108 of 108 people found the following review helpful: Fellowes Powershred Shredder
Runs more quiet, is slower, and makes larger pieces than my PS-80, March 29, 2007
By D. Henderson (Baltimore, MD)
This review is from: Fellowes 32177 Powershred Shredder PS-77Cs (Electronics)
My seven year old
Fellows Powershred Shredder PS-80 cross cut shredder finally stopped working after I gave it too much paper (broke a gear). So I replaced it with this
Powershred PS-77Cs. I noticed that this
Powershred Shredder PS-77Cs shreds more quietly than my previous PS-80. Both will shred credit cards. But my old PS-80 won't shred CDs or DVD's: I noticed that there are two small points (like canine teeth) on each of the
Powershred PS-77Cs' cutter blades that probably help grab and help pull the plastic cards and CDs in its shredding action.
What I don't like about the
powershred PS-77Cs shredder is that it shreds slower than my old PS-80 (probably because of the more powerful motor for shredding 12 sheets versus 5 sheets with my old PS-80). Usually, more torque = slower speed. So I've developed some patience as a result. What's a real disappointment is that the output cross cut pieces from the
Powershred PS-77Cs are twice the length of my old PS-80 (1 ½"inch for the
powershred PS-77Cs versus 3/4"inch for the PS-80).
Something not mentioned in the included instructions: you can carefully flip up the SafeSense /credit card / CD slot up to more easily add the Fellows Cross Cut shredder oil. I think it gives me better control so I don't get the oil onto the safety eyes used to sense when paper is actually in the shredder slot.
UPDATE: March 13, 2010. for
Fellowes Powershred Shredder PS-77Cs
Yes, I still have this shredder and it still is working after all these years. It has not slowed down (although the amount of junk mail is less).
I have managed to feed it too much paper all at once but I was always able to clear the jam and more importantly, I didn't strip any gears. I've shred paper, credit cards, CDs, and it takes it all.
It's nice to see that this good shredder is still made.
58 of 58 people found the following review helpful: Fellowes Powershred shredder
Excellent quality shredder, terrific value!, July 8, 2007
By Eye In Sky (LA County, CA USA)
This review is from: Fellowes 32177 Powershred Shredder PS-77Cs (Electronics)
We bought this
Powershred Shredder to replace our old broken cross-cut model, and found this to be one of our very best purchases from Amazon. Yes, it's about twice the cost of the cheaper $40-$50 models you will find but the marginal extra cost will repay itself in spades! Below are some of the advantages I liked most:
Powershred Shredder
PROS
1) While this
Powershred Shredder is a bigger unit, the trash bin holds a much greater capacity. This means fewer headaches of dumping and cleaning. There is a little window that shows the trash level. I recommend compressing the shredded paper once you see paper reach this point. This
Powershred Shredder will help prevent paper jamming into the blades from the mound below. After 2 rounds of compressions, it's probably time to dump the shreds. The trash bin conveniently pulls out without lifting the heavy motor (and it *is* much heavier than the smaller units). The design
Powershred Shredder is nifty and elegant!
2) The
Powershred Shredder chomps paper away with ease and rips through staples like butter. While it's supposed to handle paper clips, I still think it's best to pull them off before shredding to help protect wear & tear on the blades. It also rips through credit cards and CD's. It's perfect for junk mail too - even with plastic cards already included.
3) The sheet limit rating is pretty accurate! Like a car's MPG, this rating tends to be embellished to compete with other manufacturers. But common sense should prevail: Normal paper stock can probably handle 8-10 at a time (11-12 with a slight slowing of the motor). Thick paper stock should be kept to about half this amount. With thin paper stock (like thermal ink receipts), we've inserted as much as 16 pages without missing a beat. You will get a good feel for what the unit can handle after a few tries. This
Powershred Shredder is easy to use and is very forgiving.
