This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Fellowes. All opinions are 100% mine.
With the rise in identity theft in the past few years the Fellowes 79Ci shredder can help combat that problem. One of the most common reasons for identity theft is from people not shredding, or disposing, of paper or optical discs that contain personal data.
One practice that I have been concerned with doing is to shred all bills, bank/credit card statements, and any piece of paper that contains my personal information. This should be a practice for everyone to perform to help protect their identity. To help with disposing of such information properly, I always use a cross-cutting shredder, and I recently had the opportunity to try out the Fellowes 79Ci shredder.
What I Expected From the Fellowes 79Ci Shredder
I have been shredding papers for the past 8 years with the same shredder. While the shredder has done the job, there are a few limitations with my old shredder.
The first limitation is that the shredder isn’t large, and has issue handling any more than 5 sheets of standard paper. Second, the shredder only shreds paper, and I have always wanted a shredder than can shred optical discs (CD/DVD) mainly because I store personal information on such media from time to time. Third, the shredder is fairly loud so it can annoy anyone in the same room.
Even though I haven’t used another shredder, I was looking forward to trying the Fellowes 79Ci mainly because of the 14 page and optical disc shredding ability. I wasn’t sure what to expect from the SilentShred™ technology, as I found it hard to believe a shredder can be fairly quiet.
The SafeSense® technology feature is also something I wanted to check out, as I find it interesting that the shredder will stop the shredding if a hand touches the paper opening.
With these thoughts in mind I unpacked the shredder for a test run.
What Is Included
Included with the Fellowes 79Ci shredder was all you need to quickly begin using the device. Some minor assembly, and I do minor, is required which essentially is connecting the shredding motor unit to the reservoir bin. There are also 4 casters included with the shredder, but they aren’t mandatory to use the shredder, and I kept them off.
Some oil, to keep the shredding blades in good shape, was also included along with a few plastic bags to hold your shredded paper.
There is an instruction manual – more like a booklet – that is also included, and it easily shows you through images how to use the shredder. There is also a single sheet of paper that shows you how to assemble the shredder, much like you would get with a printer or scanner.
Once the shredder is assembled, it is just a matter of plugging in the shredder and pressing the power button. The top panel of the shredder will show blue lights once it is ready for use.
Indicators and Switches of the Fellowes 79Ci Shredder
The Fellowes 79Ci shredder comes in two pieces, the shredder portion that clicks onto a large reservoir area. A bucket within the reservoir is removed from the front of the shredder to remove the shredded contents.
At the top of the shredder, to the right of the paper opening, is the power button, some navigation buttons and then the paper sensor indicators. As you place paper within the paper opening the indicators will light up and go from green to yellow to red. Once the indicators are red, it means you have too many papers. Keeping the indicators at yellow is best.
Above the paper opening are event indicators that tell you such things as when the SafeSense® technology is engaged.
To the back of the shredder is the master power switch, that acts much like the power switch on the back of a computer’s power supply unit.
Features of the Fellowes 79Ci Shredder
There are several features that Fellowes talks about with the 79Ci shredder. While I mentioned a few of the features above, the one that would help with alleviating my frustration with my current shredder is the 100% Jam Proof feature.
100% Jam Proof Technology
With my current shredder, a simple paper jam requires reversing the paper back out of the shredder, which doesn’t always work. If it doesn’t clear all the paper, I have to turn off the shredder and then manually pull out the paper, which leads to a minor mess from partially shredded paper.
With the 79Ci, I had no issue with paper being jammed within the shredder. A sensor near the paper path helps to stop a jam before it even happens. This feature works really well.
SafeSense® Technology
The SafeSense® technology was interesting to me mainly because I have 5 children at home, and anyone with children knows that they get very curious with devices and want to touch the devices.
This technology helps protect anyone that gets near the shredder’s paper opening when the shredder is turned on. As soon as the shredder senses a hand near the opening, the shredding stops until the hand is removed from the opening.
I tested this feature and it works really well. As soon as I placed my hand near the opening, an indicator light goes on and the shredder halts. Once I removed my hand, the shredding continued automatically. The process repeated each time I placed my hand near the opening and then took it away.
SilentShred™ Technology
For those that use older shredders, like me, that are very noisy, the SilentShred™ technology may be of interest to you. I was a little skeptical about how quiet the shredder could possibly be. While it isn’t completely quiet when it is shredding, the noise wasn’t overly loud.
My current shredder is so loud that I can’t use it in the same room with another person because it would annoy them. With the Fellowes 79Ci, I found the shredder to be fairly quiet, to the point where I wouldn’t be annoyed if someone was to shred paper in the same room as me.
Cross-cut Technology
I wasn’t too concerned with the Cross-cut technology of this shredder, mainly because all shredders today do a good job of shredding papers into small pieces. While I haven’t counted the number of pieces created with a standard sheet of paper, Fellowes states that the 79Ci shreds a standard sheet of paper into 399 pieces.
I usually collect all my shredded paper into a large bag containing thousands of shredded pieces of paper, having each piece of paper shredded into so many pieces makes it very difficult for someone to try to reassemble the papers.
In order to properly show what the Fellowes 79Ci is capable of doing, the video below shows several features, including shredding 14 sheets of paper, the SafeSense® technology and how the paper sensor works.
My Impressions
Overall, I like the fact that I can easily shred multiple documents and CD/DVD discs in a shredder that won’t jam. Having children in my house means the SafeSense® technology is very important, especially when little fingers end up near the paper opening. The 79Ci is a great shredder for anyone wishing to properly dispose of papers or optical discs that contain personal information.
Fellowes 79Ci Giveaway
Fellowes has been generous enough to giveaway a $240 79Ci to one lucky reader. To enter the contest you will just need to leave a comment on this post stating what you would be shredding if you won. Please read the official contest rules before entering.