Paper shredders review

# Discontinued.

What about the rest?

• The cross-cut FELLOWES Powershred P-45C, P55C and PS-62C all work well but you’d want to find them for a good price. OFFICE ONE VS502C scored equally well overall and is considerably cheaper.
• The PS-62C is very stable and it’s very easy to empty its slide-out bin, but some paper shreds are likely to accumulate in the compartment housing the bin. The P-45C and P55C both have a safety lock on the controls, but the P-45C is the slowest in the test to shred 100 sheets, and the P55C is relatively heavy.
• The OFFICE ONE CD Combo (cross-cut) is the only model in the test with a separate slot to destroy CDs. It doesn’t shred the disc but embeds a series of dotted lines onto its surface to make it unreadable. We found it very quick and effective at doing this.
• The REXEL V55 and HSM X5 (both cross-cut) worked well but were let down by their lower ease of use scores. The controls on the HSM are small and can be hard to use and the REXEL has a heavy head that can be difficult to remove.
• The TDE SYSTEMS SC103 (strip-cut) and XC203 (cross-cut) have similar scores but there’s a big price difference between the two. The SC103 is much cheaper but it failed one of the safety tests, which is a concern if you have small children.
• The strip-cut FELLOWES Safe Shred SC5+ and OFFICE ONE VS502SB failed one of the safety tests and were the poorest performers in the test. They leave relatively large strips of paper uncut if you don’t feed the paper into the centre of the slot. The LEDAH C-10Eco also has this problem.

Profiles - the best

Price recommended retail as of March 2008.

FELLOWES P50CM #

Price: $130

Type: Cross-cut

Good points

• The fastest model in the test for shredding a single sheet of paper.
• Shreds stapled paper.

Bad points

• It has a mesh bin instead of a solid plastic one, so paper dust can spill out the sides unless you use a plastic bag or special liners (sold separately), which don’t do much for the shredder’s looks.
• One of the noisiest models tested (82 dB).

HSM S10

Price: $149

Type: Strip-cut

Good points

• Highest performance score in the test.
• The second fastest model tested to shred 100 sheets of paper.

Bad points

• It doesn’t have an ‘off’ switch, which means it’s always in auto-feed mode unless you switch it off at the power point — not suitable if you have young children.
• The controls are small and difficult to operate and the labels are small.

REXEL V50 #

Price: $149

Type: Strip-cut

Good points

• The fastest in the test to shred 100 sheets of paper.
• Very good performance score.

Bad points

• It’s very difficult to grip the head and remove it when emptying the bin.
• It can be a little difficult to get the shredder to start when you’re feeding in multiple sheets of paper.

OFFICE ONE VS502C

Price: $50

Type: Cross-cut

Good points

• Good overall score and much cheaper than the top three models.
• Can shred credit cards and stapled paper.

Bad points

• Nothing in particular.
  
  

Profiles - the rest

FELLOWES POWERSHRED P-45C

Price: $130

Type: Cross-cut

Good points

• Controls have a safety lock
• Shreds credit cards
• Shreds stapled paper

Bad points

• Slowest to shred 100 sheets

FELLOWES POWERSHRED P-55C #

Price: $170

Type: Cross-cut

Good points

• Controls have a safety lock
• Shreds credit cards
• Shreds stapled paper

Bad points

• Relatively heavy (6.5 kg)

Note: this model will be replaced this month by a new model with "Safe Sense" technology that stops the machine if a finger touches the blades.

FELLOWES POWERSHRED PS-62C

Price: $205

Type: Cross-cut

Good points

• One of the quietest (70dB)
• Bin is a sliding drawer that is very easy to remove and empty
• Very stable
• Shreds credit cards
• Shreds stapled paper

Bad points

• One of the slowest models to shred 100 sheets
• Some paper shreddings tend to accumulate in the compartment housing the bin
• Heaviest model tested (6.8 kg)

OFFICE ONE CD COMBO VS710CD #

Price: $129

Type: Cross-cut

Good points

• Can make CDs unreadable by embedding dotted lines onto the surface
• Shreds credit cards

Bad points

• Nothing in particular

REXEL V55 #

Price: $169

Type: Cross-cut

Good points

• Shreds stapled paper

Bad points

• Difficult to grip and remove the heavy head to empty the bin
• One of the noisiest models tested(83dB)
• Relatively heavy (6.3kg)