4)
Powershred ShredderIt is safe. A touch sensor (like the touch-sensitive lamps) will automatically stop shredding if a finger touches the metal area around the mouth of the shredder. There is a switch that can easily turn this feature on or off, but there should be no reason why folded paper would cause the safety to turn off (it's not grounded like a person's hand).
5) The
Fellowes Powershred Shredder PS-77Cs is surprisingly quiet. Our older model had an annoying high-pitch "buzz saw" sound that was very noisy. This
Powershred Shredder has a pleasant low-pitch "hum", and the volume is much softer. There is no such thing as a silent shredder, but this model produces about 1/3rd the volume of our smaller unit. Some actually claim using this shredder is a great stress reliever, and I can see why.
6) It also has an automatic shut off feature when the motor gets too hot. The manufacture recommends using the unit for 15 minutes at a time. I've found we can actually shred for about 30-40 minutes before overheating. An LED light will show you when this happens, so there is no alarm when the unit decides to rest. This feature alone should protect your purchase for many years to come as motor burn-out is a common problem with shredders. We also opted to buy the lubricant oil to help things run smoothly. I believe this
Fellowes Powershred Shredder PS-77Cs model should last at least 10-20+ years.
There is only one MINOR complaint I have about the
Fellowes Powershred Shredder PS-77Cs:
CONS
1) The far edges of the "mouth" do not shred as well as rest. The mouth accommodates more than 8 1/2 inches of paper (about 1" extra on both sides). When a page reaches one of these edges, the shredder tends to lose the confetti cut in these areas. Shards may also become a little thicker - potentially causing sensitive information to be seen. As long as you keep shredding towards the middle (or at least 1/4" away from the sides), you should be just fine.
To sum it all up, Amazon's low price + free shipping make this
Fellowes Powershred Shredder PS-77Cs and incredible deal! Do yourself a favor and spend the extra $40-$50. You will thank yourself in the long run.
103 of 111 people found the following review helpful: Fellowes Powershred Shredder
Look no further, this shredder ROCKS!, October 5, 2006
By gweempose (Chicago, IL)
This review is from: Fellowes 32177 Powershred Shredder PS-77Cs (Electronics)
This
Powershred Shredder has far exceeded my expectations. It looks great. It's the perfect size for a home office. It has a convenient pull-out wastebasket, and it quietly shreds everything you feed it into confetti sized bits. CDs? No problem. Credit cards? Piece of cake!
The best feature of all, however, has nothing to do with what this thing shreds. In fact, it's what this thing doesn't shred ... fingers. This
Fellowes Powershred Shredder PS-77Cs is among the first on the market to feature the new Safe Sense technolgy. Fellowes should be commended for this breakthrough. As a father of two-year-old twins, I'm obviously very concerned with safety. As soon as a hand touches the paper entry, the
Powershred Shredder automatically shuts off. Bravo Fellowes!
46 of 47 people found the following review helpful: Fellowes Powershred Shredder
Good value, good performance, it needs your attention., December 18, 2006
By HarmProvidence (Providence, RI)
This review is from: Fellowes 32177 Powershred Shredder PS-77Cs (Electronics)
At the current price of $99, this is a very good
Powershred Shredder. I have owned two low end shredders, one lasted 5 years, the other I am giving away. Amazon delivered this in two days 2 weeks ago and I have been using it daily ever since to get rid of my backlog. I just ordered the lubricant which was reccommended by another reviewer.
Good features: Three power positions: auto-on based on paper feed, off and reverse; 5 indicator lites: on, too close, jammed, waste can open, and overheat; two slots: a 5 inch slot for CDS,credit cards and the like, the other 9 inches with a wider intake slot funnelled so you dont have to be precise in feeding: handles 5-6 sheets at a time of heavy weight paper (not 12 sheets as advertised unless the 12 are very lite weight); Large waste bin which slides in and out easily under the stand on which you position the rather heavy shredder (safety feature associated with this so that the shredder doesnot operate when the waste bin is out of position.
