I LOVE this paper eater

I didn't really NEED a shredder. I thought the whole "identity theft" thing was way overblown. But, I WANTED one.

Originally I bought, upon impulse, a Royal 1280 MX. (Review of same posted here.) That non-working piece of junk was returned.

After reading many shredder reviews I knew I wanted to purchase one made by Fellows. But which model? I had no clue.

I went to Fry's (in my opinion a great store) to have a look around. After spending some time comparing all Fellows models the choice, for me, was clear. I bought the P-57C.

The P-57C, unlike most shredders costing under $100, cross-shreds. Most lower priced shredders do not. They strip-shred. I am FAR more comfortable with cross-shredding. Cross-shredding does, in my opinion, a far better job of making secure ("chewing up") your information than does strip-shredding.

Unlike more costly shredders the P-57C does not shred CDs. That's no big deal to me because, personally, I've never met a CD I wanted to shred. If you store important files and documents on CDs then you may want to consider a more expensive model. Most CD eating shredders I've noted cost $100 - 300.

The P-57C, like most shredders, says it shreds staples and paper clips. Perhaps an occasional staple but, honestly, why would anyone want to shred a paper clip? I recycle my paperclips so I wouldn't know if it will successfully eat them or not.

Since purchasing my P-57C I've shredded a number of old credit cards and other identification cards which I've had laying around for many years. It ate them all up without any sign of hesitation.

I've used this thing a lot more than I thought I would. I find myself shredding lots of junk mail and other things which include my name and address. Sometimes I just shove a piece of scrap paper into it ... just to make sure it's still there at my side and working.

Bottom line: I highly recommend this. While I've had mine only a month it hasn't shown the least bit of problem or hesitation at anything I've asked it to eat. It's a GREAT deal for a "cheap" $50 shredder.