HSM shredstar S25 1/4 inch plus separate CD cutting unit - HSM1031w

The HSM shredstar S25 exists for one reason: raw paper throughput at the lowest cost per sheet in the shredstar line. It takes 25 sheets of 80 g/m2 paper in a single pass — more than any other machine in this batch, including the models that cost more — and it does that by cutting 1/4 inch strips at DIN P-2 rather than particles. It sits in the larger shredstar office chassis, 15.35 x 11.81 x 23.43 inches on castors, with a 6.9 gallon bin and a separate CD cutting unit on top. If your problem is volume of non-sensitive paper, this is the answer; if your problem is confidentiality, it is not.

Key Features

• 25-sheet pass at 80 g/m2. The highest single-pass rating in the shredstar range. US 20 lb bond copy paper is about 75 g/m2, marginally lighter than the test standard, so you should meet the rating in normal use rather than fall short of it.
• 395 W motor. The same power rating as the 18-sheet X20, driving a strip head instead of a particle head. Strip cutting takes less torque per sheet, which is where the extra capacity comes from.
• Separate CD cutting unit. Discs and plastic cards go into a dedicated slot with a dedicated cutter and a separate collection container, so optical media waste stays sorted from paper and never touches the paper cutting head.
• 6.9 gallon bin on castors. Rated at approximately 185 sheets of strip waste. The whole machine rolls, so emptying means wheeling it to the bin rather than carrying a full container across the office.
• Automatic reverse and light-barrier start. The motor starts when paper breaks the light barrier and reverses out of an overfeed rather than stalling.
• LED status panel. Reports power, overload, overheat, bin full and door open, so a stopped machine tells you why it stopped.

Specifications

Specifications taken from HSM's published technical data for article number 1031123. HSM does not publish warranty terms on the datasheet for this article, so no warranty figure is stated here.

What's in the Box

HSM does not publish a packing list for the S25. The datasheet confirms the machine, its 6.9 gallon pull-out waste container, the separate CD cutting unit with its own collection container, and castors. Shredder bags and oil are not listed as included.

Who Should Buy This — and Who Should Not

Buy the S25 if you shred a lot of paper that is boring rather than confidential: catalogues, misprints, old marketing collateral, internal drafts, packing paperwork. Twenty-five sheets a pass means you can feed it a stapled report without splitting it, and the 185-sheet bin plus castors makes it tolerable to share between a few people.

Do not buy it if the paper contains names, account numbers, medical detail or anything else you would not post on a noticeboard. P-2 is a low security class and the strips are legible. The direct alternative in the same chassis, on the same castors, with the same 6.9 gallon bin, is the shredstar X20: it drops to 18 sheets a pass but cuts P-4 particles at 5/32 x 1 7/16 inch. If you need P-5, the shredstar X12pro is the same chassis again at 12 sheets.

Also note the bin rating is lower than it looks. At 6.9 gallons the S25 holds about 185 sheets of strip waste, while the identically sized X17 and X20 bins hold about 325 sheets of particle waste. Strips are bulky and do not compact. If emptying frequency is your real complaint, a particle-cut machine in the same chassis will actually go longer between trips to the recycling bin.