You know about identity theft, and you know you should protect yourself by shredding your documents, but are you doing it properly?

While this shredder is nearly identical to the PSC60-2, there is one large difference—the style of cut. This is a strip shredder, which means it shreds paper in strips 1/32” wide and the length of the paper you put in. Why’s this bad? It’s too easy for thieves to put it back together and quite often it leaves full lines of important information intact.

For a bit more money, you get the security of the cross cut/confetti style of shredding which minces your paper to 5/32” x 1-3/8 (here’s the review of that model which is the one I own: http://www.epinions.com/content_105897496196).

HOW IT WORKS
There’s a power button on the top—green means it’s plugged in and ready for business. The two other settings are auto and off.

In the auto position, the auto-sensor lets it know you’ve place paper in to be shredded. It immediately starts and then continues to run for about 2 seconds after the paper clears in order to be sure the blades are clear.

Occasionally you’ll run into a jam—this can happen if the shredder sheet capacity is exceeded or paper is not put in straight. To clear it, hit the reverse button (a toggle switch) on the top of the machine and back it out. If you find you need to manually remove the jammed paper, first unplug the unit, remove it from the wastebasket, place it on the floor or desktop upside down, and carefully remove the jammed paper).

WHAT CAN IT HANDLE?
The opening is 9” wide so things larger than that must be folded. It can take up to seven pages of 20# bond in one feeding. Don’t worry about finding those staples and paper clips—it chews through them just fine! It also easily shreds your old credit cards--or in my case the replacement card—make sure you’re shredding the right one :)

DUTY CYCLE
This isn’t an office/heavy use machine. It’s rated for 10-12 minutes of usage at a time with a minimum of 20 minutes between. This is to avoid overheating the machine. Don’t worry, you won’t need to count—if you go over the usage it automatically shuts itself down so you won’t ruin it. If you do your shredding in passes—seven sheets at a time, you can do up to 50 passes in a day for an approximately 350 pages each day.

If you need something that has a heavier duty cycle, see my review on the Fellowes Powershred 220CC Confetti-Cut Shredder (http://www.epinions.com/content_102363008644). If you insist on using it above the prescribed duty cycle, you’ll be frustrated by it.

MAINTENANCE
Empty the 6.5-gallon wastebasket—a small window in the front lets you know when it’s reaching capacity. If you don’t dump it, the shredder will continue shredding but it will back up into the blades eventually jamming it—this isn’t pretty and takes awhile to clear. Remembering to dump it is much easier! Be careful when dumping the container though as the shredding head is heavy and it makes the basket top heavy.

SPECS
• Width: 14.25 inches
• Height: 18 inches
• Depth: 10 inches
• Weight: 17.0 pounds

WARRANTY
The cutting assembly has a 5-year warranty, the rest of the unit 1 year.

FINAL THOUGHTS
This was a replacement machine purchased by my sister after her first choice failed miserably (http://www.epinions.com/content_105900510852). She’s been happily shredding for over a year without any problems and only the occasional jam (usually human error). I’m rating this 4 stars because of the cutting system—otherwise it’s a great machine, you’ll have to decide for yourself if the cross-cutting system is worth the extra money for the extra security.

More Shredder Reviews:

Fellowes P400C-2 Confetti-Cut Shredder
http://www.epinions.com/content_109081955972

Fellowes PS60-2 Strip-Cut Shredder
http://www.epinions.com/content_105902608004

Fellowes PS60C-2 Confetti-Cut Shredder
http://www.epinions.com/content_105897496196

Fellowes FS5 Shredder
http://www.epinions.com/content_105900510852

Fellowes Powershred 220CC Confetti-Cut Shredder
http://www.epinions.com/content_102363008644

Recommended: Yes

Purchase Price (if leased, monthly payment): 99.00
Machine age (Months in use): 12