Fellowes P-57Cs, 8 Sheet Cross-Cut Shredder 3205701
by Fellowes
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List Price: Our Price: $99.99 You Save: $44.99 (31%) Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours Category: CE See more product details |
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Customers in the UK,
Buy this product at amazon.co.uk
for British Pounds
Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Fellowes P-57Cs, 8 Sheet Cross-Cut Shredder 3205701
Customer Review: Very Happy
Summary: 4 Stars
I've had this shredder about a month already and although I don't have any other brand to compare it with (since this is my first); I'm very pleased with it. My favorite thing about this is the child safety mechanism that turns off the blades when fingers get too close. Naturally having young children in the house gives me reason to be concerned about lost fingers.
I have worked this shredder pretty hard, but not to the point of over-heating it and I have not put credit cards through it. I know the product manual says these shredders will do staples (I let one slip through accidentally) and credit cards, but I am a bit phoebic about dulling the blades so I try not to let any of those get in there. This is the best junk mail disposal system I've ever had. Just oil the blades once or twice during the time it takes to fill a basket with shreds, and I'm sure you'll be as happy with this product as I am. I have not managed to jam it yet, but I have not tried to fit 8 pages into it. It gets kinda sluggish sounding when I try to feed it 5 so I figure that's enough. The shred pieces are about 1/32 by 2 inches in size. They work great for lining my daughters guinea pig cage.
I would have rated this shredder a 5 except that it is kinda noisy, and it's not as "attractive" as many of the others. In addition to that, it can be a bit inconvenient to have to turn it off and remove the shredder unit in order to empty the basket, and you cannot see when it gets full. If you don't care about looks, and just want something that will do the job, this will likely work for you. It is a great purchase for the price.
Customer Review: Good for shredding letters from judgemental sisters and family.
Summary: 5 Stars
For the money, you can hardly beat this one. I use it to shred all those literally hundreds of credit card shill letters I receive. But most importantly, I use it to shred correspondence from my family, especially my anal-retentive sister who is constantly writing me telling me I am doomed to spend eternity in hell if I do not change my ways. I use to go into a complete rage when receiving these letters and was receiving many paper cuts from ripping them, the letters, to shreds. With this handy little inexpensive gadget, I get great satisfaction if watching the hateful words being reduced to little thin strips of nothing.
I also receive letters from overly aggressive friends I have spent brief evenings or weekends with and which do not know how to let go and do not understand the concept of "ships passing in the night." Some of these letters would mortify me if I died and I knew my prudish sister read them; which she would and would delight in sharing them with the rest of the family.
This machine is quite, efficient and attractive, if any machine can truly be called attractive. I have had no problems with it. The cost was certainly reasonable. I only shred one page at a time as I get a kick out of it for some reason and I try to make the moment last, especially with those horrid letters from my sister.
I very much recommend this product and I hope you have a nicer sister than I and have no need for this machine.
P.S. If you get really, really angry and try to stuff all ten pages of a letter in at once, the machine dose go clunky on you sometimes.
Customer Review: Affordable alternative
Summary: 5 Stars
This is an affordable alternative to the more powerful models. Its black with a silver paper insert.Its approxmately 16 inches high, 12 inches deep and 15 inches wide. The switch is located on top of the unit.Move the switch left to turn it on or right for reverse with the middle being off. It has two rows of steel blades with each row consisting of 27 teeth.
The price point was my reason for purchase so I really wasn't expecting much and while this little guy is great at shredding a couple of sheets at a time he really struggles with more than that. He will shred the paper into confetti as advertised so theres no problem with someone stealing personal information.
Make sure to buy the lubricating oil, it comes in really nice when his blades get jammed. Apply the oil along the width of the paper insert then switch him to reverse until the jam clears.
I would've preferred a clear basket so I could easily tell when to empty the paper shreds but basically you have to peek inside by lifting the top and tilting it. The shredded confetti tends to fall in a continous pile that builds up like a mountain peak if you can imagine that on a much smaller scale, the peak eventually reaches the bottom of the shredder blades before filling the basket so I recommend shaking the paper basket a few good times to level off that peak.
I recommend this shredder for light to moderate work but not for anything to tough.
Yes, I had to much free time on my hands while writing this to actually count all the teeth in this shredder for you.
Customer Review: Broke just after warranty expired & other problems
Summary: 2 Stars
After 3 1/2 years of moderate use--scarcely heavy-duty-- something went "clunk" inside during a shred-a-thon. Internal motor still turned on with papers in the slot, but no action in the metal shredding head.
Opened up the case of the shredder works and found that a compound spur gear in the transmission/reducer had shattered. All the gears in the transmission are plastic, with metal gears only at the motor-coupling and shredder-head ends. No proper bearings on these cheap plastic gears, just sleeves and heavy greasing to manage friction. Over time & use the plastic became brittle and couldn't stand the load.
It's regrettable that for the P-57Cs Fellowes elected to hit a price point and skimp on materials & engineering, whereas I and no doubt many buyers might gladly pay another $20 retail for real metal gears and longer life. So an otherwise perfectly good shredder is unfixable and headed to the landfill, just because of a $0.25 hunk of cheap plastic. Maybe the Cs in "P-57Cs" stands for Cheap.. er, stuff.
Also, beware of placing shredder by sunny windows or under skylights: bright light shining in the slot can "blind" the optical paper detector and cause the unit to turn on. We once returned after a day out and found the shredder hot & running continuously.
Finally, cat owners beware: our new 8 month old cat found a way to jump into the shreddings bin, but was unable to get out. Was looking one day for lost kitty and spied a pair of eyes peeking out of the bin port. Block it with packing tape and UNPLUG the shredder between uses.
Customer Review: Just go ahead and order new gears...
Summary: 2 Stars
Just go ahead and order a new set of plastic gears (direct from Fellowes) if you decide to purchase this--you'll need them. I've owned this shredder for about 22 months, with very--and I mean VERY--little use. Today I started shredding old documents, 5 or 6 pages at a time...about five minutes in, the machine gave out. Motor running, no shredding.
Thanks to previous Amazon reviewers, I realized the plastic gears Fellowes uses had likely given out...sure enough, after taking the shredder head apart, I found one of the gears broken into four pieces. I wonder how badly it would have been torn up if I'd been trying to use the machine at the capacity advertised!
Fellowes customer service was nice enough. I'll be able to continue shredding in 8-10 business days, $18.25 poorer (the cost of the replacement gears, including UPS shipping). I wish they offered actual metal gears as replacements; but hey, why should they bother when they can sell a set of plastic gears every year or so? Weird way to develop repeat customers, that's for sure.
This machine DOES NOT do what it's advertised to do. If you don't have the patience to sit and feed four or fewer sheets through it, order something else.
UPDATE: Fellowes delivered the replacement gears within 7 business days. Even better, the section of the gears that previously failed is now metal. (Ask and ye shall receive!) I've been using the shredder regularly since, still watching 'load' levels, and it's doing a good job.