Electric Shavers: Design/function vs. performance

[Existential Angst]

Yeah, electric razor weenie over here...... And a Norelco Weenie, at dat, altho not without some considerable misgivings.

Always thought the Norelco design was flat out the most logical, direct, best. Circular always better than reciprocating right? Hmmmm, but mebbe it's time to try a Braun or sumpn....

One of my Norelco's is over 30 years old. Not much left of it, but it still goes. And in fact it's essentially BETTER than my modernized versions, one of which had one of the cutters actually eat *thru* the screen already, after, what, mebbe 1 hr accrued use???!!!! Heh, still use that one, as well, albeit carefully.....

ALL of them are now patch jobs, one of which is just stripped to the motor, with a 5V walwart for power. That was the rechargeable, with non-removeable NiCads.... thankyouNorelco..... ergo the strip job.

So not really impressed with much about them, just can't get myself to go reciprocating, but mebbe it's time.

Worse than the norelco's is the HF rotary.... holy shit, it was free, and even THEN not worth it....

I spose I could test these in Macy's or sumpn, right?? But I have trouble eating in pubic, much less shaving in pubic. Heh, still have nightmares about sleepaway camp.... goodgawd..... Lately, I do most of my shaving in le car/truck -- ticketable offense? Proly, w/ my luck...

Mebbe I should just get waxed?? All over??

So what's the take of others on design/function vs. actual shaving performance? Shoulda axed this before Xmas, I spose, eh??

[EXT]

For the rest of the world, Norelco is a Philips Philishave shaver. It seems that Philco Radio held the copyrights to the Philips name for electrical goods. Long bankrupt, Philco is now out of the picture, but Philips still uses Norelco in the US.

[Dean Hoffman]

Cut rest due to quotation limits.

Consumer Reports last tested these in December 2009. For what it's worth:

Rotaries:

1. Philips Norelco SensoTouch 3D 1250X 0 2. Philips Norelco SensoTouch 3D 1250XCC 0

Foil

1. Braun Series 7 790cc-4 Shaver System 0 2. Braun Series 7 Shaver 720s-4 0 3. Braun Series 7 Shaver System 760cc-4 0 4. Panasonic Nanotech ES8103s 0 5. Panasonic Vortex ES8109S 0 6. Panasonic Arc4 Multi-Flex ES-LA63-s 0 7. Panasonic ES-LA93-K 0 (really) 8. Remington Pivot and Flex Foil F-5790 This one is rated as a Best Buy. 9. Remington Power Clean F-5790CS

CR says all these razors come with a 30 day money back trial period.

[Home Guy]

Is it one of these?

[mike]

I'm in the same position as you. I keep patching up the Norelco's. A few years ago, there was a big sign at the local store for Braun. "If you don't like it bring it back." And it was on sale.

I bought one and used it for the 30 days. They got it back.

I can't imagine any store would let you test drive it there. And you wouldn't want to if they did. I don't need herpes from the previous tester, thank you.

Walk into any Macy's or similar store. There are women lined up to get a "touch up" from the makeup station. I can't imagine how infested those brushes and powders and...are.

[Existential Angst]

Holy shit.... mebbe I'll try to get that HF jobby going.... LOL

Mebbe January will have some sales. I"d try a CR best buy.

Looking up that remington f5790, I found a remington "flex 360 pivot" rotary:, the R4100, $40... !!!

|SearchResults|RICHREL&grView=&eventRootCatId=&currentTabCatId=&regId= $200+++ for a razor is ridiculous..... I"d get waxed first.

[Doug]

When I was young I got a Braun for a gift. I used it for maybe a couple of weeks and went back to a razor. Never tried another electric razor since. I remember I didn't think it was close enough for my taste. .

[PrecisionmachinisT]

I use a double edge safety razor, basically the same as my Grandfather did.....last I checked, the blades cost a few pennys each.

[Mouse]

I've got a Braun, works OK but sucks if you don't shave every day, it has a problem biting longer whiskers.

[Gunner]

Ive been a blade user for 40 yrs..and these days I keep a Remington triple header in my truck. It works very well, even on 2-4 days growth and the battery never seems to die. Its a very nice shaver!

I picked up 5 various shavers from an Estate sale for $5 and sold 2 of them, kept a NOS antique around in the curio cabinet. and the other Remington sits on the sink in my bathroom.

I was utterly surprised how well it works.

Gunner

The methodology of the left has always been:

1. Lie
2. Repeat the lie as many times as possible
3. Have as many people repeat the lie as often as possible
4. Eventually, the uninformed believe the lie
5. The lie will then be made into some form oflaw
6. Then everyone must conform to the lie

[Wes Groleau]

My take on shaving, from having tried all kinds, electric and non-electric, in the forty-some years since I first had something shaveable, is that the ads for ALL of them are lies.

