Fellowes Powershred DS-1 shredder review

With identity fraud on the up and up, it is probably best to start thinking about investing in a shredder. But can Fellowes really offer you the answer?

23 February 2006 0:17 GMT / By Stuart Miles

With identity fraud on the up and up, it is probably best to start thinking about investing in a shredder. But can Fellowes, really offer you the answer?

The Fellowes Powershred DS-1 Shredder is the latest shredder to be added to its personal shredder range and offers shredding at the press of a button.

Getting straight into the action, the Powershred promises - and delivers for the most part - just that. Paper, documents, credit cards and staples can all be shredded into tiny pieces and the unit is capable of 11 sheets per pass.

Eleven sheets may not sound like much but in our tests it's plenty enough for the phone bill, elicit love letters or simply junk mail catalogues.

Being a personal shredder means the Powershred DS-1 comes with a number of touchy feely features - mainly that unit offers Fellowes’ Safe Sense technology that automatically stops the shredder when paper entry is touched by a human hand. This as you can imagine stops you losing fingers by accident or your face after you’ve managed to shred your tie.

Happily replacing your waste paper basket in your home office (565.20 x 393.70 x 285.80mm) the paper catching basket can be used as a separate basket so you can use it for daily rubbish as well.

So what’s not to love? The paper shredding does a good job, cutting the paper into strips lengthways and then into smaller pieces after that, yet a keen jigsaw fan or CSI nut could probably still piece together the pieces given enough time and patience. It certainly isn’t as good as the diamond shaped cutter we’ve also got on test at the moment.

Furthermore, if you are looking for something that will allow you to shred your entire office in half and hour, this isn’t the machine to use. For every 5 minutes of continuous use you’ll have to turn it off for 20 minutes to recover.

Verdict

As a personal home use shredder this unit does great and our grumbles are being over cautious and probably over demanding for this level of shredder.

Identity fraud may sound like one of those buzz words that the some tabloid papers like to brandish alongside immigration and binge drinking, but the reality is it is very real.

The Fellowes Powershred DS-1 maybe on the expensive side, but it will get the job done.

Score

Review Recap

Made by: Fellowes
Price as reviewed: £79.99
The good: Shreds credit cards, waste basket is easy to remove
The bad: For home or small office use only
Quick verdict: The Fellowes Powershred DS-1 maybe on the expensive side, but it will get the job done
Score