TDE SYSTEMS SC103 #

Price: $30

Type: Strip-cut

Good points

• One of the cheapest models in the test

Bad points

• Failed one of the safety tests
• When doing multiple sheets it can leave uncut strips unless sheet is well centred and square

TDE SYSTEMS XC203 #

Price: $79

Type: Cross-cut

Good points

• Comparatively stable
• Shreds credit cards

Bad points

• Paper needs to be well centred and square for best results
• Relatively heavy (6.5kg)

HSM X5

Price: $149

Type: Cross-cut

Good points

• Shreds stapled paper

Bad points

• Controls are small and stiff to operate and labelling is small

LEDAH C-10Eco #

Price: $50

Type: Strip-cut

Good points

• Relatively light

Bad points

• Tends to leave uncut strips unless paper is well centred and square

FELLOWES SAFE SHRED SC5+ #

Price: $45

Type: Strip-cut

Good points

• Very easy to remove head and empty bin
• Shreds stapled paper
• Relatively light

Bad points

• Failed one of the safety tests
• One of the noisiest models tested (83dB)
• Tends to leave uncut strips unless paper is well centred and square

OFFICE ONE VS502SB

Price: $30

Type: Strip-cut

Good points

• One of the cheapest models tested
• The lightest model tested
• Very easy to remove head and empty bin

Bad points

• Failed one of the safety tests
• Unstable and easily knocked over
• Tends to leave uncut strips unless paper is well centred and square

# Discontinued.

Strip-cut or cross-cut?

• Strip-cut shredders cut A4 paper lengthways into 6–7 mm wide strips. Cross-cut shredders cut it into much smaller pieces (around 22–50 mm long and 4 mm wide) and are regarded as being much more secure.
• Overall, in this test, the cross-cut models worked better, but there were a couple of standout strip-cut models.
• While two of our top performers are strip-cut models, the other strip-cuts we tested didn’t fare so well. The bottom three models (all strip-cut) often left relatively large strips of paper uncut if the paper wasn’t fed squarely into the centre of the slot.
• If you want to shred your old credit cards a cross-cut model is probably the best bet. While a strip-cut model might be able to do this, if you feed the card in lengthways, the number could be left intact on the strip.
• All the shredders tested should only be used continuously for 2–10 minutes at a time. The shredder then has to be rested for between four and 30 minutes. Some shredders also place limits on the maximum number of sheets of paper shredded per day.

Be safety conscious

• One of the biggest concerns with shredders is the possibility of children touching the shredder’s blades.
• We used two probes (one the size of the finger of a child aged over three and the other of a child under three) to see if either could fit into the feed slot. The over-three finger didn’t fit into any of the slots but the under-three one could fit into the feed slot and reach the blades of three of the strip-cut models: the FELLOWES Safe Shred SC5+, OFFICE ONE VS502SB and TDE SYSTEMS SC103.
• Strip cut shredders have guards on top and underneath to keep your fingers from the blades. Cross cut shredders are guarded only on top, and rely on a safety switch to prevent them operating when you lift them from the bin. It's best to unplug them when you are emptying the bin.
• If you have small children and/or pets it’s a good idea to keep your shredder off the floor, look for a model with a safety lock on the controls and unplug it when you’re not using it. In this test two of the FELLOWES models — the P45-C and P-55C — have a safety lock. Don’t let children operate the shredder, even under adult supervision.
• Also make sure the shredder has an ‘off’ switch. One model in the test (HSM S10) doesn’t, so unless you switch it off at the power point it’ll start as soon as something is placed into the feed slot. We suggest you choose the HSM S10 only if you have an easily accessible power point so it's easy to turn off.
• Also keep neckties and long hair well away from the feed slot.

Other features

• Controls should be easy to use and well labelled.
• Controls should include off, auto-start (where the shredder starts when something is placed in the feed slot), and reverse (for freeing jams) positions.
• Check how easy it is to remove the head to empty the bin. We found some were heavy and difficult to grip. Strip-cut models will need their bin emptied more often than cross-cut ones because they produce bulkier waste.
• Check whether the shredder is stable. We found some were very easily knocked over.