Shredders

In addition to the sheets per pass rating, you’ll also want to think about the shred speed. Shred speed is especially important if you need to dispose of lots of paper on a regular basis. The size of the basket, from 2.4 gallons to 25.4 gallons, is also important. Other critical features include anti-jam technology, a bin full sensor, and an auto/stop feature.

There’s also the of type of shred. A strip-cut shredder turns documents into long, vertical strips. However, these documents can be reassembled relatively easily, and are recommended only for non-critical documents. A cross-cut shredder shreds paper diagonally from both corners into small, barely readable pieces, providing a higher level of security than strip-cut shredders. If you need an even higher level of security, consider a micro-cut shredder. These shredders cut diagonally from both corners and shreds documents into tiny square-shaped paper pieces, about 3,700 of them per piece of paper.

Once you know the best paper shredder for your needs, think about getting a surge protector to protect it from voltage spikes and power surges. You may also want to take advantage of the benefits of Totaltech™ for your paper shredder and your other tech. Such a plan will provide unlimited Geek Squad® support, in store, over the phone, or online 24/7.

Incidences of identity theft, breached data security and credit card fraud are seemingly in the news every week. One thing you can do to thwart opportunistic thieves and protect yourself is to use a document shredder. Documents such as pay stubs, bank statements, monthly bills, and explanations of medical benefits are all candidates for a shredder. Furthermore, documents that contain credit card numbers, your date of birth, your driver’s license number, online passwords and PINs, or your social security number should be shredded as well. If you are considering a shredder for your business, you may want to place your shredder near your all-in-one printer. This way, you can easily dispose of sensitive documents that relate to your business, vendors and customers.

Besides paper documents, what other items might you need to put through your shredder? Best Buy sells shredders that also dispose of credit cards, staples, and paper clips. On average, a paper shredder suitable for your home office can shred between 10 and 20 sheets of paper per pass. Larger capacity shredders have a higher sheets-per-pass rating and can shred up to 650 sheets of paper per pass. With a larger capacity shredder, you can empty out sensitive documents from your file cabinet in a few passes.