I have zero experience with pre-glued edgebanding, but I would highly recommend not using .5mm material. That stuff is so thin that it gives no protection to the panel itself. It also telegraphs any texture of the substrate and even the glue underneath. It leaves the corners somewhat sharp, because it is too thin to have any kind of roundover.  1mm is much nicer.
Most of the "hobby" level machines I have seen are hot-air based.

Are you talking about stuff like this ?

Pre glued edge banding

I have used this on multiple occassions.

Avoid iron on edgebanding at all costs. Doesn't last
very long at all

So I think this post from Woodweb answers my question.

https://www.woodweb.com/forum_fdse_files/cabinetmaking/862846.html

The relevant part says;
"Bob- I'm happy to introduce myself and share my knowledge on this topic as well. I have worked as a maintenance technician since 1982 both employed as a maintenance technician or maintenance manager and as an independent technician working on every brand and type of machine out there. Salesmen typically think anything their machine has on it is a great idea, simply because they don't "know" what they "don't know". The factories manufacturing the machinery we are using are typically in Europe or Asia. Hot air may have been a hot thing for a short period of time in Europe but the demand has waned. There was a lot of money spent on R&D and the inability to offer anything else has kept it alive in the minds of salesmen here in the U.S. When it was first developed, hot air was marketed as a way for companies to achieve a better edge without investing a lot of money into a laser but there are several insurmountable issues with hot air that have turned users away from it.
1. Coextruded edgebanding is expensive and you typically have to buy large quantities.
2. If you aren’t using coextruded edgebanding you are using pre-glued edgebanding and the finish looks worse than a glue pot machine.
3. Hot air lacks versatility. Veneers, HPL, and hardwood edges are not coextruded, and you simply won’t pre-glue these if you are looking for an invisible glue joint. Most end up using the gluepot far more than they use the hot air.
4. Hot air is loud and an annoyance to employees
5. Hot air machines use large amounts of compressed air and shops often find they need to upgrade their compressor to a larger size to accommodate the increased cfm requirements on their systems.
Laser is a much better alternative, but it is expensive and once again limited to coextruded edgebanding.

So I guess in the end it was wishful thinking on my part about a preglued option that is viable.

If wishes were horses beggars would ride

Thanks for the input.

Gerry

When all else fails, there's FastCap Speed Tape.

Maybe on a shelf or melamine drawer side, but I would never use that stuff on anything visible.

It's too soft of a bond. It will actually move after being applied.

I would not use it for countertop edge, but once it cures (about 24 hours), it's pretty solid, on par with neoprene contact cement.  The big downsides are cost and thickness.