My First Line Defense Against Identity Theft

Like most people I worry constantly about the ever growing menace of identity theft. It seems the horror stories about people almost losing everything to some unprincipled ner’er-do-well are multiplying like ants upon a discarded stale potato chip. And I, for one, do not want to be become a statistic. So my wife and I take precautions with our mail and other personal papers. I have taken to scanning all of our important documents and paperwork into the computer with our Hewlett Packard OfficeJet d135, and then saving them to our file server in Adobe Acrobat 6.0 Professional format. I then shred to originals with my Fellows PS60-2 Straight Cut Paper Shredder.

The Product

We had an older paper shredder, which after five years of service, gave up the ghost and froze. In picking a new shredder I knew I wanted one that was quieter then the one I was dumping. I also wanted a shredder not prone to jamming. Lastly I wanted a shredder that was capable shredding multiple sheets of paper and credit cards.

Product Description (from Fellows): Premium durable strip cut shredder, perfect deskside (sic) companion for the at home or office worker. Shreds up to 12 sheets per pass and 25-50 shredding passes per day for about 600 total sheets per day. Shreds up to 12 sheets per pass and 25-50 shredding passes per day for about 600 total sheets per day.

Operation

The shredder itself is pretty straightforward. The shredder motor sits on top of a 6.5 gallon wastebasket that stores the shredded paper, and or plastic remains. On top of the grey shredder unit there is a three-way (toggle) power button. Placed in the middle Fellows PS60-2 is off, when clicked back, auto is engaged in which paper is sensed when placed in the shredder and automatically shredded. The Fellows PS60-2 runs a full two seconds after the last of the paper is passed through the blades to ensure they are clear. A small LED glows green means when in auto mode. Place the switch forward and the shredder reverses. The button is labeled: | = auto, 0 = off, R= Reverse. Note: unlike many personal shredder, the Fellows PS60-2 blades will need to be oiled periodically to ensure their proper functionality. I bought the blade oil when I purchased the shredder from OfficeDepot.com.

The Fellows PS60-2 paper opening can accommodate paper up to 9” wide, and can handle up to seven pages of 20 lbs bond paper in one pass. You needn’t worry about removing those nail breaking staples, Fellows PS60-2 shreds them as well; so too paperclips, thought I would not make a regular practice of it. And as I mentioned above the Fellows PS60-2 will also shred those nasty credit cards.

Proper Usage

Make no mistake, the Fellows PS60-2 is a personal shredder, it is not a heavy duty cycle machine. It’s rated for a more then reasonable 10-12 minutes of usage at a time with a minimum of 20 minutes between usage cycles. This is of course to avoid overheating the shredder engine. And you needn’t bother yourself about counting sheets; the Fellows PS60-2will automatically shut itself down if you exceed the listed recommended limits. If you shred like I do however, in one or two sheets at a time spread over an hour or so you needn’t worry about burning out the shredder motor. Just in case you are more then an occasional users be aware that you can make up to 50 passes (sever sheets per pass) in a day for an approximately 350 pages each day.

The Fellows PS60-2 6.5 gallon wastebasket has a small window in the front to let you know when the paper needs to be emptied; however, I routinely hand press the paper down so I don’t have to empty the basket every time I use the shredder, because it can fill quickly. But, do make sure you keep an eye on the paper level; once full the Fellows PS60-2will continue to shred, but you risk paper backing up into the blades which should cause a jam, or even worse, cause the shredder motor to seize. The shredder unit and wastebasket are easily separated—one just sits on top of the other—so dumping the paper is easy.

As I mention above, the Fellows PS60-2’s blades must be oil occasionally to ensure continued proper functionality. To do so, I liberally oil a sheet of paper and feed it into the Fellows PS60-2.

Conclusion

After more then a year of usage I can report that I am very pleased with the Fellows PS60-2. The one grip I have—and it was one of personal choice—is that it shreds in thin strips and not confetti like my older shredder. The Fellows PS60-2 is a quite (very important), reliable, efficient straight cut paper shredder, that helps me and mine stay one step (I hope) ahead of those who would steal our identities and make our lives a living credit hell.

Fellows PS60-2 Specifications

• Width: 14.25 inches
• Height: 18 inches
• Depth: 10 inches
• Weight: 17.0 pounds

Related Reviews:

Hewlett Packard OfficeJet d135

Adobe Acrobat 5.0

Adobe Acrobat 6.0 Professional

OfficeDepot.com

OfficeMax.com