Powershred LX45 Cross Cut Shredder

The Fellowes Powershred LX45 is a compact P-4 cross-cut shredder that takes 8 sheets of 20 lb paper per pass through a full 9 in entry and drops the shred into a 4.4-gallon bin. Weighing 10.43 lb, it is built for a household or a single desk that deals with personal paperwork a little at a time.

Powershred LX45 at a glance

• DIN 66399 P-4, particle about 4 x 37 mm (148 mm²)
• 8 sheets per pass, fed at about 12 ft/min
• Runs 6 minutes, then rests 20 minutes
• Safety Lock to prevent accidental starts
• Accepts credit cards, junk mail, staples and paper clips

Small cabinet, full-width entry

Many compact shredders narrow the entry to save space, which forces you to fold letters and halves what you can feed. The LX45 keeps a 9 in opening, so letter, legal and A4 pages go straight in. The cabinet itself is small enough to slide into a cupboard between uses.

Speed is a strength for its size. Fellowes quotes about 12 ft/min, which it equates to roughly 96 sheets a minute, quicker than the larger LX65. When you are feeding a few sheets at a time, that pace is more noticeable than the sheet count.

Duty cycle and safety on the LX45

Plan around the run time: 6 minutes of shredding followed by 20 minutes of rest. That is plenty for the day's mail or a folder of old statements, but a full filing drawer will turn into an afternoon of waiting. Auto start/stop, automatic reverse when a jam starts and a manual reverse button help with everyday feeding. The patented Safety Lock disables the machine entirely, which is a sensible feature in a home with children.

Fellowes covers the machine for 1 year and the cutters for 5 years. Oil it with Fellowes non-aerosol oil, part 35250, whenever you empty the bin, and never use an aerosol lubricant. No decibel figure is published; Fellowes simply describes it as quiet.

Powershred LX45 specifications

LX45, LX65 or LX200?

• Powershred LX65: 10 sheets per pass, a 6-gallon bin and SafeSense hand-contact protection, but slower at about 7 ft/min and with the same 6-minute run and 20-minute rest.
• Powershred LX200: 12 sheets, a 6-gallon bin, a 10-minute run time and a much finer 4 x 12 mm particle of about 48 mm².

Is the LX45 right for you?

It is a good fit for a household or one person who shreds statements, receipts and mail as they arrive and wants proper P-4 security in a light, easily stored machine. It is not an office shredder: the short run time and 4.4-gallon bin will hold back anyone with a backlog. It cannot take CDs or DVDs, and no LX model meets a P-5 requirement.