subject: Paper Shredders - Aren't They All The Same? [print this page] There are many shredders on the market today that cover most if not all the needs of various consumers. These office machines differ on elements such as style, volume and storage receptacles among others. No wonder buying a shredder is a confusing endeavor. But it doesn't have to be. Lets cut through most of the marketing jargon and get right to what you need to get the job done.
Here are a few features you need to pay attention to:
Paper width - Not all shredders accommodate the different widths of paper. Be aware of your needs. If you are primarily using this for your home office, a shredder which only slices 8 1/2 x 11 size paper might work for you. However, if this machine is going to be used by medium to large office then you would be better served to consider shredders which can accommodate all the paper widths. Its better to be aware of this fact than buy one that fits only 1-2 sizes and you spend the majority of your time folding sheets to fit the shredder's throat.
Volume - Consider your potential volume needs. Are you going to shred several dozen sheets a day or just a few every other day? The common personal shredders are recommended for about 125-175 sheets/day. But, thats for a brand new piece of equipment. For shredders which will be used by more people, they are going to see more volume.
Capacity - These machines come with a maximum capacity or a maximum number of sheets that they can simultaneously shred. There is no point feeding 1-2 sheets into the shredder for long periods of time in a low-capacity device. Make sure your shredder can deal with several sheets at a time to stay efficient and be effective. Think hard about your capacity and volume needs before you step into the store.
Cutting Patterns - This refers to the way in which the paper is cut when it is passed through the machine. The common direction is vertically across the direction you put the sheets in. In some shredders like the cross-cut variety, the paper is cut horizontally and vertically in a single pass.
While you feed the paper there are two sets of blades that cut the paper into small rectangles. Since they shred the paper a little better i.e. it is much harder to piece together the shredded pieces of paper these cost a little more while requiring more maintenance.
