Las Vegas – With a name sounding like it was cooked up by Dr. Doofenshmirtz, the E-Nihilator is one a physical security device I’d love to have around the house if I had an extra $20,000. Being shown at Interop (News - Alert), the E-Nihilator is the monster truck of shredders, able to physically destroy everything from wimpy CDs and DVDs all the way up to mangling 5.25 inch computer hard drives. Be still, my Mythbuster-loving heart!

More seriously, the E-Nihilator ENP-1 hard drive shredder is a simple, affordable solution compared to the $35,000 products out on the market, according to eWaste Center Vice President James Roh.

“It’s just got two moving parts,” Roh said. “The blades and 3 horsepower motor.” The ENP-1 s mounted on heavy duty casters, so it can easily be moved around an office environment. It is capable of eating up to seven laptop-size 3.5 inch hard drives per minute, with larger 5.25 inch drives taking about 20 to 30 seconds “depending on how many plates there are.”

A hard drive or other soon-to-be-mangled-beyond-recognition storage device goes into the top and you watch it get eaten by the heavy-duty sawtooth hooked cutters into a bunch of scrap metal parts. Counters on the front keep track of shredding and it is rated to destroy up to 250 hard drives per hour. A storage bin is secured with a key lock to prevent anyone from accessing/stealing shredded material, but you’d have to be extremely hard core to try to put together a disk drive from a bunch of small mangled metal bits.

The ENP-1 needs a 220v socket to plug it in for the fun to begin. There’s also an emergency shutoff switch and the front and back panels are secured with key latches to keep out anyone but authorized maintenance people.

Warranty on this wonderful device of destruction is 90 days for everything except the blades. “We don’t know how long or what type of use people will put them through,” Roh said. “The blades themselves are designed to be easily replaced and there’s a video that comes with the ENP-1 to illustrate the procedure.

Who wants to buy this baby, er device? Roh says his initial customers are local governments, insurance agencies, and banks, but manufacturer Waste Revolution (News - Alert) is talking with retail chains to put a credit card reader on the front so customers can scrap their own hard drives with a swipe of plastic.