Review: Staples 8-Sheet Cross-Cut Shredder

Wanted my own shredder way back when, didn't really care about quality, so I bought one of the cheapest ones that I could find.

Staples 8-Sheet Cross-Cut Shredder turned on

Configuration
x1 - Staples 8-Sheet Cross-Cut Shredder, model SPL-TXC82A: ~CA$ 60 in 2016

Paid: CA$ 40 back around 2013

Video
Overview: Staples 8-Sheet Cross-Cut Shredder, SPL-TXC82A

Assembly
Bought this Staples shredder a couple years ago, got it shipped to my home. I don't remember how it was packed or what the packaging looked like, but I don't remember any major issues. While using it for clearing a large backlog of shredding recently, I didn't have much trouble with it. The unit appeared to consist of two parts: the head with the cutter and a hollow plastic bucket with a small clear window.

Staples 8-Sheet Cross-Cut Shredder head unit underside

Stability
I haven't had trouble with it tipping over in a light breeze?

How was it?
For about three years, this Staples SPL-TXC82A shredder was used as a very light-duty unit for junk mail and confidential documents every so often. I only had to clear the bin every few months, maybe even only once or twice a year.

Recently, I was clearing out a lot of old stuff and had to get through over a thousand pages of shredding. This Staples unit was not the best candidate for the job and I ended up getting a second one from Amazon Basics. The problem was that the Staples unit was supposedly rated for only two minutes of continuous shredding and 30 minutes of rest according to the product page on Staples.ca. Unfortunately, the manual and documentation were thrown out a while ago. My unit was from 2013 but it looked like the same thing on the website product page, and the model numbers matched up.

A couple hours in with roughly four minutes of shredding per hour resulted in only a few hundred pages taken care of. It wasn't the shredder's fault. The unit worked fine as a very lightly used unit for years, but I realized that some extra flexibility wouldn't be a bad idea.

Staples SPL-TXC82A model number on underside

I regularly fed this machine around four "standard: laser/copier pages without issue. However, the few times I tried to go up to the 8-sheet limit, the motor didn't sound very happy. It did jam a few times and I managed to clear it by using the reverse button. Staples and paper clips were usually removed before shredding. There were a few times that I missed a staple and I don't remember any major issues.

Conclusion
For light usage just to take care of a few documents a week, the Staples SPL-TXC82A shredder served me well for years. Trying to clear a large backlog showed this unit's limits though. Not bad for what I paid years ago (CA$ 40), but for a bit more, I managed to get a better rated unit from Amazon Basics recently.