Review (5/5): Tops In Its Price Range
I'm a repeat Norelco user. Having read some of the other reviewers' complaints of "excessive noise" and "soft" depth settings, and considering the somewhat vague description of the T980 Turbo, I was hesitant, but bought it anyway.
I'm happy to say the T980 is an improvement in every way over my old faithful trimmer (T970 maybe? I threw it away after a couple of days with this one). I'd used my old trimmer for over 3 years with no problems whatsoever. The old battery was weakening, and when I saw the Philips special promotion on Amazon, I decided it was time for an upgrade.
Here's the lowdown: Most important to folks wondering whether to upgrade- the T980 works EXACTLY like the old one; you can still pop the top off and do the edge trimming without adding any attachments; No. 3 and No. 2 depth on this one are the same as on the old one, etc.
As for noise, my old trimmer had no doubt gotten noisier over the years as the blades dulled or whatever, but with them side by side, the T980 was noticeably QUIETER right out of the box. On the "turbo screamer" setting, it was about even with the old one as far as pure decibels. Speaking of the turbo setting, it's a neat idea, but the vacuum on this one works so much better than the previous one on "normal," in practice I never even switch it to "turbo."
The depth adjustment on the T980 does have a slightly soft "click" right out of the box, but contrary to what I've read, it holds the setting at least as firmly as my old one. Plus, once I used it a few weeks, it loosened up and now "clicks" as definitively as the old one ever did.
If you're using an older Norelco trimmer similar to this one and have been pleased with it, I can recommend the upgrade to the T980 without hesitation.