Put those SCISSORS away boys WE'RE going Shredding

Author's Rating:

Pros: Shreds up to 6 pages at a time. Cuts right through staples and paper clips

Cons: None

Author's Review
About this time last year, a paper shredder wasn't something that I was looking to buy. I really never saw the point of having one. I thought I would be safe by just tearing up my bill and credit card statements before throwing them away. I just didn't think that someone like me would have any benefit from owning a paper shredder.

Then my simple little world changed! I went from thinking that nothing could happen to me, to rushing out to buy a paper shredder. Every once in a while those darn credit card companies send you out those wonderful little CHECKS! You know those supposedly convenient checks that they are hoping you will write out so that they can charge you a great big amount of interest on. Interest much higher then you pay on your normal credit card purchases. On so many occasions, I have asked my credit card companies NOT to send me those checks. I don't use them and I feel uncomfortable having blank checks out there in the mail that could allow anyone the access to use them. I mean how many times have I received my neighbor's mail accidentally? Anyone could get a hold of those checks by accident.

Well, a few months ago a credit card company that we had an account with sent us out a few of those handy convenience checks. Of course I didn't think anything of it and just threw them out. Apparently they were found. To make a long story short and get back to the point about the shredder, I will just say this: We were faced with a LARGE credit card bill that was not ours. It has since been handled, but it stemmed from someone getting ahold of one of those lovely convenience checks and having some fun with them.

My husband went out and purchased the Fellowes P700 Strip Shredders a few days later. Since then, we shred anything that has to do with financial or personal matters. It's funny how you go along in life thinking that nothing bad can happen to you. It is such a shock when someone finally pops your bubble and invades your personal space. We now do our best to keep our private papers PRIVATE.

The Fellowes P700 Really does a great job. I have never had it jam while using it since it is capable of shredding up to 5-6 normal pages at a time. The most I ever stuff in there is about 5 at a time and it just ZIPS right through them within seconds. It has a special Auto start and stop button. When turned on, it allows the shredder to automatically start up when you put paper into its feeder. This is great because you don't have to hold down any buttons while you are feeding papers into it. Also, you do not have to turn it off when done as it automatically stops itself when all the papers have been shredded. It also has a feature built in that doesn't allow paper clips or staples to interfere with it. The steel blades are heavy duty enough to just tear through small staples and paper clips without even slowing it down. I have, on a few occasions sent some staples through on documents and nothing happened. It just ate through the paper as if the staples weren't even there. This feature alone saves you so much time.

The shredder is lightweight. I would estimate it at about 10 pounds. It comes with a 6.9-gallon basket that is about the size of a bathroom trashcan. The paper shreds into long thin strips that are then dumped into the basket. Once going through the shredder, it would be very hard to make any sense out of your documents.

This is the only shredder that I have ever owned, so I cannot compare it to any others. I can only tell you that it works great and really pulls its weight around our house. I have even put a few plastic credit cards through it to shred on occasion and haven’t had any trouble.

So far we have not had any maintenance problems with it. You can oil the blades once in a while to keep them running smooth. Really the only thing that needs to be done is to empty the basket when it fills up. The shredder will automatically shut itself off when the basket is full.

This shredder is a wonderful addition to our home and would be great for anyone looking for a little more privacy at a fair price. I am sure it would also do great in a small office or business environment.

The Fellowes P700 Strip Shredder list price was 119.00 but you can order it online at www.officedepot.com for 49.99 plus shipping.