I don't like to work this hard to shred.
590013
My last shredder had a longer feeder slot.  This shredder has a slot JUST long enough to insert a letter-size sheet - which means it takes both hands and a lot of time and concentration to avoid the paper (even a single sheet at a time) from crumpling and causing me to fear a paper jam.

NOTE TO MANUFACTURER: Even an extra 1/2" for the slot would help; a full inch better.
708991
The cutter portion of the shredder seems to work very well and the shred is quite fine.  ALL shredders have claims for volume and capacity which are over-rated.  This happens mostly because sheets of paper do not always go in straight and stay that way.  The machine may say it handles 12 sheets at a time, but if it moves at all, parts of the sheet can become 24 or 36 sheets thick and bind up the cutter.  Also, 12 sheets of lightweight paper is far different than 12 sheets of heavier paper.  If you work at a reasonable (slow) pace and stay within a safe margin of thickness, the shredder will do just fine.  Most people, myself included, become frustrated with the pace and try to push the limits, causing the machine to overheat, stop, and have to cool.  That's life with smaller, home style shredders.

My complaint with these units is the size of the collection bin.  It does not take too many pages of material to fill the basket and require it be emptied.  I've never been able to empty one without dropping lots of paper pieces on the floor or the desk.  Having to clean-up that mess more often than need be is frustrating.  Even a move from 5 to 7 gallon size would make an big difference.
4551901
I wanted a fine shredder to shred beets rather than to shred them by hand with a fine hand shredder.  HOWEVER, I prefer the much finer shredding done by hand - it is easier to eat raw and I enjoy them more - mixed with lemon juice and olive oil.  Great for cleansing the liver so I do it a LOT and I was hoping the Cuisinart fine shredder would make it easier.  But easier is not better when it comes to beets.  But I'll use it for other things that I may not want to eat raw.
1254559
Alright, well document shredding is not exactly the most exciting things in the world.
That being said, they are something that most households should have -- businesses, likely a necessity.

There have been a couple times I have fed a few too many sheets to shred & it has jammed, but that is more my own oversight that a flaw in the shredder.
If you really want to be able to get into a lot of pieces of paper at a time though, you might want to get A higher powered one.

For my purposes, it works quite nicely.
2029708
Since I don't really need to shred the entire envelope or document, I purchased this handy tool. Now wherever my name and address is printed is in fear of me. Minus one star because more than 2 sheets feels like you might break the handle.

I have yet to shred my hand, like the name implies.

If it could only slice bread, then it would be the next best thing.
4854060
The shredder gets the job done. I like the size of the shreds but this machine is LOUD. It is also messy. Expect to get a headache and do some sweeping when you dump the shreds. The top is also very heavy and it hurts if you drop it on your fingers. I think I will look at a desktop shredder to keep in the kitchen to do junk mail.
1613523
Not really impressed! Shredding is basically O.k. but emtpying this  shredder is a nightmare! A 2 minute job takes usually 10 minutes clean up time. The shredded paper is very fine it disperses everywhere, so you have to use a vacuum cleaner to finish the job. I would never buy another one, very poor compared to the last one I had.
1563282
I bought this as a replacement for a flimsier shredder I'd bought at Wal-Mart.  Calling this a 12-sheet shredder is a bit of a stretch.  I had a lot of documents and CD's to shred.  Most of my document are printed on heavier than 20-lb bond, so this shredder can't handle 12 sheets at a time.  But, it does a good job of shredding what it can handle.
911234
Not as sturdy as I had expected for the money but if I get 1 year out of it I will be lucky. It is already making some funny sounds and is sluggish when shredding.
89389
OK I intended to buy a micro-cut but did not pay close enough attention to the description and bought this crosscut instead so honestly I am disappointed but I am the only one to blame for that.

Keeping the above statement in mind, I hate the size of shredded material, I can read everything, it chops into large enough pieces that entire account numbers or phone numbers fit on one piece. If you place the material (say charge card statement) into the feed sideways you will be able to easily read everything, if you put it in the way you would read the document it is less readable.

It is louder than the Royal I had which was also a crosscut but the shredded material was about half the size and it lasted less than a year so.

I just shred our junk mail and bank statements etc. just average home use.

On the plus side, it works, it shreds and it is better than nothing...
1996802
this shredder only accepts a limited width and you must trifold each paper to make a sheet of paper fit into the small slot.  Since it has a minimum of 4 pages thick, this means you can only shred one page at a time.  Also shredding is very large and I can read each sentence on the shredded paper.  I'm not sure how you are supposed to get a diagonal shred.  Instructions with item is limited.  Does not even tell you how to empty container (and whether it should be unplugged, etc...)
80413
These work much better than a fork for shredding meat. Not 5* as I was hoping it would be easier than it is to shred. Huge step up over not having a set, just wanted a lazy, easy life you know.
1930598
This is VERY heavy.  I'm not as crazy about it as I had hoped to be.
3693703
i'm glad that it turns itself off when it gets too hot, but then i'm also sad because i just want to keep shredding...
2939580
Nice, not bad, save my time than electronic shredders to be able cut easily to be. I used now and shredded lot old papers to trash out. Electronic shredders sometimes have problems when stuck in and hardly to get some pieces of paper out but that one easily to get out than electronic shredders. I like that for me to. Hope anyone can do that too. Thanks enjoy it.
3679372
We don't do lots of shredding but I had one big project with hundreds of pages and I could not put anywhere near 12 sheets in. Above 8 it groaned and slowed down considerably and once it just stopped. But for our day to day needs it is fine. The basket fills quickly. so next time I will get a bigger one. Also wish I had gotten a machine with wheels or a lock so it could be more easily transported. For the discounted price, I am satisfied, but if you really need a 12 page shredder, this is not for you.
2724340
I received this shredder today. The packaging was good and the product was in great condition out of the box.  I've owned three shredders before this one and each lasted me for several years, in fact my last Aurora lasted almost 10 years - so I'm not particularly hard on shredders.  I bought this one because I have a large backlog of shredding to do and I want something that can take 10 or 12 sheets at a time. This poor thing won't manage that. It does great with 4 or 6 pages, labors with 8 pages, and sounds like it's really unhappy with anything more. Just to see what would happen, I tried to feed 12 sheets through it. The brave little motor managed to limp through them, but the cross cut feature didn't work. Instead it produced 8-1/2 inch long "dented" strips of paper. If you're looking for a shredder that will handle a few sheets of paper here and there throughout the day, this would probably be a fine choice. But if you're looking for something that will truly handle 12 sheets at a time, you should look at a more expensive model. I might keep this for everyday light shredding duties, but I'll keep shopping for something with more oomph for my backlog.