The Difference Between the GBC C150 and GBC C250 Plastic Comb Binding Machines

Every week it seems that customers ask me what the difference is between the GBC CombBind C150 Plastic Comb Binding Machine (formerly the Ibico Ibimatic) and the GBC CombBind C250 (formerly the Ibico Kombo). Many of these customers are confused by the fact that the two machines look nearly identical and the GBC C250 is often priced less than the GBC C150 binding machine. Here is a quick overview of the differences between the two machines.

1. Disengageable Dies: All of the punching pins on the GBC C250 are fully disengageable. This allows you to bind books that are shorter than 11" long using the GBC C250. The GBC C150 binding machine does not have any disengageable dies. This means that the GBC C150 is only designed for use with 11" letter sized documents. Since the GBC C250 also has an open throat it is possible to use it to punch document longer than 11" such as legal sized documents or even 11" x 17" presentations.

2. Adjustable Depth of Punch Control: The GBC C250 includes an adjustable depth of punch Margin control. This control allows you to select how far from the edge of the page the binding holes are placed. This is important when binding very small documents or very large documents. If the holes are too far away from the edge of the page for small documents the pages will not turn and if they are too close for larger documents the pages can sometimes tear out. The GBC CombBind C150 does not include an adjustable depth of punch control making it more difficult to use with some sizes of plastic comb binding supplies. This means that the GBC Combbind C150 is not compatible with the smallest or largest plastic combs that are available on the market.

3. Price: The GBC C250 plastic comb binding machine is the most popular manual comb binding machine available on the market. It is found in many schools and businesses across the country, and is therefore able to be bought from companies in bulk, which allows it to often be priced cheaper than the C150.

Truthfully, both the GBC CombBind C150 and the GBC CombBind C250 are extremely well built manual plastic comb binding machines. However, given the fact that the C250 offers a more complete selection of features for a lower price the GBC C250 plastic comb binding machine seems to be the logical choice.