Is there a shredder that works?

[dave]

Can anyone recommend a paper shredder that works (£ is a factor, as usual). The two I've had are great at putting rows of creases in the paper! It wouldn't take a S. Holmes to read it afterwards though.

[Tony Bryer]

Mine is a Fellowes 105 cross-cut, cost about £100 appetite to match. It will also shred CDs. I suspect that this is one of those markets where you get what you pay for. Equally there's no point in paying for more than you need.

Looking in the Viking book the current Fellowes cross-cut machine include

P45C £29.99 6* sheets at a time max 120 sheets per day PS65C £79.99 8/400 SB85C £169.99 15/1500

*I would take the sheets at one time figure and halve it unless you like clearing jams

It partly depends on whether you are shredding the old letter or correspondence/accounts files: one full lever arch file is probably about 400 sheets.

[Derek ^]

There's a "CD Destroy" 7 sheet crosscut one in Maplin's sale, half price @ £19.99.

I've had no success with supermarket cheapies.

DG

[Bob Eager]

I've bought three Fellowes ones (for different places) and all have worked well. The things to look for are as follows: you choose these and balance against price.

• do you need to shred credit cards, CDs, or staples? Different proce bands here.

• duty cycle - how many sheets at a time (be pessimistic, as mine here says 7 sheets at a time but I wouldn't do more than three or four - and how many before waiting for it to cool down.

• width of strip - 6mm is rubbish and not secure. Go fo 3mm.

• cross cut - MUCH better to get this as it cuts the long strips into little pieces

[Andy Hall]

I have a PS80C-2. IIRC it cost just over £120 originally and is roughly equivalent to the SB85.

It's better to feed a few sheets at a time and just keep them going past the sensor - I agree, about half published rate is about right.

[The3rd Earl Of Derby]

Dunno where you are,but by me there is an auction room mainly it does antiques but at least once a month it as a general auction involving warehouse clearance and office clearance. Now and again I visit this auction and have seen office shredders going for 60/70GBP.

-- Sir Benjamin Middlethwaite

[dave]

Notts.

[Autolycus]

I chuck stuff I want destroying on the fire. Cheaper, easier, and gives out a bit of energy rather than using it. Even if a box-full builds up over summer, it soon disappears in Autumn - or I have a special session with the garage woodburner.

[daddyfreddy]

I've bought quite a few for family and friends, from Argos, Staples and Lidl. All budget and all have worked perfectly. You must be very unlucky!

[Roly]

I bought a mid-price one by Fellowes. It worked very will until the missus let the basket fill up too much and it jammed from both sides of the feed mechanism. It could neither feed nor reverse. By the time I got alerted, it was knackered. Subsequent autopsy revealed that the plasic gear wheels had their teeth stripped.

She bought a very cheap replacement from Tesco for about gbp10. It looked almost identical, but the performance is very poor. It hardly has the ability to deal with more than three sheets at a time and the paper sensor is so stiff, that most of the stuff which will actuate it is too tough to be shredded.

[Bob Eager]

My Fellowes crosscut (P400C-2) tends to do that...I guess they all do. Wish it had a bigger bin. Both my mother and my mother-in-law wanted shredders for Christmas, and the ones I got (also Fellowes) were about

40 quid. Paper and credit cards only, but fine.

There is audible warning when the cutters start to back-feed from an over-full bin; the motor speed starts to vary. Easy enough to switch off, push the waste down into the bin, reverse/forward to clear the cutters, and continue. I have to watch SWMBO though!

[dave]

The cheapo one I have cuts fine on crisp paper. But older paper, crinkled stuff, or very thin paper get through with just lines on it. Anyway the strips are so wide (5/6mm?) that it's not very "secure". I think a crosscut is the answer.

[John Rumm]

Probably the one I have...

If I were getting another I would go for a more powerful one. Something that can swallow credit cards, CDs, paper clips and staples would make life much simpler.

[keith_765]

I I've got a Rexel-90, had it for about 5 years with no problems, even cuts credit cards, one at a time.

[nightjar]

I am happy with 6mm uncut. The stuff that goes through is only marginally confidential, it makes better dog bedding, and a Jack Russell sees to additional shredding.

Colin Bignell

[Matt]

CD's and DVD's can be disposed of in the microwave :-)