Comparison ShredMARK 2935C vs ShredMARK 2401S

The level of secrecy of the shredder according to the DIN 66399 standard. It is designated by the English letter P (from “paper”) and a number from 1 to 7.

This indicator determines how well the destruction is carried out, as well as how difficult it will be to restore the document or medium passed through the device. The DIN 66399 standard provides for seven security levels with the simplest numbering from the lowest to the highest: P-1, P-2, P-3, P-4, P-5, P-6, P-7. These levels apply to both paper and other media, but shredders are used primarily for paper documents, and this option will be discussed here; similar information about other materials can be found in the "Destroys" section.

— P-1. The paper is cut into strips no more than 12 mm wide or into fragments up to 2000 mm² in area. Basic level, allowing for the easy restoration of a destroyed document; designed for the disposal of papers that do not contain classified information.

— P-2. The paper is cut into strips no more than 6 mm wide or into fragments up to 800 mm² in area. From a practical point of view, it has no fundamental differences from level P-1 — except that the shredder basket does not fill up as quickly due to th...e smaller size of the fragments.

— P-3. The paper is cut into strips no more than 2 mm wide or into fragments up to 320 mm² in area. It is impossible to restore a document destroyed in this way manually, although this can be done using special technical means.

— P-4. The paper is cut into fragments no more than 6 mm wide and no more than 160 mm² in area. This level is considered to be almost the most optimal for “delicate” materials that at the same time do not require maximum levels of secrecy — for example, everyday business documents like financial statements. Restoration after processing at level P-4 is extremely difficult even with the use of special equipment (although possible), while the shredders themselves are relatively simple and inexpensive. In addition, they can easily be designed to destroy paper clips and staples.

— P-5. The paper is cut into fragments no more than 2 mm wide and no more than 30 mm² in area. This level is suitable for business documents of strategic importance, such as long-term plans.

— P-6. The paper is cut into fragments no more than 1 mm wide and no more than 10 mm² in area. After such processing, document restoration becomes virtually impossible.

— P-7. Maximum level of secrecy: paper is cut into fragments no more than 1 mm wide and no more than 5 mm² in area. Such shredders are very expensive, and they are not very productive. Therefore, it makes sense to use them for documents of special state importance and other materials of similar significance.

It is also worth noting that when working with paper, the level of secrecy affects the speed of filling the shredder basket. The smaller the paper fragments, the more densely they fit into the basket and the more time it takes to fill it, with the same volume.

Way the shredder's knives move during the operation.

- Stripe cut. Alternative names "straight" or "lengthwise" are also met. This type models have one row of knives, and during operation they cut the material into stripes. The rate of protection against recovery (reliability of information destruction) is somewhat lower than in shredders with cross-cutting, however, stripe cutting provides significantly higher speed and productivity. Therefore, such models are recommended primarily for cases where the ability to work with large volumes of materials is most important.

- Cross-cut. For cross-cutting two rows of knives are used, which are arranged at an angle to each other; due to this, the shredded material is not cut into stripes, but into separate pieces of a certain size, depending on the security level (see above). In general, the rate of security is much higher than stripe cutting, and if safety and reliability of destruction are the most important, so you should pay attention to such models. The other advantage is that small pieces ensure that the waste bin is filled more densely, and it will have to be emptied much less frequently. Cons that worth noting are the relatively low speed and higher cost rate.

The largest possible size of the fragments that come out from the shredder after being processed. However, it's told about fragments only in the case of using cross-cutting; for stripe cut models (see “Cut Style”), this item indicates the largest width of the stripes. The size of the fragments is directly related to the security level provided by the shredder; see the relevant paragraph above for details.

The gap size of the shredder is the opening where the utilization materials are placed. This indicator determines the maximum size of the material that the device can handle at one time, without the need to fold or cut the sheet. The common gap size for most office models is 220 – 230 mm — this allows you to easily work with the popular A4 format(sheet width — 210 mm). But for sheet A3, with a width of 297 mm, you will need at least 310 mm gap size.

The speed that processed unit moves through the shredding mechanism during utilization. Accordingly, the higher this indicator, the higher the productivity of the shredder and the more units it is able to shred in a certain time. Knowing the volume of the documents to be shredded, you can easily determine the time required for batch utilization: for example, with a speed of 45 mm/s, one load of standard A4 sheets (length 297 mm) will require 297/45=6.6 s.

However, it should be taken into account that this parameter is usually indicated for paper of a certain density — 80 g/m² (standard office paper) or even 70 g/m², depending on the manufacturer. When working with thicker paper, as well as other materials (see "Shredding Items"), the shredding rate may be significantly lower than stated.

The number of sheets that the shredder is capable of processing at one time — in other words, the largest size of a stack of sheets that can be loaded into the device. Most modern shredders can handle multiple sheets; up to 5 pcs at a time is considered a very limited indicator, up to 10 pcs — a small one, 11 – 15 pcs can be called an average value, 16 – 20 pcs — quite good, and in the most powerful models this figure exceeds 20 pcs.

Note that this parameter is given for paper of a certain grammage (and, accordingly, thickness). At the same time, the East European standard for office paper is a grammage of 80 g/m², and in many European countries thinner paper is used with a grammage of 70 g/m², and it is for it that the capacity of many shredders is indicated. Therefore, if this moment is not specified in the specs, it is best to load the shredder not up to limit values, making a margin of 1 sheet per 8 sheets of capacity — 1 sheet with a stack thickness of up to 8 sheets, 2 sheets with a stack thickness of 8 to 16 sheets, etc. However, other conditions for density may be specified in the user manual.

Also note that the number of sheets per load is determined by manufacturers based on the results of tests under perfect conditions — in the absence of staples on paper, wit...h low humidity, optimal voltage in the mains, perfect sharpening of knives, etc. In fact, any deviation from these indicators affect some decrease in efficiency.

The minimum break time required by the shredder after a full cycle of work (see above).

A break is required so that the motor and mechanisms of the device can cool down after the intense loads that they are subjected to during operation. Moreover, if the operating time was less than a full cycle, then the break can also be made shorter; however, if the device has worked for more than half of the cycle, for a full assurance it is still worth to take a break for all the time intended for it. Some models may provide other recommendations in this regard — they should be specified in user's manual.

Transport rollers are small wheels that also act as support. Such wheels make it much easier to move from place to place: one person can easily roll even a rather weighty unit that could not be lifted alone. And even with a small weight, rollers can also be very useful — for example, if the shredder is alternately used by several people in the same room it is easier to move the device to one of the tables for a while than to carry documents for recycling each time.

Transport wheels can be made removable; if necessary, this point should be clarified separately.

The maximum noise level produced by the shredder during operation. The lower this indicator, the quieter the device works and the more comfortable it is to use, the better it is suitable for conditions that require silence (for example, libraries or archives).

When assessing the noise level, it should be taken into account that the decibel is a non-linear measure unit, and noises with a difference of several decibels differ in volume by several times. For comparison, we can proceed from the following data: office shredders, positioned by the manufacturer as "quiet", have a noise level of about 55 – 60 dB, which corresponds to the volume of ordinary human speech. 65 dB can be compared with a loud conversation, 70 – with a noisy street, 75 – with a scream, and there is practically no higher volume among office models.