Review on Fellowes Powershred 8MC5 Micro Cut Shredder by Nick Tucker

Summary: Very reliable microshredder, surprisingly good for the price. It might not be perfect, but it's great for more typical personal use. It's a little louder than my last shredder which cost 3-4 times as much, but it's not bad for a shredder. I highly recommend this grinder. UPDATE 8 months later (October 2020) Came back to answer a question and thought I should update. The shredder has NEVER jammed in the last 8 months and continues to work as described in my original review with no issues. It's a good choice. Details: I bought this after the death of my previous Fellowes shredder. It was an M450 that was around $200 when I bought it a few years ago. I had about 10 boxes of paper to shred and after 6 boxes the plastic parts broke between the shredding teeth and it basically ate itself (despite maintenance and applying oil as Fellowes recommended). With 4 more boxes (about 40 reams of paper) I decided to try this much cheaper version - if it dies quickly as expected then I'll know I really need the larger (expensive) version. To be honest I was hoping it would die towards the end of work so maybe I could get another one that looks like my old one - there are a few things I don't like about this shredder (but the shredder performance was great) now went through 4 boxes of files and this shredder continues to work to my great surprise. In all that time, despite repeated paper jams (in a hurry sometimes I catch the corner of the page and it skews), it never stuck. While it could technically be designed for 8 sheets of paper, it seems like things get really tight at 4+ sheets - it starts with the shredding rollers running pretty fast (and relatively noisy and shrill) and slowing down badly. (and one step lower). However, it regrinds up to 8 sheets without interruption. I've found that with 2 sheets it can shred at almost max speed, 3 sheets seems like a pretty good number and 4 sheets starts to slow down. By running 2-3 leaves at a time almost continuously (I let the reels speed up before adding more), I can fill the bucket at least twice before it shuts down due to "overheating". Honestly, this works pretty well, and I don't think any of those shredder site claims are terribly realistic. What I like: 1. it's compact2. it never sticks and grinds quite a bit before it "overheats"3. relatively cheap 4. reliable - it has already shredded more paper than I expected5. Micro-Snips: The cut paper is quite small, which allows it to be compressed and more secure. the window in the bin is very dark so you can't see how full the bin is. There's no point in having a window if you can't see through it.2. The shredder sits directly above the bin (as opposed to the "box" concept in my previous shredder). This makes emptying the grinder difficult as you have to move the grinder, put it somewhere, empty the bucket and replace the grinder. For light use, this is only a minor inconvenience, but I find it more annoying than I expected (I'll buy a different design next time). That was a wrong decision on my part, that's not a disadvantage of the document shredder, but something that a potential buyer should consider. This chopper has the same plastic spacers between the chopper teeth that failed in my own chopper. However, my last shredder lasted about 8 years and the design seems to have improved as it never jammed. it's a bit louder than my last one and sounds like it's really picking up speed once the current sheets are cleared. All in all, this turns out to be a very reliable micro shredder, surprisingly good for the price. It might not be perfect, but it's great for more typical personal use. It's a little louder than my last shredder which cost 3-4 times as much, but it's not bad for a shredder. I can wholeheartedly recommend this grinder.