Aurora AU870MA High-Security 8-Sheet Micro-Cut Paper Credit Card Shredder Black

We've had at least 3 shredders over the years, from the simple strip shredders of years ago, to the micro-cut shredder. Shred level is appropriate for home financial documents. Noise is not bad. Our previous Amazon shredder had a removable basket while the head stayed mounted to the frame; on this unit, the head sits atop the basket, so when you need to empty it, you have to remove the head off the basket, and find a place to put it temporarily. I know there are still versions with pull out baskets, but their price has increased. We don't have to empty ours all that often, so from a price point, this works just as well. The more difficult challenge is the closing cutter cover on top; it doesn't open beyond 45 degrees, which makes it more difficult to insert paper for shredding. Our previous unit didn't have that. I'm not sure that the cover makes it all that much safer, but it's there. For the price, an acceptable unit. If we get 2-3 years out of it, I'll declare success! Biggest issue across all shredders is keeping the cutters lubed. Scrap 8.5 x 11 paper lightly coated (not saturated!) with higher temp oils (olive or avocado) should be used periodically. You can spend more, buying those pre-lubed shredder sheets, but why?? Just search on how to do this on the web. It does extend cutter life. This is a good budget choice!

Picking a shredder to purchase was much more difficult than I thought it would be. So many reviews that were positive and negative for the same machine. This shredder works very well. It cuts papers into small indistinguishable pieces. It's for my home office, so it doesn't bother anyone that it is a little loud. I didn't try shredding 8 pieces of paper at a time, I've stayed with 3 or 4 pages and it does a good job. Emptying the shredder is simple. I've only used it for about a week but have emptied the shredding twice, so I feel I've given it a workout and I'm very pleased.

excellent device

Used the shredder a couple of times now. It is pretty quiet, even when shredding 4/5 sheets. I shred less sheets if paper is thicker than standard paper thickness. The overheat button comes on for around 15/20 minutes and then works as normal. The micro shred on the paper is excellent, and very unlikely to be pieced back together to anything legible. I recommended the machine to a friend who bought it and likes it also.

Full Disclosure: I got no compensation at all for leaving a review. Zero. NadaThe Aurora AU870MA is a fantastic paper shredder. This is actually our second one. My wife got one for work and we liked it so well that we purchased one for our neighbor who needed a shredder. It grinds the paper quickly into tiny little pieces about 1/4" long and 1/8" wide. The mouth is a good bit wider than a standard sheet of paper. It just sucks the paper in and never jams. It grinds credit cards just as easily as paper. The paper is ground up so fine that you can get a LOT of sheets into the waste bin before you have to dump it. The motor feels about twice as heavy as our old shredder which jammed all the time, so hopefully that's a sign it will hold up. I wish I'd bought one sooner. A great buy for the price. My neighbor was also impressed.

I bought this for my sister. She saves EVERY little piece of paper. I can't stand that there is paperwork all over the house. I thought this would be a great purchase for her. She rips up old bills that have her name on them. I believe this is a great shredder. But there it sits in the garage...

Overall extremely satisfied with this shredder. It says 8-sheet but I found its most efficient putting 3-4 sheets in at a time because for 5+ sheets it shreds slowly. Since the blades continuously rotate once you've put in paper, you can keep inserting 3-4 sheet packets back-to-back.It takes a LONG while before the shredder overheats so you can get a lot of bulk shredding done in one sitting (I had years of papers to shred, so this feature was a real time-saver). It really does take around 30-40 minutes before its cooled down and you can continue shredding. When it does overheat, whatever paper was going through will just stop where it is in the feeder until the machine cools and it will allow you to continue shredding.Because of the safety features you have to use the bucket they provide and it fills decently slowly, so you're not constantly emptying the bucket. You cant let the bucket fill too much unless the blades just keep rotating already cut pieces of paper around in circles. The little window on the front of the bucket really helps and makes that process easier.The shredder is quite loud. If you want to talk to someone while shredding you'll have to speak louder than normal conversational tones. And the shredder can be heard from a couple rooms away.The head of the shredder is quite heavy so be prepared for the weight when you lift it to empty the bucket. The blades are exposed on the bottom once you've lifted it off so you have to be careful not to touch them on accident.This shredder is amazing for the price and really gets the job done well and I havent had a single issue with yet. Would definitely buy it again!

I’ve had this for 10 years now& it works great! We mostly use it for small quantities, but I have shredded big piles, and it holds up very well. The cut us genuinely micro - very secure. It takes 3-4 sheets at a time safely, not 8. I oil it periodically as directed & let it rest after 5 mins or so when the motor gets hot, but I’m very happy with this shredder!I empty it into a paper grocery bag outside, & staple it shut & our recycling company will take it (not all do, so check with yours).