The 7 Best Automatic Paper Folders

The Martin Yale Desktop (around $130) has one job, which is to take standard US-sized paper and give it a quick letter fold so that it's ready to drop into an envelope. As a bonus, it accepts stapled sets as long as they contain no more than three pages.

The Formax FD 38X (about $4299) isn't for everyone, but for those who can afford the investment, this beast of a machine will blaze through nearly any job you can throw at it. For instance, it can potentially finish 500 sheets in 2 minutes and hold 35 custom settings in its memory.

Operating the Pitney Bowes FD10 (appx. $119) probably won't knock your socks off, especially since you'll need to feed each page in by hand, but it beats preparing your documents manually, and the price isn't prohibitive for even smaller organizations.

Although the Martin Yale P7200 Premier (appx. $284) provides just four outputs -- letter, half, Z, and double parallel -- it isn't terribly expensive and it's got a sizable stacking tray. Not only that, but it can handle either A4 or 8.5-by-11 for added flexibility.

You won't need to babysit the Duplo Manual (about $2450), as it gives you an ample 500-sheet feed capacity that helps you tackle large jobs easily. It has plenty more to offer, as well, including a cross-folding feature that creates right-angled folds.

Designed for light to moderate workloads, the MBM 98M (around $629) has, at the very least, two benefits that make it worth consideration. First, you don't have to be a rocket scientist to learn how to use it, and second, it's compact enough for offices that are tight on space.

The Martin Yale 1611 (about $825) is called the "Ease-of-Use Machine" for an impressive array of reasons, from a color-coded folding chart that makes setting it a snap to a removable table for unjamming without any hassle. The self-centering guides are a nice touch, too.