GBC Shredmaster 6550X Heavy Duty Cross Cut Shredder - 1753220

Staff Review

GBC Shredmaster 6550X Heavy Duty Cross Cut Shredder Review

Departmental shredders are becoming more popular these days as companies try to minimize costs while still providing their employees with the necessary equipment.  One excellent system for this purpose is the GBC Shredmaster 6550X Heavy Duty Cross Cut Shredder.  This heavy duty machine is designed to withstand high volume use in large offices with 20 or more users.  Here is a closer look at the details of the 6550X.

Strengths:

• Automatic use is especially handy in a busy office.  It allows people to simply slide items in and know the blades will shred as needed; employees won’t have to waste time determining if the shredder is turned on.  A lit control panel apprises the user of current operational status.
• Jam Stopper technology uses a few features to ensure jam free shredding.  First, the blades easily take in staples and paperclips.  Next, a bag full sensor shuts off the motor as soon as the shred bag is at capacity to prevent back end jams before they occur.  And last, the auto stop when jammed reduces wear and tear on the blades.  After stopping, the cutting shafts will then reverse to release overfed paper, essentially clearing the jam for you.
• The motor is conveniently rated for continuous duty.  As a result, you can shred all day without needing to wait for the engine to cool down.  This is especially beneficial in very busy offices.
• The wide 16 inch throat is uniquely designed as a deep funnel to allow optimum feeding of messy stacks and oversized paper.  Up to 25 sheets can enter at once and are shred as fast as 30 feet per minute.  The small pieces that remain are only 3/16″ by 2-3/8″ in size and provide a medium level 3 security.  With this rating, most confidential items stay secure, such as financial information and employee records.
• Paper confetti rains down into a voluminous 55 gallon waste bin.  The vastness allows longer periods of shredding before needing to be emptied.
• GBC provides one of the best warranties in the business, offering on-site service and coverage of parts and labor for three years.  The cutting cylinders carry a lifetime warranty.

Weaknesses:

• As you might expect from a large central machine, this shredder is fairly heavy.  However, there are casters on the bottom for added portability and most users don’t find this to be a big problem.
• The paper remnants only offer a medium level 3 security.  This is perfectly adequate for most office shredding of unwanted and confidential documents.  However, any highly classified information should go through a higher security shredder with a level 5 or 6 rating.  For this we recommend the GBC Shredmaster 3890D.
• The blades can’t handle credit cards or CDs.  While this may not be a problem for some users, many offices enjoy the luxury of this capability.  The GLX3055 is a similar device that also offers the destruction of plastic cards and disks.

Overall, the GBC 6550X is an excellent system for departmental use.  Offering high capacities to accommodate heavy duty shredding, this device works very well as a central machine for use by many workers.  It is easy to use and convenient while still being powerful and sturdy.  And if it breaks in the next three years, GBC will come fix it for you.  The Shredmaster 6550X is a great choice for your next centralized shredder.