Fellowes 49C 8 Sheet Cross Cut Personal Paper Shredder

This is my review on the Fellowes brand Cross-Cut Shredder, model 49C. This brand's official Trade-Mark logo is "The World's Toughest Shredders". In fact, Fellowes is a respected brand-name that has expertise in manufacturing quality office products for nearly an entire century, since 1917. I certainly knew that purchasing a paper shredder would be an essential and practical product to own, and I believed that the Fellowes brand-name is undoubtedly worthy of my confidence in possessing dependability to perform with efficiency. Aside from this being a product I find truly necessary to purchase and to own, I must extend my highest compliments to Walmart.com. Their pricing is, as usual, most reasonable and they ensured the product was shipped in a manner, which exhibits respect for both the merchandise and the customer. Upon delivery, I was already pleased with having had received my ordered item in overall perfect condition, which gave me an instantly satisfied feeling, even prior to opening the still sealed packaging. As I began to unseal and remove this product from its packaging, I was impressed with the considerate approach that Fellowes' applied, in that the packing materials they had chosen to use are simple, yet effective, exhibiting environmental-friendliness and adequate protection for their product. As anyone will find, when removing the unit from its packaging, there are two essential parts. The part that is heaviest, though not at all awkwardly so, is the shredding device. The part that's quite light-weight, is a durable, convenient, compatible plastic basket, upon which the shredding device sits atop. The assembly of this unit is remarkably quick and easy. All that's basically required is access to an AC outlet, or extension cord, capable of inserting the two polarized prongs extending from its plug. And, this shredder is ready to go to work for you. Some shredders of this smaller size and operating capacity are available without any basket, and, in that case, you must use a suitable basket of your own. I happen to think the inclusion of this perfectly compatible, good sized basket is definitely beneficial. I personally recommend placing a small bag inside, which will catch all the shreddings and help keep it clean. You could use a reusable bag to be emptied as necessary. I prefer using a tiny bag, such as a thin plastic bag, that's just right to be tied and discarded with the shredded contents. As information for those interested in aesthetics, the basic coloring of the shredder and compatible, plastic basket is a very dark grey, or light black, depending on how you may look at it. In my opinion, this is the most appropriate and sensible choice of color for such a product. The size and weight are very convenient, and you may place it on any stable, properly balanced location when in use, and store it in nearly any spot, always away from water or moisture, when in or not in use. This model's total weight is merely 15pounds, and, therefore, incredibly easy to manage. I think it's important to advise other customers of the fact that this model is perfect for rather light use, in a home or small home/office, not actually intended for heavy-duty operation. The instructions do claim it can effectively shred a maximum of eight, standard sized, 20lb. weight papers. Further, there is the claim it can cut plastic credit cards, staples, paper clips, metal and steel objects, etc. Candidly, when testing the capacity of this model, I had been mostly pleased with its ability to function quite well, though I learned it's not so efficient in handling nearly as much as is claimed. It will realistically operate efficiently if you do not exceed a maximum of approximately five of such papers at once. It will also operate quicker, with less likelihood of jamming, or overheating, if the papers are smooth and straight, not crinkled or dusty. It can cut a few staples here and there, but not anything as hard as paper clips. It will shred plastic credit cards, but will noticeably struggle and overheat in doing so. As for overheating, an advantage and a disadvantage is that it has automatic programming to shut off within no more than five minutes, under continuous shredding of reasonably easy items. It will, however, shut off as soon as the basket becomes almost full of shredded material, or if it strains when any heavier items are inserted, in only a couple of minutes. Note, once it automatically shuts off, it must remain off, and is programmed not to turn back on for approximately twenty-five minutes. It is strongly recommended to aid in longer-lasting, smoother functioning blades if you lubricate the shredder blades occasionally, but be cautioned never to apply any flammable oils(a few drops of vegetable oil is the best tip). Here are some details, which you will find in the accompanying manual, to better understand the quite easy to manage controls. All control switches are located on the shredder device. At the back of the top is an on/off electric power switch. At the front's right side, as a safety feature, is a tiny lever(down will lock and up will unlock the center switch). At the front center is a switch with three functions. If pushed to extreme right, it is ready to accept and shred inserted documents, etc. If pushed to the extreme left, the blades will reverse to assist in correcting a possible jamming issue. If pushed to the center, the shredder is off and waiting. A tiny depiction of a thermometer is located on the side of this lever to supposedly advise of overheating, but it's really only a picture. As for level of noise produced during the shredding process, it is within reasonable pitch range, but not too quiet. The AC cord is a good length, not too long or too short. It's vital to keep the cord in a location where it won't create a potential tripping hazard. It is also important to be careful that children and pets are kept away from the dangers of inserting anything into this device. I'd also suggest remembering to be careful never to lean toward it permitting your clothing, hair, or other objects to become caught in this machine. When not in use, I would suggest it's a good idea to turn off and unplug from electric outlet. The box does claim "Commercial", yet from the aforesaid description, this model is definitely not of that caliber, nor is it as powerful as most would anticipate. Nevertheless, it is a very good shredder, should it be used within reason. It's not even mildly capable of anything that could be considered heavy-duty operation. That having been said, to reiterate, this shredder is very handy for those who may need to shred just a bit from time to time, so as to allow discarding personal documents without fear of identity theft and information to be kept unseen and private when discarded. I will assert, what it does cross-cut is shredded very effectively, adding crucial peace of mind when discarding private documents. It's important to remember that there are numerous models, of various capacities and features available on the market. In my perspective, whether for business or personal purposes, it is absolutely essential to have such a device that will shred documents, and provide a means towards privacy, identity protection, and peace of mind.

When I found out I was getting this I saved up my shred pile and this ate through it in no time. First let me say I really like the size of it because the bin is larger than my old shredder so if I have a "session" with a lot of items to shred I'd always have to empty it before I could finish but that won't happen with this shredder. I also like the fact that the bin has a see through window (see picture and video) that tells you how full it actually is. Another thing about the bin is it isn't a brittle hard plastic like my old one so I don't worry that the bin will fracture if I dropped it someday. The overall design is sleek and attractive. The operation instructions are pretty clear cut (pardon the pun) so it is simple to operate. The feature I am impressed with the most is the safety lock. It has a toggle switch on the right side that will only lock once the lid is on securely and this stops the machine from operating unless securely and safely closed and locked. It's almost as if they childproofed it which is a very nice safety feature. This states it shreds 8 at a time and I decided to really test it and pushed it beyond that. It is a real workhorse and shredded everything I threw at it until I overloaded it and then it stopped. Another reason I did this was to see how easy it was to reverse and unjam any paper and I have to admit it was extremely easy to remove the paper and then it immediately shredded it when I reinserted it 8 or less at a time. This works great and it's not even that loud as you can see in the video because the camera is literally right by it and that's as loud as it gets. I would definitely say it's worth the price and would recommend to anyone looking for a good cross cut shredder.