Dahle PaperSAFE PS 260 Paper Shredder, Oil Free / Hassle Free, Jam Protection, Security Level P-4, 12 Sheet Max, Shreds Staples, Paper Clips & Credit Cards

The Dahle PaperSAFE PS 260 sits in the middle of the seven-gallon PaperSAFE cabinet: twelve sheets a pass, P-4 paper security, O-3 for discs, and a 60 dB noise rating that makes it the first machine in the range you could comfortably put in a room with other people. It is the balanced choice between the PS 240 and the PS 380.

Key Features

• Twelve sheets per pass at 20 lb bond, two more than the PS 240 in exactly the same cabinet.
• 60 dB — five decibels quieter than the PS 240 and ten quieter than the PS 100, a difference you can hear.
• Oil-free cutting cylinders: no lubricant, no oil sheets, no maintenance schedule.
• P-4 paper and O-3 optical media. CDs, DVDs, credit cards, staples and paper clips all accepted.
• 1/8" x 7/16" particle, about 35 mm² — the finer of the two PaperSAFE cutting heads.
• Seven-gallon pull-out bin emptied directly; no bags required or supplied.
• Automatic jam protection with motor reversal, thermally protected motor, automatic start and stop, 8.75-inch feed opening.

Specifications

Sheet ratings are Dahle's figures for 8.5 x 11 in, 20 lb bond paper. At roughly 3.2 x 11.1 mm the particle covers about 35 mm², which is within DIN 66399's 160 mm² ceiling for P-4 but above the 30 mm² required for P-5 — so this is a P-4 machine and nothing finer.

What's in the Box

The shredder and its seven-gallon bin, ready to plug in. No bags are included and none are needed. No oil is included and none is required. No dust filter is fitted — that is a CleanTEC feature and PaperSAFE machines do not have one.

Choosing Between the Seven-Gallon PaperSAFE Models

The PS 240, PS 260 and PS 380 share a cabinet, a cutting head, a bin and a feed opening. They are, in every respect that shows up on a spec sheet other than sheet capacity, the same machine. That makes the choice unusually simple: work out what a typical feed looks like in your office and buy the model that swallows it in one go. Ten sheets on the PS 240 covers a short letter with enclosures. Twelve on the PS 260 covers most stapled documents without counting. Fifteen on the PS 380 means you stop thinking about it entirely. Noise falls slightly as you go up the range — 65 dB on the PS 240, 60 on both the PS 260 and PS 380 — and weight rises from 19.8 lb to 28.7 lb, which is a fair proxy for how much cutting head you are getting. What does not change is the P-4 security level, the O-3 disc rating or the seven-gallon bin.

Who Should Buy This — and Who Should Not

Choose the PS 260 for a private office, a consulting room or a two-to-three-person practice that shreds daily but not in bulk. The twelve-sheet pass handles a folded document with enclosures without counting pages, the seven-gallon bin does not demand constant attention, and 60 dB means it does not stop a conversation.

Do not buy it if the volume is genuinely high. The PS 380 gives you fifteen sheets in the identical 10.5 x 17.5 x 21.5 inch cabinet at the same 60 dB and the same seven-gallon bin, and for a few dollars more it is the obvious step. Do not buy it as a shared department machine either — a seven-gallon bin fed by a whole floor becomes a daily job, and the CleanTEC 51464 or 51514 exist for exactly that. And if your policy specifies P-5, no PaperSAFE reaches it; the CleanTEC 51422 or 51472 do.