Dahle ShredMATIC SM 90 Auto-Feed Paper Shredder, 90 Sheet Feed Tray, Oil-Free, Jam Protection, Security Level P-4, 1-2 Users

The Dahle ShredMATIC® SM 90 is an auto-feed shredder scaled for one or two people. Drop up to 90 sheets into the tray, and it feeds and shreds them at P-4 without anyone standing over it; a manual slot takes 10 sheets when something needs destroying now. It weighs about 20 lb and stands 20 inches tall, so it fits beside a desk or under a credenza rather than needing its own corner. Like the rest of the ShredMATIC line it runs oil-free, which for a personal-scale machine means it will still be working in three years instead of seizing up because nobody bought oil sheets.

Running costs come close to nothing. The cutting cylinder is oil-free and warranted for five years, there are no oil sheets or bottles to reorder, and the machine draws from a standard 115 V outlet. At roughly 20 lb it can be lifted onto a shelf or carried between rooms by one person, and the 10.3 x 14.5 in footprint fits beside most desks. The only consumable is a liner for the 7-gallon bin, and a small office can reasonably empty the bin directly instead. For a personal shredder, that is about as low-maintenance as the category gets.

Key Features

• 90-sheet auto-feed tray. Enough for a day's confidential paper for one person. Load it and get on with something else.
• Oil-free operation. No oil sheets, no lubricant, no schedule. On a small shredder this is the difference between a machine that lasts and one that does not.
• P-4 cross cut at 3/16 x 1/2 in. Around 4.8 x 12.7 mm, roughly 60 mm2 - well within the 160 mm2 limit DIN 66399 sets for class P-4.
• Takes staples, clips and credit cards. Documents can go in as they are. Note that unlike the SM 300, Dahle does not list CDs or DVDs for this model.
• Automatic jam protection. Reverses and re-feeds instead of stalling, which is what makes unattended tray feeding practical.
• Five-year cutting cylinder warranty. One year on the machine, five years on the cutting cylinder.

Specifications

What's in the Box

Ships as a single unit with the 90-sheet auto-feed tray and 7-gallon waste bin. Bags are not included and Dahle publishes no bag part number for this model; ordinary liners sized for a 7-gallon bin will do, or empty the bin directly. No oil is needed or supplied.

Who Should Buy This — and Who Should Not

Buy the SM 90 if one or two people need to destroy confidential paper regularly and would rather load a tray than feed sheets. It is the right size for a home office, a consulting room, a small practice, or an executive office where the alternative is carrying documents to a shared machine.

Do not buy it if your paper arrives in more than a tray at a time. At 6 ft/min the SM 90 is deliberately slow - the ShredMATIC SM 300 runs at 12 ft/min, takes 300 sheets in a lockable hopper and 14 in the manual slot, and holds 11 gallons instead of 7. Also skip this model if you need to destroy CDs or DVDs: Dahle lists optical media for the SM 300 but not the SM 90. And P-4 is a general commercial class - if a contract specifies P-5 or higher, this machine will not meet it.