Fellowes, FEL5734801, Venus2 125 Laminator & Pouch Starter Kit, 1, Black,Silver

Fellowes Venus 2 125 Lamination Machine It came very well packaged in factory box. It had two foam inserts on each side to keep it stable. The machine was inside a moderately loose fitting bag and the three prong power cord was packaged in a smaller bag and taped to the front to prevent it from moving. The rear feeder tray was packaged in its own plastic bag and placed in front of several papers and a re-sealable bag that contained the User's Manual and a Registration card. In another package it contained 10x 3 mil lamination pouches. It contained a helpful tips sheet as well. It was very simple to set up. Make sure receiver tray is a minimum of 20” away from the wall before using. The machine turns on in the back and goes through a function check before it starts heating the cycles. It has three cycle options. Standby, auto with heat and cold. It also has a reverse button. It can do up to 10 mil lamination pouches. I used the heat cycle and one of the provided pouches and laminated the Helpful Tips and Tricks paper for longevity. It takes about 30 seconds, or less for it to heat up. It is cool to the touch when hot. If the blue light is showing it will be a cold lamination. Green for hot. Wait for the lights to stop blinking and green on the thickness you want. Then all you do is stick the paper in the lamination pouch and flatten it out. Feed the item in through the front as centered as possible. Watch it as it rolls through and once it is out on the back, remove it promptly to avoid a possible roller jam. The manual states that the item night be hot upon removal. The item was not hot for me to the touch. However, I highly recommend that you take heed of the warning anyway. Especially with the thicker items. The machine is quiet, doesn't heat up the surface it is sitting on, and works quickly and smoothly. I highly recommend this product. It seems well made and it's a very sleek and stylish design I would be proud to display in my office. You will not be disappointed. It has a sheet to call for help if you need it.

I am doing a review on the Fellowes Venus 2 125 Laminator. It looks really professional and expensive. It looks to be made very solid and sturdy. It needs a lot of space. It is really large. It is 21.3" Depth x 8.2" Width x 5.1" Height. This would look good in a doctor's office. When you turn it on it takes it just 30 to 60 seconds to warm up. It comes with 10 3ml pouches. It will accept pouches thickness up to 10ml. I am very impressed with the 3ml which I used. I can't imagine what a 10ml would look like. I am going to have to get some. You can buy those online. The opening where you put the laminating pouches is 12.5" wide. It will accept smaller widths than that too just not more than that. I wanted to see how it worked so I made some of my own bookmarks and ran them through the pouches into the machine and they were great. I did not expect it to be that easy and turn out that well. Once you run it through it will come out of the back on top of a tray. You must immediately remove it and place on flat surface or it will curl. I also laminated a coloring page that my daughter drew and want to save it forever. I do believe it will with this laminator.

Easy set up right out of the box, I plug the machine into outlet and put the exit tray to the rear of the machine. The instructions are easy to follow. The pouches that come with machine are letter size, make sure you place items properly inside the sealed edge of pouch even if the item you are trying to laminate is smaller than pouch make sure you insert it snug against the seal edge, you can cut the excess off later, I laminated a front/back copy of my lists of foods rich in the 13 Essential Vitamins and the portion plate on back, I had to run it through the machine twice and it gave me a perfect lamination. I laminate some photos too it came out perfect in just one try. I am enjoying this Laminator! Spring is in the air, I have started to search for back ground pictures to print and laminate my very own patio place mats and coasters for drinks. Get your creative juices flowing, ready set go it laminating time, need a mouse pad for my desk and a picture to put in my bathroom. You can do so many creative things. This machine is heavy and should be place on a stable surface.

I recently purchased the Venus2 125 to replace the voyager 125 I have had for many years. The new machine heats up quickly and laminates wonderfully. Too soon to tell about the reliability but if it is a tough as the Voyager I will have no complaints. Great machine so far.

Although I had wanted a laminator for a long time, I was a little intimidated when I first received this one. It came packed well and had an attractive design. It is sturdy and needs enough work space in front of it to insert your projects and enough space in the back for the output tray. Since I had never owned a laminator, I thought I would need to study the instruction manual and learn about it before actually using it. However, I found the operation simple and user friendly. The directions are straight-forward and easy to follow. Simply plug in the machine, turn it on and it heats up very quickly. The one item I noted that I needed to pay attention to was to insert the sealed edge of the laminating pouch in first. (The laminating pouches were a milky color when they came out of the package, but they laminated crystal clear and sealed well the first time through.) The rollers guide the laminating pouch through and the finished product emerges on the back side, onto the tray, cool enough to touch. I am anxious to use this for home projects (insurance cards, children's artwork, recipes) and for work, since teachers are always laminating things to make them sturdy enough to hold up to classroom use. This is a much easier laminator to use than the large ones we have at school that use rolls of film. (Those take a long time to heat up, and when you set them up, you need to have enough laminating to do to make it worth the effort. With this machine, you can laminate one item quickly and efficiently.) I would recommend this item for home and/or office use.

