Amazon Basics Paper Shredder

I did a lot of research on finding the perfect shredder for our home office. We had a version from Amazon that was great since 2020 and it was a work horse. It sadly perished and for the last week, I have read so many online reviews that my eyes hurt. I spent more time than needed but sometimes I go into the rabbit hole easily. So, we finally selected this and when it arrived I was super excited because I was backlogged with itema needing shredded. Out of the box, I knew something was up because my older, less expensive version just had 2 pieces and this had 3. Not a huge deal but it caught me off guard and it was much heavier than my original one. The plastic pieces that hold the base together felt flimsy but it locked into place without much effort. I began to shred and the pace at which it took the paper and shredded one page was so much slower than my old shredder. They are both 8 sheet however my older model is cross cut and this is micro. Perhaps that is why it was so much slower. I did another test where I race the shredder and insert one page at a time from a stack and with my old version, if I had to lick my finger to grasp the paper to seperate it from a stack, I lost. I would NEVER lose with this machine and actually had to stop because I was wasting my time sitting there waiting. It is going back. We wanted this because it was 8 sheets and had a cd shredder but I don't have the time to wait. Also, it stopped 3 times due to the overheating function and the waste basket, while technically a little bigger than my old model, stops if it gets close to being full. So I had to empty the wastebasket several times more than I would have with the old shredder. Add in the downtime for overheating and cool down and a 45 min project would have taken 3 hours if I continued. So, it is going back and I am getting the same one that I had before. It is an 8 sheet Amazon Basics 8 sheet cross-cut and credit card shredder which is on sale for 37.00 (Aug 2024). It is fast, reliable and doesn't need emptied every 100 sheets or less. This is a perfect example that proves just because something is more expensive, doesn't mean it is better quality. In this case, less costly turns out to be the best. Returning this item ASAP. BTW, i can cut my cds with scissors and don't need the cd shredder. It just isn't worth the headache for the slow pace of the micro cut paper shredder. Update: i forgot to mention that the top of the shredder must be assembled to the body and trash bin. BE CAREFUL.....the plastic pieces that join them are thin. Thankfully, mine snapped into place with little effort but it is something to ensure you are careful with. I am trying to disassemble mine to return and there are no instructions to do this and the AI chatbot with Amazon even says to do so could run the risk of breaking it, which then voids your warranty, etc. Since this cannot be taken to Whole Foods to return, you ship it back via UPS (Amazon provides the qr code/label). Since it arrives disassembled, it won't fit in the box when you return it. So, plan on buying bubble wrap to ensure it ships safely.