I think the year 2000 was the biggest year for Comdex and it will never have that large a crowd ever again. We had 220,000 people that year and I just don't think it will ever be that big again. I could be wrong— you never know— but these are my thoughts. I'll let you know if I think differently after I come back from this year's Comdex.

This year, like all the years I go to Comdex, I will be looking on behalf of my own business and my clients for answers to questions I have. I get the opportunity to ask, and hopefully have the questions answered there on the Comdex floor. Microsoft sometimes brings out technical people who work on server technology, including the operating system and Exchange servers. I always have solutions I am looking for and I come armed with a sheet of questions to ask.

On the other side, I am there for the user group as well. I am always looking for new technology that I can bring back to Sacramento to let you, the members, see what I saw on the Comdex floor. I will be looking for new technology as well as solutions that are needed in the industry, like anti-virus software. Of course, since I am armed with my calendar as well, I am always looking for opportunities to book vendors to come do a presentation to our group. Hopefully, I will come back with a list of speakers for the next six months.

Whenever I register for Comdex, I start getting tons of mail, both electronically and snail, from vendors and exhibitors trying to sway me to look at their products. I shred tons of snail mail and documents through my shredder. For years we had a class 2 shredder that strip-cuts all the paper into a wastebasket. It is the kind that sits on top of a trash can. I found out that most shredders were class 2 and they only cut the paper into long strips. So I tried to see if I could paste a shredded sheet back together. It worked. It was fairly easy to find all the pieces to put together and at least find important numbers that I intended to obliterate.

I was never happy with it and I set out to look for a real shredder, at least a class 3 with cross-cut capabilities. I looked at the cost of a class 3 shredder, compared the prices to all the models out there, and found that most were quite a bit more expensive than the cheaper strip-cut class 2 models. I found one that was in my price range that did more than most shredders and was reasonable. It not only processed 15 sheets at once, but it also did CDs and credit cards. It is an Aurora model AS1512X and lists for $350.00. So, I made the purchase and am now happy with the results.

There are a few things to know about when purchasing a shredder. Never put anything like envelopes or stamps through your shredder because the glue from the sticky side transfers onto the rollers and gums up the shredder. Also, a class 3 cross-cut shredder cuts the paper into a 1/8-inch wide piece of paper, and its length is about 1 1/8 inches. It is really impossible to put all these pieces together and I did not even try to do it. It handles multiple pages at a time very well and it did my CDs as well.

So if you are in the market to get a shredder, I seriously would recommend a class 3 model. Look for one that specifically mentions it can chew up credit cards.

I'll come back with toys from Comdex!