The fastest growing crime today, which is affecting millions of people, is identity theft. To combat this, home paper shredders have become valuable instruments. There are different types of shredders such as manual and automatic, and a variety of sizes and cutting ways. Let us have a look at the varieties obtainable.

The hand operated desktop shredders are the most basic and least expensive model. If you do not have many documents holding private information that need protection, and you are requiring a desktop solution, this is the one for you. It is a plain device that works through a hand held crank which advances paper through cutter blades. Some types can cut credit cards and CDs as well.

Automatic shredders , equipped with features for ease of operation and safety is a stepforward. A handy feature is a start/stop sensing element that detects the presence or absence of the paper and therefore starts or stops the machine. nearly all shredders also come with a buzzer and alert lamp to point a paper jam. This may be quite frequent if big quantities of paper are shredded at once. Another feature is to allow a backward switch to reverse the motor when a jam does happen.

With innovation, more features for easy operation keep getting added. Some of such features are racks to place bags to collect waste for easy disposal and expandable and adjustable basket sides to hold differing quantities of waste.

The volume of material to be shredded and the frequency of use will verify the size and capability of the shredder that you will need. For the home user, 400 to 1000 sheets per day may be the capability required. All shredders are ranked according to capability and these are just a rough estimates to help you determine the type of shredder to choose.

The capacity of shredders is indicated by shred size, horse-power, sheet capacity, waste volume in gallons and feed width. The rule of thumb is that the more confidential your data, then the smaller the shred width. Shred size of 1/4 is adequate for most high security shredding , though 1/8 is frequently needed for very sensitive documents. All this information is usually printed the packing material of the shredder.

The more advanced paper shredders were in the beginning used for business use, but today are used in homes too. Additional features such as shredding folded paper and heavier stacked paper, envelopes, CDs and also heavy gauge paper clips also found use in some segments of home shredder users.

A great variety of shredders are now available that can protect you from theft of identity. By learning your precise requirements and shopping wisely, you may find the right machine.