Aurora AU1232XA Anti-Jam 12-Sheet Crosscut Paper/Credit Card Shredder with 5.2-Gallon Wastebasket (White/Semi Translucent Blue)

We needed a new shredder after our last one died from overuse. With the capacity to shred up to 10 pages of documents (vs 5 on out last one) this shredder chews up paper like there is no tomorrow in a lot less time than out previous. It also destroys credit cards and cd/dvd discs, which is a nice bonus. It is a cross-cut shredder, meaning material is shredding into strips which are then cut into short sections about an inch and a half long. This is not a mulch/confetti type shredder. It has three switch settings on it: Off, Auto, and Reverse, which are pretty self-explanatory. The auto is nice, as it means the shredder itself will not engage until paper is fed into it, which is a nice change from out last one which was either on or off with a reverse function. Also unlike our old shredder, which had an exposed opening into the shredder teeth, this unit has a "mail slot" like opening, meaning the paper is fed into a small opening which then goes into the cutters. I really like this feature as we have pets in our home and I don't have to worry about the shredder accidently being left on and someone getting a paw or tongue stuck in the shredder. This feature would be very good for anyone who has curious children that could accidently turn the shredder on as there is not enough space to stick fingers in. The unit itself is a good weight and it's definitely not flimsy. It's a bit awkward to carry or move around however, as the openings on the sides you see in the photo is where you can grab to remove the shredder portion from the receptacle. This is not a good place to grab to pick the whole unit; trust me.. it looked like I hosted Mardi Gras in my kitchen the first (and last) time I did that. There is a handle on the top of the unit which you can use to lift the shredder potion off too, though I prefer the two-handed lift from the sides myself. This is a good shredder at a good price (same type of unit was almost $30 more to buy it locally). I definitely recommend it for quality, price, and ease of use.

Love this shredder! It is reliable and does the job. After dealing with credit card fraud we were instructed to shred everything with a name, address, or barcode. I usually shred as I go through my mail and I have not had a problem. Very easy to use and its the ideal size to keep out of sight in my office space. I don't shred continuously but I have heard if it gets overheated, just let it sit until it cools off. I have not had those problems. Great little office machine!

Powerful, good functionality. No issues shredding numerous sheets at once. Canister is a bit small if you have a lot to shred, but then, the shredder takes up less room and that can be a very good thing for home use. I like it a lot. Perfect for home use, shredding bills, statements, etc. It has never overheated or shut down even when doing a LOT of paper. That is really important. Great value.

I purchased this about 3 weeks ago after searching many different shreddars online and in stores. I decided on this Aurora AS1018CD because it will shred 11 pages at a time, cd's, staples and credit cards. I measured the height of the unit before ordering as I never found one of this model in a store to look at. Measuring was tall enough for what I thought would be a big basket on bottom for the shredded material. Well, when I received it, just looking at the box before opening I knew right then that it wasn't very tall and had made a mistake, however, I opened it up and the main unit is about 6 to 7 inches high. That's was what fooled me on looking at the measurement in the specs. I assumed it would be like my older unit that went "south", which was only about 2" high. (Guess that's why it was light duty and didn't do credit cards, cd's, few copies..like 3 or 4 at a time). The Aurora basket is small, actually too small as I used it immediately and it does fill up fairly quick. THIS IS WHY I GAVE IT A RATING OF ONLY 4 STARS!!! Now, as I said, I used it immediately shredding many boxes of old tax files that I had never gotten rid of and believe me there was a small ton of paperwork to shred. I shredded multiple pages at a time, however, I never did put 11 pages in there, but did go as many as about 8 pages. I shredded a couple credit cards, staples (as it recommended be careful about those) much paper and let me say, this Aurora AS1018CD is a trupper! Absolutely went thru everything that I feed into it with ease. Some reviews I read talked about it being so loud. Well, I found that it was rather quite compared to the one I did have and was very pleased. Also, the instructions that came with the unit said to not put a bag liner into the basket to catch the shredded material. That bothered me as this was exactly what I wanted to do, as without a bag liner, you have to empty the basket into bags and with my old unit being like that (no bag liners)I was always making a mess on the floor and had to vacuum everytime I emptied the basket. So, I looked at this unit very carefully and thought to myself, why is this in the instructions as I don't see anything to cause a problem. So, I went and got some plastic grocery bags which were a little small to fit the basket, but with some careful stretching of the plastic they work fairly well. I put the "heavy" motor top onto the basket and it worked great. The plastic grocery bags are really way to small not going completely to the bottom of the basket. A few days later I was at Sam's Club and found some 10 gallon bags (box of 1000 for $14 and change) and when I got home I tried these and they are a perfect fit. I assume that Aurora said not to use bag liners as probably someone or many people screwed up somehow and got the bag into the motor and messed everything up. But, it works great, no problems at all. So, if you can stand to empty the basket a little more often than you want to, this shreddar with it's strong motor is nothing to worry about as I believe it will be a good shreddar for me for years to come.

This paper shredder works very well. I like the window that shows us how full it is getting. The blue color is attractive.

Good shredder for a great price, powerfull and easy to use!

Perfect for a home office or small space like a dorm room. Easy to use. Good size shred bin capacity. Durable. Works well with minimal noise.

Looks good on paper - bought it from Amazon after my first shredder blew up. Gave this unit very light use - I'd go a week and more without using it, never more than half the # of sheets specified, no staples run through it and only a few credit cards and CDs; no sticky-back stuff at all. The unit had begun starting up for a fraction of a second when a single sheet of paper is inserted, and then quitting. Runs backwards and spits out stopped paper just fine. Since it's slightly beyond the 1-year warranty expiration and I'm mechanically capable, I opened it up to take a look. Hard to get into - on the bottom of the head unit with the machinery inside, there's an oval-shaped sticker on the plastic that says it voids the warranty if removed. My prior shredder had the same ugly setup: There's another screw under this sticker which will prevent you from removing the bottom of the plastic head case to get inside. My warranty was moot so I removed the sticker and screw. Found nothing apparent wrong, probably an electrical flaw. The thing was made in China. Way too high a failure rate on all the shredders for sale, and way too high pricing for the failure rate. The failure rate should be close to zero for years to justify putting these things on the market. You're failing your responsibility to your customers with this stuff, Amazon, and violating our trust. Junk! Garbage! Borderline fraud! All so corporations can kill Americans' jobs and send our manufacturing to the Third World to make their "investors" rich.

I bought this for my dad and he has been using it for months now and no issues at all. Definitely a great product

Great shredder, love it

A great shredder, Woks well.

fonctionne très bien, déchiquette en petit morceau. je l'adore

This unit is more powerful than I expected and shreds much more quickly than the one it replaced. Noise level is the same as most and not excessive. It's easy to empty and the window makes watching waste level easy.