In a new day and age, security and privacy are no longer considered to be a paranoid trait. With news reports coming out daily about the endless cases of identity theft, it starts to become more and more apparent that the littlest items most people consider to be harmless trash can lead to thousands and thousands of deceptively robbed funds. In light of all the news of identity theft going around, I found it wise to invest both time and money into a simple precaution that is becoming as much of a household item as the pencil sharpener or the stapler. Paper shredders are no longer viewed as an office-only item, and some are even exclusively marketed as “personal” or “home” shredders, obviously appealing to a larger part of the masses. Some come as small as only a cubic foot in size, while others can handle a much heavier load, and can consume the space that of a big screen TV. After doing some research and noting my specific needs, I came across the Fellowes P-55C paper shredder. It’s price-to-quality ratio seemed unbeatable, and it’s performance sounded to be far from lacking. Allow me to break it down as to why this is.
Appearance
I purchased the shredder from a local OfficeMax on sale for an unbeatable deal. Once the box was opened, I found the shredder packed in market-standard styrofoam and enclosed in an airtight bag. The head of the shredder and directions were nestled inside of the basket and wrapped separately as well. Once removed, the shredder fit together nicely, and didn’t require any tools to put it together (it’s only 2 parts). The shredder is seemingly very top heavy due to the heavier-advanced blades required for crosscut shredding. While it did have a steady footprint, I could see something such as a 2-year old child or a 50lb dog knocking it over with a good impact. All in all, it looked sleek, and fits in very nicely with a darkly colored, vinyl office appearance. I wasn’t particularly fond of the lock, which is obviously intended as a security feature for houses with little ones. While it served its purpose nicely, it just looks a little tacky, almost as if an ugly protrusion. However, while no office equipment can really look great, I found it to be less-than an eye sore.
Specifications
The Fellowes P-55C comes standard with the following specs:
- Auto Start/Stop
- 5-gallon basket capacity
- Shreds: paper, credit cards, staples
- Continuous Run Time (minutes) 5-7 on / 20 off
- Confetti Cut type
- Item H x W x D (inches) 16" x 15" x 11"
- Item H x W x D (mm) 406.40 x 381.00 x 279.40
- 9" Paper Entry Width
- Motor Reverse
- Safety Features include Interlock Switch, Lockout Button, Safety Slide
- Front opening for non-shred items.
- 8-sheet capacity
- 11 feet-per-minute shredding speed
- 3 years cutter warranty, 1 year on entire unit
Performance
Performance of the P-55C put it right smack dab in the middle of all the shredders in its range. It featured the newer and more secure type of confetti cut, which created strips that were approximately 5/32 x 2” in size.
Speed
I found the shredder was able to keep up with anything I put in it *within it’s listed limits*. The shredder seemed to get bogged down rather easy after 6 pieces of paper, and the motor would sound disgustingly distressed. However, never once has it showed signs of stopping, and continued to shred anything I was putting through its 9” feeding gap. Feeding 1-2 sheets at a time almost sounded pleasant and inviting, and the motor runs strong. For the purpose of speed, I found it more time-efficient to shred 2 sheets at a time then to run 8 and wait out the longer time it took for the motor to muster it’s power to peak. This also has proven better longevity and durability for the life of the motor. The listed speed its 11 feet-per-minute, and according to all I’ve done that sounds right down the middle.
Limits
As mentioned, the shredder is capable of shredding paper, credit cards and staples. Due note that it is specifically mentioned that CDs and paper clips are NOT to be shredded through the P-55C. When shredding credit cards, I found the shredder to bog down severely, and take almost 4-5 seconds to completely shred the card. The manual states that it is normal though, and that the motor just can’t take plastic at the speeds of paper, which also takes a longer period of time to sever with the shredder blades. Its 8-paper max is most definitely not just a guideline, but instead the law. Attempting to put in more than 8 (for the sake of testing) proved inefficient at shredding, AS WELL as seriously affecting the motor. I only attempted this once, and thereafter feared for the motor of overloading. Within respective specs listed, the shredder was able to comply easily with any shredding job asked of it.
Shredding Quality
After having used the shredder vigorously for days, I took a closer look to all the shreddings. Very few remained unshredded, although there were a small amount that would bend as opposed to shred…but this number was minute and almost futile. As stated, all confetti shred is shaped approximately to 5/32 x 2”, which puts it in security level 3 out of 6 on the governments “DIN 32757 shred particle security level” scale. Per the scale, this level is suitable for confidential documents and personal data.
Drawbacks
I found very little to complain about this shredder. It does have a few points that may be worth mentioning, but nothing excessive that turned me completely away from it.
Noise
It was a hair noisy, but it’s meant to be thought of like you would a vacuum cleaner…it’s purpose is to get the job done efficiently, not to utilize stealth technologies that allow you to run it next to your sleeping child.
Emptying
Emptying the shredder tended to be rather cumbersome and difficult. Ironically enough, the shredder was specifically designed like so to make for “easy emptying”. This consisted of grabbing the front part of the shredder, lifting the entire top, including the whole shredder-head off, and placing it somewhere else while you emptied the basket. It should also be noted that the shredder will NOT function without the supplied basket, so expect the 2 to be permanently teamed up. Yet another point that’s not a huge deal, but just a little more complex then I’d have wanted. The bottom of the shredder does have a flap that closes when you take the top off, as to keep excess shreddings on the blades from going all over.
Unsettling paper-intake
Another point I found to be rather odd was the way the paper entered the shredder. I don’t think this would really be considered a mark against it, it just struck me as somewhat funny. By design, crosscut shredders have more jagged blades then a straight-strip shredder, and thus when it is shredding a paper, the paper almost seems as though it’s bobbing around on the way into the shredder. I found it wasn’t too tough to keep single pieces straight, although it did get a little aggravating trying to keep multiple papers straight on their way down.
ONLY auto-on
This kind of bugged me, although I know it was only designed like that to save motor life and improve reliability of the shredder. The only forward-on mode on the shredder is an auto mode, thus meaning that it would run until the paper was shredded, and shut off about a second later. Reverse was featured as a full-on mode, just not in forward mode. If you have a large stack to shred, you’ll hear it turn on and off after almost every run. When shredding near the max (8 sheets), you find that waiting for the shredder to get up to speed helps. Too bad you have to give it a second to catch up with every large run you shred.
As mentioned, very minor drawbacks, but worthy of listing for fairness of an accurate and unbiased review.
Overview
All said and done, the Fellowes P-55C impressed me, and did so with a hint of style. It’s motor is very much so performing within spec, and it efficiently does it’s job, that being the destruction of documents that are not to ever be seen again. The listed MSRP of the shredder was $109 when it came out, although online and store findings put you closer to the $60-70 range. That being slightly higher than most others in it’s class, the extra money paid for confetti-cut papers, as well as a strong motor seem very well worth the trade-off in my eyes. Even better yet, I picked one up on sale for an amazing $40, which is the lowest I’ve ever seen. The Fellowes P-55C has performed all I’ve asked of it with flying colors, and I wouldn’t think twice of recommending it to anyone whose looking for a reliable personal/home shredder. I’ll be quite honest and say it though, that regardless of the type or make of shredder you find, it really is starting to become a necessity with anyone owning credit cards, bank accounts and any type of stocks. Fellowes has always had the top name in personal-use shredders. I now find it very obvious as to why that is.
