Aurora AU120MA 120-Sheet Auto Feed High Security Micro-Cut Paper Shredder / 30 Minutes (Black)

Awesome shredder. Enjoy the bulk shredding option of 50-100 pages at a time. Great for old bank statements, old tax documents, etc... Handles credit cards and CDs just fine. Does not do well with metal bank/credit cards, however. I didn't pay attention and dropped an old Amazon metallic card in it and it was not happy. It jammed, but I could clear it. No damages. I wish the basket would hold more, my biggest and only real complaint. Very happy with the features and the fact it wasn't a $250 dollar machine. Definitely worth the money. I would recommend and purchase again.

works well and quiet as advertised.Best shredder I ever had.

It may shred 120 very thin sheets. 60 sheets of regular paper is more like it. Still, it grinds paper down really small. It's reasonably fast and quieter than most. Although I purged 3 yrs of office files (2-hours and it shut down once for cooldown), it's really meant for home use. Keep it oiled, buy it on sale, and it's worth the money.

Works great, and does everything it says it will do. I am really glad I bought it.

When I purchased this, I thought I was purchasing an industrial type shredder with a feeder. Well, it only takes maybe 10 pages in the feeder and it’s slow so if you have lots of shredding, which is what IWhen I purchased this, I thought I was purchasing a industrial type shredder with a feeder. Well, it only takes maybe 10 pages in the feeder and it’s slow so if you have lots of shredding, which is what I have it’ll take me forever to do it. I’m going to probably have to hire some shred company to come out here so I was disappointed $200 later.

It shipped fully assembled and in a box well suited for rough handling. Good thing as I happened to be close to my front door when it was delivered. I heard a loud slam as if it had been dropped or tossed.After unpacking, I immediately tested it's claimed 16 sheet capacity with 'HP Office 20' paper. Confirmed. It plowed through it without a hitch. Probably capable of more. I also fed two unopened envelopes of junk mail that my previous shredder would have choked on. Both went through easily. Note that my previous shredder, a Fellowes MS-450Cs (now discontinued) was rated at 7-8 sheets so comparing the two isn't fair.If you're shopping shredders, start by checking claimed continuous run time to see if that meets your needs. Many relatively inexpensive residential level shredders have very limited continuous run times before they shut down to cool.Somewhat offsetting the longer continuous run time of the Aurora is the significantly longer cool down time. The manual says it's 45 minutes which is significantly higher than many others. In comparison, my Fellowes has an 8-10 on/15 off run cycle.The Aurora is marginally louder than the Fellowes it's replacing but not annoyingly so. Both are quiet compared to bargain basement shredders.Compared to the ~16 year old Fellows this is replacing, it uses cheaper plastics, the slider switch (the only switch) doesn't feel like it's in for the long haul. Loose and lacks precision. When using this switch, use care. Don't fast-slide it or use too much pressure. The Aurora slider switch makes me wonder where else they may have chosen to cut costs.A high quality rocker switch and high quality buttons such as what my Fellowes used are much more confidence inspiring for long term reliability and proved so during it’s long service.Unlike my Fellowes which has two well designed feed slots (one for cards and cd/dvd's, the other for paper), the Aurora has one slot that's harder to feed paper into. It's a subtle difference but one that demonstrates the attention to detail in a Fellowes product. If you have cards and cd/dvd data disks to shred (anyone still use those?), Aurora says to use the middle area of the shredding mechanism.The Fellowes feed slots are smooth, beveled on both sides, low friction surfaces that makes feeding paper and plastic a smoother and less error prone process. I barely have to look at the slots when using them and rarely have to use two hands.With the Aurora, you'll have to pay more attention. I often have to jiggle, align and angle the paper for it to feed properly. Sometimes a two handed process.The Fellowes has a simple high quality and sturdy rocker switch for power and the forward and reverse controls are high quality buttons. Much better/potentially more reliable design compared to this Aurora. The Aurora uses a cheap slider switch for all functions and feels destined for premature failure. It wobbles and feels loose. Not confidence inspiring. Time will tell if the Aurora switch holds up. Don't fast slide it or apply too much pressure. Use care when using this switch.The Fellowes uses a high quality electrical cord with a three prong plug, heavy duty cord and casing. The Aurora uses a simple two prong plug with a flimsy two wire cord. Three prong plugs are safer if plugged directly into a wall socket. Further, if you accidentally stress the cord in the Fellowes (step on it, roll over it with an office chair or accidentally yank the cord out of the wall socket), it will probably survive the abuse. This Aurora is not likely to withstand these things.Aurora recommends lubing the cutting mechanism after each filling of the bin. I do not recommend using oil to lubricate the shredding mechanism. Instead, use lube sheets. It's easy to over-lubricate which can gum up the steel shredding mechanism. When you shred paper, there is usually a lot of almost invisible dust-like paper particles released. The paper particles can adhere to the lube on the blades and build over time. Virtually impossible to thoroughly clean the cutting mechanism without disassembling it and taking it to a machine shop, submerging it in a de-greaser bath. Lube sheets are fool proof.Note that there are two types of lube sheets. Lubricant and lubricant with added 'grit' which supposedly sharpens the blades. I'd recommend buying both. The lube-only sheets should be primarily what you use. If you notice a degradation in performance, use one the combo sheets to see if that helps.Best to use brand name lube/sharpening sheets from Fellowes or another well known and established brand. More expensive but more peace of mind. The off-brand sheets may or may not use quality lubes and result in buildup of lube on the blade, reduced cutting performance.Bottom line, I have some buyer remorse about buying the Aurora. This is due to the nit picks I mention above and that Fellowes is a US company that manufactures at least some of their product in the US. That said, the specs of this Aurora are impressive and it's a very good value. Long term reliability? TBD. If you want the gold standard of shredders, buy Fellowes. If you're looking to save a few bucks, this Aurora is attractive. I'll update if I have any issues with it.

This shredder is a replacement for home use. It’s larger than the previous and the perfect size for my use. I like the micro cut, the speed is good and I have never had a jam. I appreciate the noise level. It is so quiet! It is the best home shredder that I have owned.

This machine shreds the papers quickly and efficiently. The shredder will hold a large amount of papers and automatically shred them in no time at all. The dust created by dumping the shreds does create the need to dust the space more often. Auto shut off when machine gets jammed or hot.