Review (1/5): Is there really a blade in this thing?
I'm sixty-four and have been using Norelco shavers all of my adult life. When I needed a new one, my wife wanted to get it for my birthday. I specified a Norelco Arcitec, mostly because its looks made it look light and handy, and I anticipated that I would get my usual Norelco shave.
Was I ever wrong. From day one, I had to check to be sure there were blades in this thing. It's like a kid's toy shaver--it buzzes and runs around over the stubble, but gets very little of it after several passes. I kid you not, I can go over the same spot 6-8 times and then test it with my finger tips and not notice any change. I generally shave during a one-hour commute. With the Arcitec, it takes me a half-hour to get the job done--and poorly. The Arcitec has a tiny capacity to hold shavings and when it fills up (half way through one shave) it shaves even worse. If I skip shaving for even one day, the Arcitec is essentially useless against my two-day stubble.
I have a really OLD Norelco Speedshaver that I bought at an estate sale as a backup. This thing was old when I bought it twenty years ago. The previous owner used it to shave her legs. It's a model number SC7830. It looks like a style from the 1940s or early 1950s. It doesn't even have an on-off switch. I have no idea how old the blades are in this thing but it shaves circles around my Arcitec. I now use it instead of my Arcitec, which I threw away. (And my wife complains that I never throw away anything.)
Edit: I just came back and read a couple of glowing reviews of this Norelco Arcitec shaver. One of them accused reviewers like me of being employed by the competition. Well, I'm not. Like I said, I've used Norelco shavers for 40+ years, and I most likely will again. After my experiences with this model, I think those who claim to love it must work for Norelco--or they have peach-fuzz for whiskers, maybe. I have to wonder if the Arcitec was designed by a Norelco employee who was about to quit and go to work for a Norelco competitor. This Norelco Arcitec was just a complete waste of money. I'm still using my backup Norelco Speedshaver from the 1940s or 1950s. It shaves. Maybe if you're very young and still have peach-fuzz whiskers, the Arcitec would work for you, I wouldn't know.