Paper Shredders
Posted: Wed Jan 18, 2006 11:21 amYes, I know, paper shredders aren't exactly sim specific or even gaming specific hardware. But in an age of identity theft, more and more people are buying these devices only to have them fail to do the job they wanted them to do in the first place.
When looking for a shredder, there are a few must have features...
1) Steel cutting heads. Yes, some are made from ceramic and plastic compounds and pardon the pun, but they simply don't cut it! Just one staple of paperclip will end the life of the cutting head.
2) A strong motor. You want a shredder that if the cat gets its' tail caught in the machine... well, as the Simpsons would say, "It's time to go to the pound and get Snowball III"! It's not just a matter of how much paper the machine can handle at one time. You want something that crosscuts the pieces of paper. In other words, not only does it cut the paper lengthwise, it does so by width every inch or so. You also want a machine capable of cutting up credit cards. It really cheeses me off to find an unsolicited credit card sitting in my mailbox, but they come about 2 per week. Also, the ability to shred CD's is good as well. Don't worry too much if the machine is not rated for CDs. Just cut them in half and feed them in. As long as they are not bigger than a credit card when going in and the machine is rated for credit cards, the machine will be fine as long as you first cut the CD in half.
3) It should have a bin that is fairly large because all that shredded stuff will be bulky.
I've purchased a Fellowes PS-80C... well, actually, I purchased it at Wal-Mart and they have the manufacturer put a slightly different model number on it so they can say they have the lowest price on that model. This is a fairly common marketing technique. The model number at Wal-Mart is PS-8C and don't get anything less than that or trust me, it simply won't do the job. It costs $80.00 at Wally World and the manufacturer's suggested retail is $199.99 U.S.
When looking for a shredder, there are a few must have features...
1) Steel cutting heads. Yes, some are made from ceramic and plastic compounds and pardon the pun, but they simply don't cut it! Just one staple of paperclip will end the life of the cutting head.
2) A strong motor. You want a shredder that if the cat gets its' tail caught in the machine... well, as the Simpsons would say, "It's time to go to the pound and get Snowball III"! It's not just a matter of how much paper the machine can handle at one time. You want something that crosscuts the pieces of paper. In other words, not only does it cut the paper lengthwise, it does so by width every inch or so. You also want a machine capable of cutting up credit cards. It really cheeses me off to find an unsolicited credit card sitting in my mailbox, but they come about 2 per week. Also, the ability to shred CD's is good as well. Don't worry too much if the machine is not rated for CDs. Just cut them in half and feed them in. As long as they are not bigger than a credit card when going in and the machine is rated for credit cards, the machine will be fine as long as you first cut the CD in half.
3) It should have a bin that is fairly large because all that shredded stuff will be bulky.
I've purchased a Fellowes PS-80C... well, actually, I purchased it at Wal-Mart and they have the manufacturer put a slightly different model number on it so they can say they have the lowest price on that model. This is a fairly common marketing technique. The model number at Wal-Mart is PS-8C and don't get anything less than that or trust me, it simply won't do the job. It costs $80.00 at Wally World and the manufacturer's suggested retail is $199.99 U.S.
And better don't wear a tie when operating one 