What should I consider when purchasing the best paper shredder possible?

Hire a good Purchasing Manager to do it for you...

Randy -
Vince's check list is a good place to start.
I would strongly emphasize item #1. A cross-cut/confetti shredder has two major advantages:
1) the shredded output is smaller - it doesn;t 'fluff-up' like standard strip shredding.
2) Disposing of the 'strip' shreddings is awkward - they don't want to fall into a trash bin or bag. The cross-cut strips are much cleaner when dumping in an office.

Secondly, I would consider noise level. Cheaper shredders are annoyingly noisy.

After that, it depends on your type of use. Is this for personal use - shredding 1-3 pages at a time? Or, is it for departmental use where 20-50 page reports are shredded? Or, will Accounting us it to shred a year's worth of archived files?

Unless it is 'just personal' use, I would strongly consider a sheet feeder where a large stack is able to be fed without manually inserting all the pages.

Hope this helps!
Jim

I would add that when using strip shredders you risk the possibility of someone reassembling your docs. Don't laugh. That's how some identity thieves get their info. It is time consuming but when you have some beer, cigarettes and METH, time is irrelevant. Also, though I have never seen it, I have heard that there is software that can read and reassemble the data on the strips. So, the smallest confetti output is the best and even if it is for personal use I recommend spending a little more for a commercial model.
If you are not the person doing the shredding, I highly recommend you assign someone to oversee the process because there are those who will become bored and just bag the paperwork and claim it is shredded. That one I learned from personal experience.

You might want to consider a commercial shredding service. They come to your location on a set schedule, use large commercial shredding machines that have been certified for use by the government. These organizations will deisng a schedule to meet your budget.

It eliminates the need for you to buy a machine. It also eliminate the need for you,, or one of your employess, from the mundane task of doing it yourself.

Using a number of shredders over the years, I found the best results with a cross-cut shredder. The paper is cut horizontally and vertically providing more security and the paper compression will enable the basket to hold more paper.
Even though they cost a bit more it is worth the value. Depending on how much paper shredding you do, I recommend a larger unit that has a see through window or basket to check your level of paper. Personal use shredders will not last as long as larger models.

If you are planning to purchase your very own paper shredding machine, you have to determine the amount or size of document that you will have to shred on a regular basis. This will help you decide on the size of the machine or if you need it to be heavy-duty.
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It is good to know that paper shredding services are not only for on-site but for off-site as well. That way, no one could have any access to your company’s most important information that may be useful for others. This is particularly helpful when you have a great bulk of documents or other things that need to be shred.
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