Review (1/5): Purchase At Your Own Risk!
It's certainly not all that. I've had it a year and a half and the whisker tray already broke. If you empty it every day, it falls apart. If you don't empty it each day, whiskers end up all over the place, including inside the floppy, soft case that has trouble keeping its contents inside. Despite the vacuum action, whiskers collect in every nook and cranny. If you like your grooming aids sanitary, you'll have fun cleaning this thing (and, except the adjustable guide and whisker tray, you can't wash it in water)! Speaking of the adjustable guide, check the setting often, or you'll end up with a surprise...a much closer cut than you expected. The spring-loaded dial adjuster with "digital" read-out doesn't hold its settings as you press harder to get an even cut...it gets worse the more you use it. This is my second Norelco trimmer and the previous one did the same.
Conclusion: I wanted Braun-quality to match their stellar shavers (I'm on my third Braun shaver in twenty years of use), but they discontinued their beard trimmer. While the Norelco is certainly not in the same universe as Braun in quality, neither are they in price. The best thing I can say about this trimmer is that at least it's cheap to buy...a plastic throw-away you have to re-buy every year or two.
UPDATE: I called Norelco before the 2-year warrantee elapsed. Since the whisker tray broke in two pieces and the spring-loaded beard guide is on it's last leg (thin plastic holds in the "springs" and is very fragile), Norelco decided to replace the unit en toto. They said they'd send a new one out and that I should just put the old one back in the same box, apply the PP label they'll include and drop the whole enchilada in the mail. It's nearly two weeks, and I still haven't seen hide nor hair of the new shaver. Only time will tell if Norelco stands behind their product (and their promises).
UPDATE (3/11/09): Well, the replacement unit finally came, after three weeks and four phone callls. Apparently, the thing was on backorder, but nobody at Phillips/Norelco Customer Service bothered to disclose that fact, nor did they provide a tracking number. After my fourth call yesterday, they finally provided me a UPS tracking number which was moot as the package arrived when I returned home from work. So far, so good..at least it works and isn't falling apart. Unfortunately, I have no faith that this one will perform and hold-up any better than the first. At least I won't have to buy another until this one breaks.
Update (7/22/09): Well, only four months after receiving the new replacement trimmer, the whisker tray (aka "hair collection chamber") has fallen apart, just like it did on my original defective trimmer. The difference this time is that Norelco is hanging me out to dry and is refusing to do anything to repair/replace this poorly designed and manufactured product. They claim that because the warantee period is up on the ORIGINAL defective unit, that they can do nothing about the replacement unit they supplied, i.e., they won't stand behind the product even though any other new one has a TWO-Year warrantee. FYI, the original unit was bought from Amazon on 4/7/07. As such, I am downgrading the original 3-star rating to ONE-STAR and changing my review title from "It's Just OK" to reflect my true feelings about this product. As such, I will NEVER buy another Phillips-Norelco product again!