Review (2/5): Sometimes progress sucks
The Norelco T-980 price was not much more than the cost of replacing the battery in my 10-year old Norelco Maverick T-3000 and I was excited about the addition of a vacuum feature. Be careful what you wish for! The vacuum does its job and sink cleanup is definitely faster. But the vacuum feature tends to obscure your view of the blade edge making it much trickier to aim the thing at your beard's edge while looking in the mirror. The vacuum must be emptied by using thumb pleasure to disengage one side of a rather flimsy, curved compartment cover that swings open on a hinge that looks so weak that I'm afraid it's just a matter of time before I accidentally break either the hinge or snap the cover in half. Equally delicate-feeling are the two sliding, plastic prongs used to hold the primary blade in place. Yet it must be removed each time one wants to use the smaller, more accurate trimming blade. And of course the trimming blade uses similar prongs to hold it in place. My older T-3000 had a self-contained trimming blade that slid forward with a simple thumb push whenever needed and then retracted just as easily. The T-980 is larger around and heavier than the older unit... enough so that I really miss the sense of control and precision I was used to. In short, the T-980 feels clumsier, less maneuverable, and less accurate. It takes longer to complete the job due to the hassle of changing the regular blade and the trimming blade. And it really tries my patience having to be so careful not to beak one of those delicate, sliding, plastic prongs or the vacuum-compartment cover. I'm really tempted to pay the $30 it will cost to restore my old T-3000.