Pros: Quiet Operation, Sheet Capacity, Quality Construction, Warranty, Shreds Credit Cards, Staples and CDs, Service Guarantee, Safety Features, Secure Cut Size, Jam Resistance, Mess Reduction, separate collection of shredded cds
"I love the idea of shredding my personal documents (basically anything with my name, address or receipts). So I bought a Fellowes shredder at Costco for ~80USD about 5 years ago. In the last 5 years this shredder has taken everything I have given it without any problems. My only complaints were that it was noisy, a bit messy, it jammed when I put too much in it, the shred size pieces were bigger than I would like and I never felt comfortable about letting my kids use it because their fingers were smaller than the opening to the cutter.
Finally I decided to upgrade. First I gave my (still working) shredder to my neighbor then I went to my local Fry's and bought the MS-460Ci 100% Jam Proof Micro-Cut Shredder. I looked at all of the shredders on display and this one had the feature that I was looking for. To me the most important feature was the micro-cut. I have heard a story (maybe an urban legend) about people using crystal meth addicts to reassemble shredded documents for identify theft so I wanted something like micro-cut that would make reassembly practically impossible. This unit had the micro-cut and looked like it was a better unit than the one I had just given away. When I saw how expensive it was I went back and looked at the cheaper units but they didn't have the micro-cut. So I decided to buy it and then return it if it didn't meet my needs or I felt after using it that it wasn't worth it. While I didn't do any research before making my purchase I felt confident going with another Fellowes product after seeing how well my previous shredder held up.
When cleaning out prior year cc bills/bank statements/insurance statements etc.. I put them aside until I have the free time necessary to shred them. Shredding these documents took a lot of time due to speed and capacity of my previous shredder. So the first job for my new shredder was to wade through about a ream of old bills & statements. I was impressed at how well/fast this new shredder went through the stack. This shredder is much quieter, shreds the paper to the size of a grain of rice, won't let you overfeed the cutter, won't run when fingers are touching the feed area, has an inch or so gap between the top of the feed slot and the cutter(much safer than my old one) and shreds faster as well. Due to the reduced size of the shredded paper I think I can get a lot more paper in the same size bag without having to continually open the bin and push the shreds down. The CD shredder has it's own collection tray which is great for keeping CD pieces separate from the shredded paper.
The only thing that could use some improvement is with feeding single cash register/charge card/gas pump receipts. Since these receipts are so thin and small I have to feed them through with a stiffer piece of paper for the auto on/off to shred them. This is a very minor inconvenience and I know I could just drop them in and push the manual forward button.
At almost 4 times the cost of my original shredder this one is at least 10 times better. My only regret is that I waited so long to get it. This is the shredder I needed/wanted right from the start. It just took me a couple of years to realize it. While I use it at home I think it would do a great job in a small office as well.
I have only had the shredder for about a month so I can't say how well it will last but I expect this to be the last shredder I will ever buy."
Location: Home
Usage Pattern: Occasional Use
Industry: Other