I finally just let it grow.

[Wes Groleau]

And the least sucky electric I tried was a $19 Wahl.

[Existential Angst]

$68.

Poor reviews tho:

The $40 Remington I cited above got excellent reviews.

[Ashton Crusher]

In my experience the Remington MS-100, MS-200 style were the best. Two foil head with two position pop up trimmer. They don't make em anymore. A very simple design and they often were on sale for $25 or less. More expensive versions using the same heads were upwards of $70. But like I said, they seem to be discontinued. Still, I'd look first at Remington Dual foil razors. I tried several of the others and none were as good. Caveat - your face and beard may vary and it may not be the best for you. That's the problem with CR for something like this. It's a starting point I suppose but what they rate as the best razors didn't work well for me.

[Ashton Crusher]

My remington does as good as a multi blade razor. Both do fine for me but the remington is more convenient. DSFDF.

[Paul Franklin]

Used to shave with a bladed razor but got tired of always looking like I was in a fight...just can't manage to shave my bumpy chin without bloodshed....so...

I used norelco rotary shavers for years...worked fine, but never got all that close a shave. I have a thick and heavy beard growth in places.

Picked up a top end braun maybe 10 years ago and loved it, until they changed the blade design. The original design was many finely sharpened cutting edges on each of the two blades cartridges. They changed it to wider spacing and, it seemed to me, less finely sharpened. Seemed cheaper and flimsier, and didn't work nearly as well. I found I had to change blade cartridges every six months and they were pricey! With the original blade design I could go at least a year without replacement.

Switched to a panasonic (One of the models with the self cleaning tank thing). The blades are more like the orginal braun. Gives a very nice shave. It's best to shave every day, but does well even when I skip a day (or two), which I tend to do pretty often. Change the blade and foil about once a year. I like the convenience of the self cleaning stand, but the cleaning cartridges are pricey too and it seems to work just as well to snap off the foil and rinse it well after use and let it air dry. If I skip a day or two the longer trimmings clog up the blade and make it harder to clean though.

I do find that using pre-shave lotion (Lectric-shave) helps me get a better shave with less razor burn. It does tend to make the trimmings sticky and thus harder to clean. Both the braun and panasonice instructions say not to use a pre-shave, probably because of the cleaning issue. Getting the trimmings out of the inside of the blade cartridges sometimes requires a little brush.

I may just go back to rotary when the panasonic dies. The cost of the braun and panasonic blades and foils and the cleaning cartridges really add up (on purpose, I'm sure) and buys you some convenience but not a much better shave.

HTH,

Paul F.

[krw]

I let mine grow 20 years ago, though I trim it weekdays.

I just threw away a $30ish Wahl that I used for five years. It was quite good, if a little underpowered. I replaced it with a Braun, I think, which has a *lot* of power (LiIon) but the straight head is rusting. I doubt it'll last a year before it's too gross to use.

[Stanley Schaefer]

Yup, got one in the newspaper one time, closest shave I've ever had. Cartridges last maybe 6-8 weeks for me. Kind of spendy compared with the double-edge razor I was using, but those blades are impossible to find now, nobody carries good ones. The Fusion does a better job anyway.

For electric, I had some inherited Norelcos that were direct AC, too old for rechargeables. Did an OK job in college. Had to sharpen the cutters several times since available replacements sucked for shaving, also were expensive. The things were made to be serviced, had real bearings in the motors and actual lube points. Tried one of the Panasonic wet/dry rechargeables, was a reciprocating type. Not bad, but nothing great, either. Went back to the old double-edge razor for a good shave in the shower until the Fusion came by. You CAN scalp your face with the Fusion, but you really have to work at it.

Stan

[makolber]

I bought a Norelco rotary on eBay and when it arrived I found I ACcidently = bought a Corded razor instead of cordless. It turned out to be a good mist= ake. No more fussing with the charger and batteries ,and the AC outlet is = always right there. The corded razor always has plenty of power and is act= ually lessweight to Carry when traveling. =20 Mark

[David Lesher]

I too have a old Norelco 3-header, a Rototract 1602. It goes back to 1970. It failed this summer; I think brushes. But I also broke the wirespring that pivots the head & that I can't fix, so I have not bought new brushes.

I wanted a new battery-less one because any rechargable unit will be dead in a few years. It was the last model I could find, and was $70. It felt like a toy, and I was never happy with it. It felt like a toy vs. the solid 1602. To their credit, Norelco-Philips did honor their 30-day money back guarantee.

I found a dual-head Norelco 600RX at a hamfest for $2.00, and put new NiCads into it; it now gets daily use. A friend gave me his old 3-header also with dead NiCads, but they have leaked and damaged the PCB somewhere. I may give it the wallwart gut treatment.

And I have a Braun that is my traveling shaver. I love it but agree it can not handle anything longer than a day's worth.