I am very impressed with this ‘Venus2 125' laminator by Fellows (this brand makes several other models; I am only reviewing this specific model). This model sets itself apart from other laminators for so many reasons. The setup was quick and easy, it is easy to figure out and use whether you have had any experience with a laminator before or not, doesn't take a long time to heat up, laminates pretty quickly and the sheets actually come out cool to the touch! No burns, bubbly plastic or weird smell with this one. It really does a great job laminating most home projects and small office needs. Not really sure what bigger offices use, but this one covers everything I need both for home and for work. It even comes with a special cleaning sheet to keep it running smoothly and 10 laminating sheets to get started, so you can get started on a few projects or documents right off. It is pretty big, but that's in order to accommodate any letters or papers up to an A3 page size. So for instance, if your kid just painted or drew a masterpiece that you want to laminate and turn into a placemat for them to use (or hang on the wall, while still preserving it), you can do that. It is also great for any dry erase games that you want to print out and laminate to use over and over again (a tic-tac-toe board is an extremely easy one to print/draw and laminate and little kids get so excited to play it over and over again). I have also found this useful for laminating my daughter's board games that she creates on her own on paper. So many times that she created her own board games with her own rules and pieces that just fell apart until now. I am considering getting a color photo printer now, if I can find one that will actually hold up this time, to laminate some photos to make as photo coasters, scenery placemats for different seasons and holidays, wallet photos that always tear and fade in the wallet and photo mouse pads to fit the mood. Until then, I wonder if I can just use real flowers and leaves to make a collage out of it to laminate for nice seasonal placemats. Will probably have to press them first and maybe line them between two sheets of wax paper or baking paper. I wish it came with a project idea and guide booklet of some sort to let you know what all you can put in it and what you can not. One thing to note though is that it actually has all various different sizes of laminating sheets, so you need to buy the correct size to fit your current project. You need separate pouches for business/membership cards (that fishing license we just printed will hold up a lot better next fishing trip), separate pouches for letters/instructions/activities, and separate pouches for placemats/board games. This is actually not bad at all, because that way you use up pretty much the entire pouch for each project, so almost nothing or nothing at all gets wasted. I find the different size pouches available for this product quite helpful and easier to use than one standard size pouches. Overall, this is an excellent device to have around for crafty/creative individuals. It will take many of your projects to the next level with the durability it provides for your projects. Highly recommended.

I believe it only took 3 days to get here after shipped. It was well packaged and very heavy. This machine is very, very heavy. It does take up a lot more room than I had expected, but, the quality is worth the room. It takes about 1 1/2 minutes until it is ready to use. It is all touch, which I love. All of the buttons light up a pretty blue. You can chose auto which is hot or cool. The second item I laminated had bubbles. I am not sure why it did, because, none before or after it had bubbles. Everything else I laminated turned out perfect. I love how beautiful everything laminated. You put the paper in the sleeve and load it sealed side first. That is it, you wait about 20 to 30 seconds and your finished, laminated product is on the other side. It is just that simple! I love the auto shut off. I forget to turn things off all of the time, and the auto shut off keeps it from overheating or stop working. I am assuming this is why they can offer a 2 year warranty, the auto shut off. My dad was at my home when I laminated some things. Now he wants one. You can use it for so many different things, cards, badges, documents, pictures. Laminating things insures that they will last forever. I highly recommend this for anyone who wants to make perfect laminations. All you do is load it the way you want it laminated, and the machine does the rest for you. It is awesome!

I have never used a laminating machine before, so I have nothing to directly compare the Fellows Venus 2 125 to, but the specifications are pretty impressive, and it has done a good job on everything we have sent through it so far. As homeschoolers, we have a lot of uses for this machine (flash cards, reusable worksheets, art projects, calendars, schedules, etc.), and I sure it would also come in handy in an office environment. The overall looks of the unit are pleasing (see attached picture), but it does take up a lot of desktop area (it is much longer than I imagined at 21.2 inches; it is 5.1 inches high and 8.2 inches deep). It includes a feature they call “InstaHeat technology” that allows it to warm up quickly (less than a minute). It also boasts a laminating speed of 40 inches per minute, and can laminate up to a thickness of 10 millimeters. It can laminate documents up to 12.5 inches wide (if you don't need to laminate this wide, you probably want a smaller/less expensive laminator like the Fellows EXL 45-3), and will automatically shut off when not in use to avoid overheating. We have not noticed any issues with the external components becoming uncomfortably warm to the touch. Overall, we are very pleased with this machine and look forward to years of use (it comes standard with a 2 year warranty).

I have never really owned a professional laminator before this one. I have always been the one to buy the sheets and do it myself. When using those you always wound up with bubbles and often damaging what you are laminating in the first place. I can not tell you how easy this machine is. You basically just plug it in and it does most of the work. Whatever you want laminated you just put it in the sleeve and run it through the machine. It can sense the item and seals it very professionally. I like the idea that you can also use it for doing thicker laminations and projects. I would definitely recommend this product! I look forward to using it to protect my sons future artwork for many years to come.

Hi folks, When I began testing out this Fellowes Venus2 125 Auto-Adjust Laminator, I wasn't sure exactly what I was going to use it for. It sure didn't take me long to find many uses for it. I have a medical condition that requires the use of oxygen and I'm supposed to have "Oxygen in Use" posted outside my doors. the plain paper signs kept getting wet and falling off every time it rained, so I began my laminating tasks by first making some permanent signs. So far, my signs have withstood several thunderstorms and are holding up well. I have also gone through my wallet and have laminated several identification cards, my old paper Social Security card, business cards I wish to save, and many other things throughout my home. This Fellowes laminator is real easy to use and works just great. It would be a fantastic asset to any home office. I highly recommend this machine to anyone who is in the market for a laminating machinf. I've used none better.