I worry about identity theft. So far I haven't been a victim, but you never know, because we're all at risk. And as careful as we are, exposure is sometimes not even our fault.
For instance, last year my credit union sent something in the mail. It was business as usual, sure, but they printed my account number and Social Security number on the outside of the envelope. (See Priority One Credit Union's Security Breach.)
I shred most everything, even those things that I'm not even sure are valuable to someone poking around my trash. And I have a neat, free service to do the shredding -- my father. Once a week or so, when we go over for dinner, I hand him a stack of papers He handles the rest with a shredder he bought at Staples for $50, the kind that hangs over the wastepaper basket.
Portability -- At a Cost
Last week Ziszor sent me a portable shredder to play around with. The thing's about 10 inches long, 2 inches wide, 2 inches thick, and weighs about a pound or so. It looks like one of those small hand-held scanners, uses four AA batteries, and costs $39.50.
Shred your receipts with the Ziszor
Overall, I'm not impressed. It's true that I could use it to shred a variety of documents like receipts, envelopes, and regular sheets of paper. But there are some limitations. For instance, the slot for shredding is only about 4 inches wide, so that means folding standard sheets of paper to fit. And while I could fold up to two sheets for shredding, the Ziszor really strained, enough so that I thought it would be quicker in the long run to shred no more than one at a time.
For fun, I watched my father shred a bunch of paper . There was no comparison -- my father's shredder wasthe speed demon. And yes, I know what you thinking (as is the company rep): The Ziszor is designed for portability and the convenience of keeping it on your desk for quick use. Sure, I'll make that concession. But my preference, especially with the amount of stuff that I need to shred, is a larger unit. Besides, my hand got awfully tired holding it over the trash can.
No More Consumables
One last thing: I'm really tired of products that try to hook me into buying consumables. I've put up with spending a bundle on inkjet cartridges for years, even though I feel ripped off. (I especially hate those Brother cartridges that leave a half-inch of ink at the bottom of the cartridge and tell me that I'm due for a new one. But that's a story for another time.)
So I think it's absurd that Ziszor tries to sell me small disposable plastic bags that attach to the bottom of the device (at $3.30 for 30 bags). The bags don't hold much, and they also to get caught up in the shredder's, well, shredders.
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