Powershred LX220 Cross-Cut Shredder (White)

This is the white LX220, the largest machine in Fellowes' LX range and mechanically identical to the black 5015401. Twenty sheets a pass, thirty minutes of running, an 8-gallon bin and a fine 4 by 12 mm particle.

Of the six LX listings — three models, two colours each — this is the one to pick if you expect the machine to be used by more than one person. It is the only model in the range where the bin was enlarged along with the duty cycle, which is what keeps a longer session from turning into a series of trips to the waste point.

Key Features

• White finish — the same machine as the black 5015401.
• Thirty minutes of continuous running, with a 15-minute cool-down if exceeded.
• Twenty sheets per pass on 20 lb paper at DIN 66399 P-4.
• Eight-gallon pull-out bin, the largest in the LX range.
• Fine 5/32 x 1/2 in cut (4 x 12 mm, about 48 mm²).
• Nine-inch (230 mm) paper entry.
• Shreds paper, credit cards, staples, paper clips and unopened junk mail.
• 23.25 x 11.75 x 16.50 in, 34.2 lb, 120 V, 60 Hz, 5.8 A.

A word on the term micro-cut. Fellowes markets the LX200, LX210 and LX220 as micro-cut shredders, and the cut is genuinely fine at 4 by 12 mm. Under DIN 66399, though, micro-cut begins at P-5 and a particle ceiling of 30 mm²; 4 by 12 mm is about 48 mm², which is P-4. Both statements are true in their own terms, but if a policy names micro-cut and means P-5, none of the LX models will satisfy it. We classify by the standard so the machine files correctly.

It will not shred CDs or DVDs. Fellowes' manual for the LX200, LX210 and LX220 excludes optical media explicitly, along with adhesive labels, continuous form paper, transparencies, newspaper, cardboard, laminates, file folders, X-rays and plastics other than credit cards. That is a real limitation of the LX range and it is worth checking against your waste stream before you buy: several cheaper cross-cut machines do take discs, and none of these three do.

Specifications

Sheet ratings are Fellowes' figures for 8.5 x 11 in, 20 lb paper at rated voltage. Fellowes describes the acoustic design as quiet operation but publishes no decibel value for the LX range, so no noise row is shown.

What's in the Box

Shredder with 8-gallon pull-out bin and power cord. Fellowes specifies its own non-aerosol vegetable-based shredder oil, part 35250, applied each time the waste bin is emptied. Aerosol lubricants must never be used in a shredder.

Who Should Buy This — and Who Should Not

Buy the white LX220 for a small office or a shared home workspace where the shredder stands in view and gets used by more than one person. It is the best-balanced machine in the LX range: capacity, duty cycle and bin size all move up together rather than one at a time.

Do not buy it if a department will feed it continuously. Thirty minutes is a cycle, not continuous duty, and the Powershred 125Ci is the right class of machine for that. Do not buy it if optical media has to be destroyed — the LX models do not accept CDs or DVDs. And if a policy names P-5 micro-cut in the DIN sense, this is a P-4 machine and the Microshred 225Mi is the correct answer.