PAY ATTENTIONto it: My use of this
Fellowes Powershred Shredder so far has been to clear a backlog of 8 bags of material in my basement. so it has gotten a lot of use in a short time. It will turn off to cool off after 20+ minutes of near continuous or heavy use (the instructions do point this out.) The waste bin fills up faster than you would think and one needs to check the level in the bin and push the material down. If the level gets high, the confetti with dam up at the level of the
Powershred shredder teeth and jamming will occur.
I suggest that you shred a bunch of paper, then rock the off/on switch a couple of times to the Reverse positon for 5 seconds- this will clear the teeth and reduce the amount of jamming.
If it jams, you can usually reverse and back to on again and it will clear the jam by itself. If that doesnt work and the yellow lite comes on you may have to pull the paper out of the slot or unplug and turn over the motor part (it IS HEAVY) and pick out the jammed paper. I have a lobster pick handy for this purpose. I have gotten good at opening he bin partway (the red lite comes on), pushing down the shred and removing packed shred at the tooth area with my hand without having to remove the motor from the stand, then close the bin securely, reversing a few times and that works well to keep things clear.
If this sounds like a lot of work, it is until you get used to it, but this is a low cost shredder which is study, compact, has good safety features and a convenient feed system. Once you have your 'system' down it is a lot less work. Good luck. dont buy it if you are not willing to fiddle with it.
I have ordered the lubricant on the advice of other reviewers, but havent used it yet.
I suggest you check the level often, pack it down and empty it when close to full. I have lined my bin with a plastic bag and inside that I put a paper bag from the supermarket trimmed of the top couple of inches- the shred falls mainly into the paper bag, esily packed down and removed and then taped shut. If your recycler takes paper in plastic bags, you could just use a plastic liner alone. (You could also buy liners if you are so inclined)
I would buy this
Powershred shredders again- and may get one as a backup in any case.
15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
Fellowes Powershred Shredder
This shredder is a real workhorse, January 20, 2007
By Mr. Thomas J. Cimicata (Dumont, New Jersey United States)(REAL NAME)
This review is from: Fellowes 32177 Powershred Shredder PS-77Cs (Electronics)
I've had it about a month now and it has performed beautifully. In one day I filled the basket about 6 times shredding old client files (I am a lawyer) and trust account records to clear my office of piles of old, dead files in a way that safely protects my clients' identities and confidential information. I've had other shredders before but nothing that compares to this one. The capacity is supposed to be 12 pages maximum but I've fed it as many as 15-20 pages with no problems. It has only overheated once and that was after about 45 minutes of almost constant shredding. After cool down it was right back to normal. I like this Fellowes Powershred Shredder
46 of 47 people found the following review helpful:
Good value, good performance, it needs your attention., December 18, 2006
By HarmProvidence (Providence, RI)
This review is from: Fellowes 32177 Powershred Shredder PS-77Cs (Electronics)
At the current price of $99, this is a very good shredder. I have owned two low end shredders, one lasted 5 years, the other I am giving away. Amazon delivered this in two days 2 weeks ago and I have been using it daily ever since to get rid of my backlog. I just ordered the lubricant which was reccommended by another reviewer.
Good features: Three power positions: auto-on based on paper feed, off and reverse; 5 indicator lites: on, too close, jammed, waste can open, and overheat; two slots: a 5 inch slot for CDS,credit cards and the like, the other 9 inches with a wider intake slot funnelled so you dont have to be precise in feeding: handles 5-6 sheets at a time of heavy weight paper (not 12 sheets as advertised unless the 12 are very lite weight); Large waste bin which slides in and out easily under the stand on which you position the rather heavy shredder (safety feature associated with this so that the shredder doesnot operate when the waste bin is out of position.
PAY ATTENTIONto it: My use of this shredder so far has been to clear a backlog of 8 bags of material in my basement. so it has gotten a lot of use in a short time. It will turn off to cool off after 20+ minutes of near continuous or heavy use (the instructions do point this out.) The waste bin fills up faster than you would think and one needs to check the level in the bin and push the material down. If the level gets high, the confetti with dam up at the level of the shredder teeth and jamming will occur.
