Review (5/5): Great shaves, great design, durable, and affordable
I've owned one for two years. It still has the original blades and they shave very closely. My face feels soft, smooth, and nice. It looks great too.
The key is to take my time. It's easy to feel the skin with my free hand to know which areas need more shaving. Gliding the cutters in several directions over the same area works very well. A good shave takes about 7 minutes.
The product's design is beautiful. It's comfortable to hold and move around. It's a lot lighter than a rechargeable model so there's no chance of it tiring my arm.
I tap out the stubble every 3 or 4 days. I disassemble the head and brush out the stubble every 2 weeks. I clean the cutters and heads with rubbing alcohol every 2 or 3 months. They show no signs of dulling. I bought replacement cutters a year ago, but haven't had any reason to discard the originals. They still work well even if I let the stubble build up inside the shaver for 5 days.
The tip of another reviewer was good: Don't use and wear out the power switch. Just leave it on and plug and unplug the cord. I followed the advice with no problems. The machine is powerful and reliable. The coiled cord is short, but stretches out with use. I use the shaver 4 feet from the outlet. The cord still coils up nicely when not in use and limits counter top cable clutter.
The cord pulls out from the shaver sometimes, but it's easy to hold it in place when shaving and stretching the cord all the way. A very minor inconvenience.
I bought this simple model because it was the cheapest and expected it to last 18 months. It was also the only corded shaver I could find. Much to my delight, it has kept working like new far beyond my expectations.
I'll be a rotary shaver user for the rest of my life. Every other shaver I've owned became useless and dangerous when a single hole appeared in the foil, but I don't think that could happen with Norelco's well engineered heads. The metal is stronger and thicker than foils. It is much more mechanically efficient to have the blades moving in one direction the whole time compared to vibrating back and forth. It probably saves electricity too. It's certainly quieter than buzzing foil shavers.
Norelco deserves a lot of credit for designing, manufacturing, and selling such a great product.