My tired, old trusty Draper PS3 shredder has finally refused to actually cut paper, choosing to score it instead. That’s OK though, because I’ve been dying for an excuse to get one of these new fangled cross cut shredders. After a bit of rootling around, reading a few user comments etc, I opted for the “Fellowes Powershred p-48c Cross Cut Paper Shredder“. Catchy.

The first thing that struck me in comparison to the Draper dinosaur that I’d just marched out of the office, was the quality of construction. It feels solid, more like a complete unit than the flimsy Draper. The shredder sits securely atop a decent sized bin.

There is a power switch on the back of the unit, as well as an auto/off/reverse switch on top. There is also a pretty decent safety switch on top to stop little fingers playing with it – especially useful if like me, your office is in the family home. According to the safety symbols on top, things not to put through it include children, hands, hair, ties and aerosols.

The cutters function very well. It can handle between 6 and 8 pages at a time, and copes just fine with staples and even credit cards. I managed to find an old credit card to give it a whirl, it demolished it entirely, cutting it into the same sized strips (3.9mm x 50mm) that the shredder creates of paper.

The only possible criticisms are that it would be nice if it were a smidgeon quieter. It would also be good if it would come with a small starter bottle of oil.

You can pick these up in the UK for between £30 and £40 and between $60 and $70 in the US.

All in all, 4 out of 5. A good purchase.

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