t need the fully disengageable dies
offered by the E-TitanCoil.This
machine is specifically designed to meet the needs of organizations
that need a heavy duty highly productive binding machine but don’t need
to bind documents that are longer or shorter than eleven inches.

Overview:

  • The DFG EC-2000 is a heavy duty electric spiral coil
    binding machine that is designed for users that are looking for a high
    quality durable machine but don’t need the fully disengageable dies
    offered by the E-TitanCoil.
  • Manufactured by the Document
    Finishing Group, the EC2000 is offered at an excellent price point
    considering its features. In fact it is one of the least expensive
    heavy duty electric coil binding machines available on the market.
  • This
    machine is specifically designed to meet the needs of organizations
    that need a heavy duty highly productive binding machine but don’t need
    to bind documents that are longer or shorter than eleven inches.

Strengths / Features:

  • After taking the EC2000 out of the box one of the first
    things that I noticed was how heavy and durable this machine is. From
    looking at pictures on the internet, I thought that the case on this
    machine might have been made of plastic. However, the body and case of
    this machine are actually made of heavy die cast metal components. The
    EC-2000 uses the same heavy duty case and design as the more expensive
    E-Titan Coil, it just doesn’t have disengageable dies.
  • In
    testing the punch on this machine I was able to punch up to twenty five
    sheets of 20lb paper. However, this was a fairly tight fit. I would
    probably recommend punching between twenty and twenty-two sheets of
    paper at a time. This is actually a very good punching capacity for a
    machine of this type and should offer excellent productivity for most
    medium and large sized organizations.
  • The EC-2000 includes a
    pair of spiral coil crimping pliers in the box with the machine. These
    pliers are designed to cut and crimp the ends of your coil so that the
    spirals do not spin back off of your bound documents. It is great that
    this machine includes a pair since they cost about $30 if you have to
    buy them separately.
  • In addition to the heavy duty electric
    punch, the EC2000 also includes a number of other great features. It
    has a document measuring device built into the right side of the
    machine and a depth of punch margin control on the left side of the
    machine. It also has a spiral coil inserter on the top of the machine
    and a foot pedal switch to activate either the punch or inserter.

Weaknesses / Limitations:

  • The major limitation of the EC2000 and the reason why it
    costs considerably less than some other electric coil binding machines
    is the fact that it has no disengageable dies. This simply means that
    it is not possible to stop any of the individual pins from punching.
    This may not seem like it is a big deal. However, this fact makes it
    almost impossible to punch any size of document other than eleven
    inches using the binding machine. Truthfully, the machine can punch
    almost any length of document. However, without disengageable dies,
    your pages will end up with a half hole on the edge of your documents.
    This does not look professional and the holes are so close together
    that it is virtually impossible to avoid.
  • The EC-2000 has a
    built in electric coil inserter. However, the inserter on this machine
    is more difficult to use than some of the other coil inserters that I
    have used. For starters, it only has one roller instead of two and the
    roller is only six inches long. Many other coil binding machines
    include dual rollers that extend the entire length of the machine.
    Using two longer rollers is easier for inserting coils than using one
    shorter one. Plus, the roller on the EC2000 is located on the top of
    the machine. This design forces you to lift the pages of your document
    up to the roller, adding time to the inserting process. The inserter
    still works fine, it is just more difficult to use than other coil
    inserters that I have evaluated.
  • This machine uses a foot
    pedal to activate the punch and the coil inserter. However, the foot
    pedal is not nearly as heavy duty as the other components used on this
    machine. The foot pedal is the weakest link in this machine and
    considering that it will need to be stepped on hundreds and thousands
    of times this is somewhat concerning. This means that it may need to
    eventually be replaced.

Recommendation:

  • For
    organizations that only need to bind letter sized documents, the
    EC-2000 is an excellent choice. Although it cannot handle legal size,
    A4 or half letter sized sheets, this machine has all of the other
    features included in far more expensive binding machines.
  • It
    has a heavy duty electric punch, a built in coil inserter, a depth of
    punch margin control and even comes with a pair of coil crimpers.
  • All of these things make the EC2000 an excellent choice for medium and large sized organizations.
  • There
    are certainly better machines available on the market. However , this
    machine provides an excellent value for your money provided that you
    can live with its limitations.

About the author

If you need more information or would like to purchase the DFG EC2000 Electric Spiral Coil Binding Machine or any of the other Color Coil Binding Machines that we carry please feel to visit our site or contact us with your questions.

This review was written by Jeff McRitchie who is the director of marketing for Mybinding.com.
Jeff has written more than three hundred articles and more than two
hundred reviews on Binding Machines, Binding Supplies, Report Covers,
3-Ring Binders, Index Tabs, Laminators, Laminating Supplies, Paper
Shredders and Paper Handling Equipment.

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