Shred Better: Fellowes PS-79Ci Makes Short Work of Paper, Some Plastic
Identity theft sucks. And whether you work from home, run a small business, or just receive bills, you need a safe way to dispose of paper documents, along with CDs and credit or ID cards. Even if you just get junk mail at home, it can contain enough personally identifiable information to be a potential danger. Shred early, shred often, that’s our new motto, and it’s not paranoid if they really are out to get you- 80 percent of companies surveyed by the ASBI had experienced one or more data breaches in the previous 12 months.
OK, so now that you’re scared, what should you do? We’ve been testing the Fellowes PS-79Ci, our first shredder that we get to put through the paces. It’s a big unit, and fairly heavy- over 30 pounds of machinery with a decent sized six gallon bin that easily pulls out for disposal. It takes up a bit of floorspace though, and you can choose to use the included caster wheels or not. We found it important to clean out the basket regularly- and thankfully there’s even an indicator for that!
Actually there’s an indicator for several things. It will alert you when you are getting close to the capacity of the shredder for instance, which is kind of fun to test. The manufacturer claims 12 sheets at a time, but we found real-world stacks to be closer to 10 sheets until we started getting warned. They also claim that it’s 100% Jam Proof, a claim that made our testers salivate. We were able to create a brief stoppage or two, usually by mixing material types, but it was always easy to fix- simply reverse the stack a bit and have it re-try. One of the best things about this unit is the ability to safely shred staples and even paper clips- so no more worrying about the little metal pieces you may have left in the document. It’s a great timesaver, and we never had any issues with the shredding, even with CDs and credit cards. Folks who aim to shred newsprint though, may want to look elsewhere, as the manual lists the following items as not usable in this unit: newspaper, transparencies, adhesive labels, cardboard, file folders, laminates, X-rays.
It’s also reasonably quiet- certainly, we would want regular shredding to happen in another room, but it’s not like some units that we’ve heard. Shredding your data CDs is much louder though! We did find it odd that there needed to be two separate on/off switches though- it seemed unnecessary and a bit confusing for unaware users. Also, Fellowes instructs you to oil the machine regularly, after each time you empty the bin- we never did, as we were testing durability. Also, they suggest running the shredder in reverse for 15 seconds a day, an interesting suggestion but one that isn’t automatic and perhaps could be. Finally, the shredder isn’t mean for truly all-out marathon shredding sessions- it will shut down after a while of shredding and force a cooling off period of 20 minutes and the manual suggest usage of 25-50 shredding passes per day. At $200 though, it’s a great investment. A bit bulky, but quite capable, the Fellowes handles basic shredding perfectly for your small or home office.
