Great idea Ernst.
If you have the space, why not get a wider than 48"? That way you can feed a parent sheet without having to cut down so many times, and mount larger, or gang mount then cut?
I plan on getting the 51" Trans8 Pro. If I go do it myself.
I think they are over priced for what they are. Its not like they are some company that has been making laminating machine for the past 20-50 years, and have improved their product over the years from feedback and such. Someone you can call and say, "hey the rubber cracked!" and they send you a new part to replace. More likely a company that is fit to make the parts and assemble, fabricate, and ready to spit out a bunch of these.
The Trans8 is silicon, so it is the better material, but close to $600 is a bit more than I expected.
I think $300-400 would be fine. Lot of these companies see a gap in product penetration to consumers, and they mark up the items way up. Since a brand name one is so much more expensive. These can't cost more than $100 to put together. Look at the price of the de-curling rollers, they are a joke(almost the price of these machines), but there are those that have disposable money and just know the best marketed item is the best product, so they buy it and swear by it. Verses someone making something simple to work.
I pay $25-30 for material and labor to have my 24x36" prints mounted on 3/16" black Gator or sitreen(?). I might have to buy the material in bulk to get better pricing on material, which may sit for a while and take up some space. So $600 plus $500 on an unknown amount bulk order(I don't know where to source the least priced Gator with shipping to west coast), and then do I get Gator with adhesive already on one side? or get the slip sheets of adhesive? So after 20-30 posters I think it might start to pay off? Learning curve errors, etc. The biggest issue for me is working space. Sure these are rather small, but the tables you need in front and/or back working solo maybe a large footprint of space. I have it, but thinking the minimal...maybe a couple fold-able tables to prop up when in use, etc. Let us know how you like yours when you setup and run!