Comparing the Unibind XU138 with the Unibind Photobook Creator

With the recent release of the Unibind Photobook Creator we have had a number of customers ask us about the differences between the Photobook Creator and the Unibind XU138 Binding Machine. In particular they want to know why we don't carry the Unibind Photobook Creator. The easiest way to answer that question is with a quick comparison of the Unibind XU138 and the Photobook Creator.

1. Binding Ability: The Unibind XU138 is fully compatible with all of the different types of binding supplies that Unibind made. Specifically, the XU138 Binding Machine is able to bind books using Unibind Steelback Spines, Unibind Steelbook Hard Covers, Unibind SteelCrystal Covers and Unibind SteelMat Covers as well as Unibind Photobooks. The Unibind Photobook creator is only capable of binding Unibind SteelBook Hard Covers and Unibind Photobooks. If you try to bind any other type of Unibind covers or spines in the Unibind Photobook Creator you will most likely have problems with the bind. The Unibind Photobook Creator does not have the support necessary to bind any non hard covered book.

2. Volume: The Unibind Photobook creator is specifically designed for the home consumer market and is not designed to hold up to any volume of binding. If you are only looking to bind five or ten documents as craft projects then the Unibind Photobook creator might be a good option. However, companies and users who plan on binding even moderate volumes should not consider the Unibind Photobook Creator.

3. Quality: As I mentioned above the Unibind Photobook creator is not designed for volume applications. However, it is also important to point out that it is not built with the same quality as the Unibind XU 138. In fact, Unibind only offers a 90day warranty on the Photbook Creator where they offer a 1 year warranty on all of the other machines that they produce.

4. Binding Time: The Unibind Photobook Creator is only designed to use with one cover at a time and takes almost twice as long to bind each document as the XU138. Of course Unibind doesn't mention this fact in their marketing of the Photobook creator.

At MyBinding we pride ourselves in only carrying products that we feel that we can stand behind for our customers. Unfortunately, at this point we don't feel that we can stand behind the Unibind Photobook creator so we have decided not to carry it. Instead, we suggest you take a look at the high quality Unibind XU138 binding machine.

Source: Jeff McRitchie is the designer and Director of Marketing for MyBinding.com. He has written over 100 articles on binding machines, binding supplies, and more.