Slow and Steady Shreds the Sheets!

Author's Rating:

Pros: Auto and manual with reverse. Never jams, eight-sheet capacity adequate for most shredding jobs. Cross-cut.

Cons: Not the fastest of all shredders. Slightly over-priced. Small basket made smaller by poor design.

The Bottom Line: 
More powerful than the average cross-cut shredder, most people will be happy with the eight sheet capacity. Purchased the extended warranty ($19.99) as it has moving parts and motors.

Author's Review
On my unit, the top says "GBC Shredmaster 85x." I paid $119.95, plus tax, plus I decided to get the extended warranty for three years at $19.95 (purchased at Staples) because I tend to kill shredders. It's true, if you overwork any motor, you will kill it eventually. My wife and I shopped for shredders to replace our third cheap shredder (the first three were very generic strip-shred units purchased from CVS Pharmacy) for over a year, before we were forced to make a decision by a (once again) dying unit. We have a small home office, and shred a lot of stuff, not to mention that we shred any and all personal information before we throw it away to discourage dumpster diving and identity theft. If you don't have a shredder, you should consider purchasing one for the peace of mind it would give you...knowing you aren't throwing out something that someone might use against you in the future. This article should help you decide whether this model (or any shredder at all) is what you need. If you have a strip-cut unit, and are on the fence about upgrading to the cross-cut model...read on!

Strip versus Cross-Cut

There was a movie I saw once...and I can't remember what the name was, but someone had shredded some confidential documents with a strip shredder. Sometime later, the Bad Guy in the movie appears with the Secret Documents all taped back together, as he laughs maniacally that he has the information that was kept from him for so long. Depending on the model you use, and how small the strips are when they come out, it might be challenging, but not impossible, for someone to take all the strips and put them back together again to have your information intact. Again, it takes time to do this, and it's easier if the strips are larger, but if someone wants something on you, what is a few hours with tape and a magnifying glass if the information's really important to them?

That's when someone decided that cross-cut was a better solution. Not only does it cut the paper into strips, but it cuts the strips into little pieces, so it's extremely difficult to put things back together again. That's a good thing if higher security is your main reason for getting a (better?) shredder.

Slow Versus Fast

This shredder isn't terribly slow but it isn't as fast as some of the models I've seen. Personally, I'd rather it take its time, doing whatever it's doing, and make sure that the output is as small as possible; than go really fast and sometimes miss parts during the process. My fast, generic strip-cut shredders would sometimes let things go through the paper-path without being entirely cut into strips. This is a bad thing. It appears that there's no way that the paper could pass through this mechanism uncut without jamming the machine. Heck, if you've got the extended warranty and can return it on a whim, try sending through a credit card. I did...and it didn't jam. My strip-shredder tried that and it didn't jam either...but the credit card came out the bottom bent, but not cut.

Slow and steady wins the race!

Strong and Powerful versus Weak and Wimpy

Those cheap strip-cut shredders seemed like a good idea at the time, but with the weak motor, they often didn't enjoy cutting through staples when they were cutting at their maximum capacity. I had jams all the time. This model shredder cuts everything into small pieces with a large, powerful motor; and large, sharp cutting gears that are well oiled and very close together to give you a good cut. If I had a choice, I'd pick large and powerful, but slow; over small and weak, but fast.

The Basket Problem

This unit comes with its own waste basket, which some have said is "small." The problem isn't really the basket, inasmuch as the design of the shredder. The output port is really tall, probably for safety, and this takes up space that the paper could move through to fill the bag that you're hopefully using (paper chips are really small and annoying to have to clean up after). I actually find the basket itself to be too large, because the bags that I bought to try and fit over it didn't fit properly, and if I use the larger bags, they are way too large. I shouldn't have to purchase proprietary bags for my shredder, especially if I have no choice of baskets...and I don't. The basket and shredder are integrated (again for safety), as there is an "interlock" on the basket that must press a safety switch recessed in the shredder before the shredder will work. It's a great idea for safety, but makes using an alternate basket a problem. Also, the safety interlock, while great for safety, makes cleaning out paper that's stuck in the gears a problem, because you need to take a small object and press the switch before the gears will move to assist you with clean-up. I know that people will say "it's not safe to bypass the safety interlock switch" but, honestly, they put those things on there so people can't sue them if they hurt themselves. I work with knives all the time when I cook...very sharp knifes. I feel that if you treat technology with care and respect, you won't get hurt...ever. Just wear gloves if you're squeamish. The interlock is nice, but over doing it.

Top Heavy

This unit is top heavy, which accounts for the "pedestal" design on the front of the basket. It makes the unit not want to fall forward, so if you put the unit against a wall, it's not going anywhere. If it's not put against a wall, you might have tippage, which is bad. Five pounds of paper chips all over the carpet, anyone?

A Tad Pricey

This is GBC's second from the top-of-the-line model in the Personal Shredders line. While there are more expensive shredders, and shredders that have fewer features for the same price (but end up being worth it because the have more powerful motors, jam less, etc.), this unit's retail price of $229.00 is pretty high. The current price at your local office supply store is almost always going to be less than retail, so if you get this unit for just around $100, that's pretty good. Don't let them charge you more than $120+tax, because at that point, there are other units on the market that can beat this unit out. I chose this unit because the price was right, I felt good about the price-to-quality ratio at $119.98, but would have skipped it if it were much higher than that. Shop around, save your money, don't buy the first thing that comes along and you will be happier in the long run.

The Features

Okay, there is one switch on this unit that goes between AUTO/ON, Manual Forward and Manual Reverse. The reverse feature is nice for unjamming things, but like I've said, I haven't had a jam yet. It's just nice that it's there if I need it. Manual forward is great if you're going to be sitting there with a stack of paper that might not always hit the "paper's here" switch inside the unit. Some flimsy paper is hard to push this switch into the "working" position, so the "REALLY ON" mode is always useful to have. I enjoy having the power to override any machine's automatic decision-making process as a general rule. I would have preferred a higher-quality switch with more tactile feel in the extreme positions, but you get what you pay for. In the more expensive and commercial models, the switches are slightly better. For home use, where you might not ever use that switch, it's fine.

Overall, I'll bet you didn't think I could talk this long about a simple shredder...but there are many points to consider when purchasing anything. I feel that this shredder is manufactured to high quality standards, but get the extended warranty if it's affordable. I know I say that a lot, but with something with moving parts that takes a lot of abuse (it destroys things on a daily basis), you'll probably want to have the assurance that if it breaks, you can return it. I didn't get that assurance on my first three shredders and they're in landfill heaven now. If this one breaks in the next 2 1/2 years, I can return it and have it fixed or replaced. Not a bad deal for $20 extra bucks. Just make sure it's an affordable warranty plan, and you'll be okay. You might want to consider investing in the bags that GBC makes specifically for this unit unless you are sure that the bags you will buy at the store won't be too small or too large.

Happy shredding!