Shred Pattern: Still Important

You are looking for a shredder that can handle compact discs, which is a great move. You will still have to make a decision, however, regarding the type of shred pattern you get when you are just shredding normal paper documents. There are a few manufacturers that only include the ability to shred CD's with their strip cut machines, and while the added functionality is nice, you should be aware that you are getting a lower security level when you use a strip cut shredder.

Strip cut shredding leaves your confidential documents in (you guessed it) long, straight strips, which can, it stands to reason, be more easily pieced together by anyone who had a mind to do so. For that reason, it is usually more recommended that you purchase a shredder that shreds paper into a cross cut pattern. A cross cut shredder leaves documents looking like tiny pieces of confetti, and is a much more secure method of discarding confidential documents than strip cut shredding.

Long story short, though the ability to shred CD's is a great addition to your security arsenal, you should think long and hard before you sacrifice general document security for the ability to shred compact discs. There are plenty of machines that are able to do both cross cut and multi media, and you should seriously consider taking the time to find one.

Capacity

Due to the inherent limitation in most shredder motors, it is pretty unlikely that you will find an office machine that can shred compact discs all day every day, but that is to be expected. You can still find machines out there that are able to give you decent sheet capacity and run time along with the ability to shred compact discs. A good way to find out what the capacity is of a particular machine you are investigating is to go to the company website and see if you can download the manual for the product in question.

Different manufacturers have different methods for providing the extra power that is needed to shred CD's, and naturally the cutting heads take a bit more of a beating when they are being shredded on a regular basis. To that end, you may want to take a look at the warranty offered by the each of the manufacturers on these particular machines to see which will best suit your needs.

Safety

Each manufacturer of a multimedia shredder also has their own safety measures. Some offer plastic guards at the opening that both keep fingers out of the slot, and keep shards of shredded plastic from flying out of the opening when CD's are being put through the machine. You should take a look around and see what you feel will work best for you.