Fellowes Powershred C-120C Cross Cut Paper Shredder

Staff Review

Fellowes Powershred C-120C Cross Cut Paper Review

The Fellowes Powershred C-120C is designed to give the small to medium office (one to five users) a powerful shredder on a budget. Here is a look at some of the features of the Powershred C-120C and its strengths and weaknesses.

Strengths:

1. Even if your office is on a budget, you will want to pay close attention to the security level offered by the shredder you choose to purchase. The Powershred C-120C is a machine that destroys documents in a cross-cut pattern that is rated at a Security Level of 3. What this means is that federal guidelines have been met regarding the destruction of personal and/or financial information which, in the wrong hands, might lead to such crimes as identity theft and other various types of corporate and consumer fraud. Not adhering to these guidelines can leave you susceptible to federal and state fines, and can also leave you open to liability suits if someone can prove that information that you did not securely dispose of fell into the hands of identity thieves. Simply put, using a Level 3 shredder like the Powershred C-120C is one of the best ways that you can protect yourself and your customers from becoming victims.
2. The Powershred C-120C gives you some pretty impressive features and capacity for the price as well. It has a.66 horsepower motor that is rather powerful for a shredder in this class, and runs at a speed of 20 feet per minute. The Powershred C-120C claims the ability to shred up to 14 pages at a time and our testing showed it hitting that mark without much trouble. You should note, however, that your capacity may vary, depending on such factors as the quality of your power supply and the type of paper you are shredding at any given time.
3. One thing we appreciated about the Powershred C-120C was its ability to handle paper clips and staples, meaning that you won’t have to worry about removing them before you do you shredding – a big plus in the productivity column. The Powershred C-120C also has the ability to shred credit cards, a feature that is fast becoming the norm in higher priced office shredders, but one that we appreciate in a lower cost machine.
4. We found the Powershred C-120C very simple to use, with paper sensors at the feed opening providing easy “walk away” operation. There is also a nice function to release paper jams (Fellowes calls it “Turbo Jam Release”), and the machine stops automatically if a jam occurs, when the cabinet door is ajar, and when the shred bag needs emptying.

Weaknesses:

1. As a budget machine, the Powershred C-120C shines. However, if you are willing to spend a little bit more (around $250 at the time of this writing), you could get the Fellowes C-120Ci, which offers you a higher sheet capacity along with the Jam Proof system, silent shredding, and perhaps best of all, the Safe Sense technology that detects body heat and stops the motor of hands get too close to the feed opening. In our opinion, these features are well worth the extra cost.
2. At around 60 pounds, the Powershred C-120C is not especially heavy, but we still think that casters for easy transport would be a nice touch.