Dahle 20614 EC Level 3 Cross Cut Office Paper Shredder Review

Intended to be placed in the copy fax center of a medium to large office setting, the Dahle 20614 EC is designed for moderate to heavy use by many people in a typical day, and to provide a solution for businesses that are looking for a machine that meets the federal regulations for the destruction of clients' and employees' personal information. Here is a rundown of what we see as this shredder's strengths and weaknesses.

Strengths:

1. The sheet capacity of the 20614 EC is pretty impressive giving you the ability to shred as many as 25 sheets at a time and at 30 feet per minute. What this translates to is a fairly impressive 400 to 2,000 sheets per day, which should be more than enough capacity for most busy offices.
2. When buying a centralized office shredder, one thing you will want to consider carefully is the noise factor. Dahle sure did, by encasing the 20614 EC's cutting heads in steel and placing them on rubber shock mounts. This greatly reduces the vibration of the cabinet, and cuts the noise to a bare minimum.
3. If you or your employees handle the kind of sensitive information that could lead to such crimes as identity theft if placed in the wrong hands, FACTA laws require that you completely destroy those documents when discarding them. The 20614 EC is a cross cut shredder that produces paper shards of 1/8" by 1 9/16" in size. This is small enough to qualify it as a level 3 security shredder, and also means that it complies with all of the federal regulations regarding the destruction of sensitive information.
4. The 20614 EC easily handles staples, paper clips and even credit cards, which is a big boon to your overall productivity.
5. The control panel of the 20614 EC was very easy to use, and we liked the safety features such as the automatic shutoff when the shred bin is opened, and the auto reverse function that helps to prevent any paper jams. The machine will also shut off automatically and let you know when the shred bag is full.
6. As with all of Dahle's shredders, you will find that the cutting heads are constructed out of the best German steel, and should give you years of trouble free use if properly maintained. Dahle sure seems to think so as they offer a warranty for the life of the machine.

Weaknesses:

1. With a one HP motor, the 20614 EC's motor should be plenty powerful enough for the moderate to heavy use for which this machine is intended. You will have to be aware, however, that this is not a continuous use machine, and you will have to learn its limitations to prevent overheating. While it would work great next to a copy machine, this might not be the best shredder for, say, the mail room of a large corporation or anywhere that will need constant use out if their shredder.
2. While the feed width of 10-1/4" is plenty wide enough for the vast majority of shredding jobs, if you are going to need to shred pages that are the size of computer printouts on a regular basis, you may want to look for a machine with a 16" opening.