Choosing A Cross Cut Paper Shredder
Having decided that what you need is a cross cut paper shredder you need to choose one that's just right for you. Here are some pointers to what you should think about before putting your hand in your pocket.
If you're buying a paper shredder to cut up just the occasional bank and credit card statements and utility bills you don't really need anything too powerful. If you intend shredding more than a few bits of paper at a time you'll need to look for something with a bit more power though probably not as much as with a paper shredder designed for small businesses.
For home users have a look at the size of the shredder first. Some cross cut paper shredders can be surprisingly bulky so get your tape measure out so that you can visualise the size of it. That way you'll avoid buying something too big that can't be tucked away easily.
Then you need to check too see what the shredder can cope with. You will find that most manufactures give you some idea as to what the machine is capable of. For example light domestic use cross cut paper shredders can normally cope with paper, credit cards and the occasional staple. You'll need to look at something more expensive if you want your shredder to cope with cardboard, newspaper or paper clips. If you are only doing a few sheets of paper from time to time then you won't need to have a large capacity bin to collect the shredded paper. If you're using it in an office then you'll want to go for as big a bin as possible to avoid having to empty it too often.
Next you need to consider the size of the cross cut pieces that you end up with. The smaller the pieces the more secure the shredded documents will be. These pieces are called particles and the size of them is often used by manufacturers to allocate a security level to a particular machine. For households and offices go for security level 3 or 4. You only need higher levels if you are getting rid of particularly sensitive documents.
Another thing to consider is the speed. If you've just got one or two bits to put into your cross cut paper shredder then you're not going to worry too much about speed. If you regularly put in quite a few pieces of paper then having a machine that can cope with several pieces at once is a good idea. However, unless you're buying a high end machine then the number of sheets is usually relatively small so the speed at which the paper is shredded can become an issue if you don't want to have to stand for some time feeding your shredder.
A decent shredder that will dispose of your paper waste securely doesn't have to be very expensive and for household use you don't need to go for something high-spec. For offices just consider how often it will be used and go for the best you can afford.