Comet CM-M07CD 7 Sheet Micro Cut Paper Shredder - Shreds CD/DVD, Credit Cards - Whisper Quiet (4.0 Gallon) - Security Level 4

PAPER: Nice paper shredder, high quality and a great value. This Level IV shredder is less expensive and better made than many Level III shredders. It replaced a 20 year old Fellowes Level III that finally died, and if I keep the blades oiled I hope that this one will outlast me. As with most electronics you can tell it's high quality by how heavy it is, it weighs a lot. The weight is moot in use because it has wheels, and because the paper bin comes out the front for emptying without having to lift the heavy motor. Nice long cord.CREDIT CARDS: Level IV is nice and secure, but whereas it shreds paper to Level IV it only shreds credit cards to ~level I, which means that a credit card inserted length wise is only cut into seven (5/16" wide x credit card length) strips. Those strips are wide enough that the name, number, and expiration date may still be intact and fully legible without any puzzling effort whatsoever depending on where the blades happen to hit. Puzzling back together those seven strips from a lengthwise shredded credit card to write down all the information would be trivially easy. In fact a full length strip wide enough to be taped to a piece of paper then swiped through a card reader made it through the shredder on the credit card I shredded. You can probably destroy the magnetic strip by putting the card into the shredder sideways instead of lengthwise, but all the written information such as the name and expiration date would still be puzzle-able even when shred sideways. It would have been more honest if they had specified in the product description that credit cards don't get the level IV treatment. Using a separate slot with a separate set of blades for credit cards and cd's will make this shredder last a long time, credit cards in the single main slot were what finally killed my 20 year old Fellowes shredder. But they should have used a level III blade set for the credit card slot instead of the level I blade set. Or they could have put an inexpensive small catch tray under their Level I blade set to facilitate the re-shredding the seven individual strips one by one from a different angle, thereby effecting a diamond cut in two steps. Using the catch tray design would provide an effective means of shredding credit cards without driving up their manufacturing costs like providing a separate level III blade set would. If you follow their instructions and put your card in the slot you will only think you have effectively shredded your credit cards. Don't be lulled in to a false sense of security, your credit cards aren't shred nearly well enough with this shredder and you can do a far better job with scissors.

This is the first time I've ever did a review on any purchases I've made from here or anywhere else. First off this shredder is real quiet and does what it is supposed to do. I had a tall kitchen bag stuffed with all kinds of mail to shred. It was a task as I didn't realize how much stuff there was to shred. The shredder may seem slow to others but does the job nicely. Can't beat micro cutting shredders its the way to go. I never tried to max out the shredder at the recommended 7 sheets. Didn't want to over tax it. Had a slight problem with the basket as I tried to put a bag in it to catch the paper it did work somewhat but at times it made for a mess so i just used it without the bag. The shredder will get hot and once it shut itself off and I had to wait a few to start again. This was due to me constantly putting in paper trying to hurry up the process. This won't be an issue anymore since I've caught up with all of my shredding. I do like the shredder but it will get warm quickly if used repeatly hence the four star rating. This to me is a good home use shredder where you shredd things every so often. At the price I paid for it which was $109 with tax from Amazon I believe this was a good deal. Don't hesitate to get this shredder its quiet does the job efficently and also has wheels so it can be moved around and has the necessary features that a shredder must have. As with all shredders it will jam if you put too much paper in it to shred so be easy on the number of sheets you put in a one time. So if you do this you will have a shredder that will do you right. Now as for durablity I can't speak on this since I've only had it for a week but will update if things do change. Hope this review does someone good so in closing happy shredding people.

Like many fellow reviewers I became frustrated with a low capacity shredder that I purchased years ago. My 5-sheet Black and Decker shredder was just OK for the occasional piece of junk mail, but every few months I would find myself with a backlog of financial statements or other personal documents to shred. It would take hours to work through it all, between emptying the bin and waiting for the motor to cool down. Not much fun.I searched high and low for a shredder that was a step up from the "entry level" waste-bin type shredders, but not quite "commercial" grade. I looked at the Fellowes 79Ci  Fellowes Powershred 100% Jam Proof 79Ci 14 Sheet Cross-Cut Paper Shredder (3227901) , which has excellent reviews, but ultimately I couldn't justify the price or the floor space it would occupy. The Comet CM-M07CD is more compact and also offers the smaller Micro Cut.I've owned the unit for several months now, and have put it to work shredding documents and credit cards (no CDs yet). It is very quiet in operation, especially compared to my old shredder. I haven't quite put it through a full endurance test, but it does power right through a stack of 5-7 sheets. Overall I'm happy with the purchase. I'm not sure what this says about me, but I find it oddly satisfying to pull open the bin and admire the finely shredded heap of paper.