I suggest that you shred a bunch of paper, then rock the off/on switch a couple of times to the Reverse positon for 5 seconds- this will clear the teeth and reduce the amount of jamming.
If it jams, you can usually reverse and back to on again and it will clear the jam by itself. If that doesnt work and the yellow lite comes on you may have to pull the paper out of the slot or unplug and turn over the motor part (it IS HEAVY) and pick out the jammed paper. I have a lobster pick handy for this purpose. I have gotten good at opening he bin partway (the red lite comes on), pushing down the shred and removing packed shred at the tooth area with my hand without having to remove the motor from the stand, then close the bin securely, reversing a few times and that works well to keep things clear.
If this sounds like a lot of work, it is until you get used to it, but this is a low cost shredder which is study, compact, has good safety features and a convenient feed system. Once you have your 'system' down it is a lot less work. Good luck. dont buy it if you are not willing to fiddle with it.
I have ordered the lubricant on the advice of other reviewers, but havent used it yet.
I suggest you check the level often, pack it down and empty it when close to full. I have lined my bin with a plastic bag and inside that I put a paper bag from the supermarket trimmed of the top couple of inches- the shred falls mainly into the paper bag, esily packed down and removed and then taped shut. If your recycler takes paper in plastic bags, you could just use a plastic liner alone. (You could also buy liners if you are so inclined)
I would buy this shredder again- and may get one as a backup in any case.
20 of 21 people found the following review helpful:
Good--but be prepared for jams & what to do about them, August 5, 2007
By Max Jaffee
This review is from: Fellowes 32177 Powershred Shredder PS-77Cs (Electronics)
I bought this product because I wanted a higher quality shredder that would have a larger capacity waste receptacle. The product is not as good as I expected, but then you should avoid stuffing too much into the mouth of the shredder. I would place the sensible limit to be about 6 to 8 regular letter size sheets at once, avoiding thicker paper. Be sure to use plastic bags to receive shredded material in the receptacle as it is otherwise very messy to remove the shredded contents. It's a good machine but it does jam if you overfeed it. It will not chew up more than it can eat--just like people! My experience is to have a good long needle-nosed pliers on hand near the machine when these jams occur. Unplug the machine and pull off the top, turn it upside down, and, using a Phillips-head screwdiver (standard size) rake out whatever paper that can come loose; then turn the top right-side up and use the needle-hosed pliers to actually twist the paper stuck at the top wrapping the jammed paper on top to wrap around the needle nose. You twist and twist the jammed paper and it will come out. This procedure will take about 5 minutes of your time. Clean out the basket at the time before reassembling the top to its normal place, and push the empty basket back in. Voila! Replug it and your machine will start running again. The unit is well designed and will withstand rugged use and is very safe away from your fingers. But...be prepared for jams. Best advice: Avoid jams by being very careful about the paper you are feeding into its mouth. If you are not cautious about what you feed in, you will once again find yourself with another jam. Also remember you cannot see how much you are accumulating in the basket unless you keep looking into its window and that in itself can cause too much to accumulate and force the choppers to stop abruptly and not function due to the overloaded basket. There is a window you can see through into the basket. Is this fun? Not really. Don't give up. If you are patient and learn its temperament, you will learn how to handle this machine properly with minimal jams.I am satisfied with the
Fellowes Powershred Shredder PS-77Cs
Fellowes Powershred Shredder model innovative Fellowes PS-77Cs with patent-pending SafeSense technology features an active sensor that stops shredding immediately when paper entry is touched. Designed for moderate shredding in the home/office, This affordable, medium duty shredder reduces documents to 5/32" x 1 1/2" higher-security confetti particles, and shreds up to 12 sheets per pass, 25-50 times per day, for a total daily capacity as high as 600 sheets.
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