Will it outperform my 7 year old Norelco?
I am generally happy with my new Norelco 7180XL, it is nice to have a new shaver, it is amazingly quiet, and gives a close and quick shave.<br /><br />But I feel that Norelco needs to improve both their instruction manual, and their customer support.  Neither of these were in tune with my first experience with the 7180XL, as far as initial charging, and what the green charging light and red low battery light were doing.<br /><br />The manual calls for a 12 hour initial charge before using the shaver.  When fully charged, the green light is supposed to blink.  Well, on my initial charge, the light started blinking after 30 minutes.  I did continue the charge for 12 hours anyway, the green light blinking the whole time.<br /><br />I called Norelco support, and was informed the manual was not correct, and that I had not damaged my shaver by completing the 12 hour charge.  But no further explanation.<br /><br />Then I started using the shaver, and after just 2 shaves, the red low battery light came on.  I went back to the Norelco website, and found a page on charging that said if the shaver did that, you should use it until the motor stops.  They omit the obvious next step of charging it in these instructions, but say you will have no problem with the red light coming on too soon after following their directions.<br /><br />Well, I have done that, and it remains to be seen if my new Norelco will eventually sort itself out and work right.<br /><br />I must say I have my doubts after this initial experience, that it will last as long as my 7 year old model 5841XL did.  I've used Norelco shavers for about 40 years, and never had any problems like this.
Rating: 4 stars