Aleratec DVD/CD Shredder XC 240145 (Black)

There are many shredders on the market. I owned several ones through the course of many years. This shredder has three things that differentiate itself from other shredders.

1. Cross shredding pattern: Many shredders just cut paper into long thin strips. This shredder cross-cuts the paper into tiny pieces making it virtually impossible to put the original document back.

2. CD/DVD cutting: It cuts CD/DVD into 1 ½ inch strips. It makes those CD/DVDs unreadable. Apparently if you use it on credit cards, you still can read the numbers from those strips. It is not meant to shred the information on the face of the CD/DVD/credit cards. It is meant to make the digital data unreadable. It has its own separate tiny container within for the cut pieces. You can examine the pieces if you think the information on the surface needs more processing.

3. Powerful: I owned some shredders before with under-power motors. Those shredders will have paper jams constantly. This shredder seems to have a very powerful motor. So far I have not experienced any paper jams jet.

It is also reasonably priced. If I want to find a thing I don't like, it will be the size of the container. I wish it was bigger, so I don't have to empty it so often. I even hope that it has an opening for office waste that I don't need to shred. In such a way, I don't have to have two waste baskets. All in all, I recommend this shredder.

I was excited to test out the CD/credit card shredding ability of this product and I was a little disappointed when I finally had the chance.

When I unpacked the item I noticed a spider web crack on the upper right side of the back of the collection basket, inside of which the shredding mechanism was sitting when the box is first opened. When I removed the plastic wrap from the bin, a small piece of black plastic fell out, leaving a hole surrounded by cracks. The shredder isn't really secured in the collection bin, so if it's dropped or even lightly tossed into a delivery truck, for example, the heavy shredder motor is going to slam against the thin plastic of the basket and crack or break it. While it's doesn't affect the item's performance, it's is something to be aware of.

When I got it set up I ran some quick tests just to see how the item performed. The noise level is somewhat high at 85dB on my sound level meter (and my wife didn't believe me when I told her the meter had more uses than just calibrating the home theater!), which is, according to the internet, about the same level of sound as you would hear from inside of a car while traveling in city. What that means, I don't know, but for reference: 80dB is the level of a telephone dial tone and 90db is the level of a train whistle from 500 feet away. So, if you're wondering, it's not as loud as a train whistle off in the distance, but louder than a telephone dial tone.

Five sheets took about 9 seconds to shred and the motor seemed to be having a rough time. The shredded paper was crosscut every 2 inches or so and about a quarter of an inch wide. I think that's pretty standard.

For CDs/DVD and credit cards, there's a separate shredder, with it's own compartment to catch those materials so they don't mix into your shredded paper. I found that to be a nice touch. Unfortunately, how it shreds discs and credit cards is where this machine sort of fails. I tried a CD first and it sliced through it really easily, and surprisingly quietly, leaving the CD in thirds in about 6 seconds. It's hard to get a super glued disc to playback, so I'm guessing this is adequate. Sadly, when you shred a credit card, which only takes 4 seconds, the card is also only sliced it into thirds. Cutting a card into three pieces doesn't do much to keep someone from getting your account number or signature. I suppose it's better than cutting the card in half with scissors, but it would be nice if this part of the shredder also did a crosscut on discs and credit cards.

If you will use this mainly for shredding paper and optical discs, it's pretty decent and will get the job done.

Buy Aleratec DVD/CD Shredder XC 240145 (Black) Now

This shredder can handle a decent sized stack of papers. My former shredder would choke on anything more than 4 sheets. So far, I haven't had any clogs with paper or credit cards. Every household should have a shredder and this is a good choice. It's not too small or too big. It fits perfectly under the desk in my home office.

Read Best Reviews of Aleratec DVD/CD Shredder XC 240145 (Black) Here

Out of the box, I really loaded it up with things to shred, and about the time the basket filled up, it overheated. I thought it broke. But after unplugging it and letting it sit awhile, it resumed working. I also tested shredding a CD in it, and it did it okay. It is a little sturdier than the one I bought years ago. The cutter lid sits firmly in the basket.

Want Aleratec DVD/CD Shredder XC 240145 (Black) Discount?

I was looking for a shredder with CD/DVD/CC shredding capabilities, so was excited to try this one Aleratec.

Having used it for some time now, I'm finding that is a great shredder; handling a decent amount of paper and easily destroying the "harder" items such as credit cards.

I thing I recommend for anyone who purchases this shredder is to read the instructions. It plainly states that no more than 5 sheets should be shredded at a time. Putting this item to the test, I found that it is an instruction that MUST be followed.

Although shredding 7 pages overheated the machine, shutting it off for a couple of hours resulted in it work like new again.

And that, in my opinion, is what makes the Aleratec shredder worth the extra money over those big box store bargain shredders. A motor overheats in one of them, you might as well go ahead and pitch it.

I personally won't push this one any farther for testing. I'll just follow direction and I'm sure it's a shredder I'll be using for quite a long time.

Save 27% Off