Tender face from bad burns, I started shaving what little showed up with a Norelco electric shaver like my Dad's. Doctor had said my beard might be affected (I was 13 when it happened). Never have tried scraping a blade over my skin. Have worn out a number of Norelcos over the years; the earlier ones were superior, IMO. When I went to Europe in 1972, I took along a little "buzz box" I had built to allow my 120-volt shaver to work over there on 220 volts; it did! Without explaining Norelco's changes over the years, suffice to say I am appalled by today's new shaver prices! Top of the line, well over a hundred bucks. Plus, the cost of replacement cutters has risen similarly. Not here to advertise, but today I received a big surprise in the mail. I ordered a rechargeable rotary shaver from one of those places that pushes "gifts". The illustration resembled Norelco very closely. The price was $19.99 for TWO of them! Here's what I got: There is an attachment with clippers (built-in on Norelcos), and a tiny rotary trimmer, (use it where you will, I have aggravating tickely nose-hair), charger, nice carrying case. TEN BUCKS! Here are the 3 main parts: Here are my old Norelco rechargeable cordless and the new guy: Quality appearance-wise is mighty good, of this new piece, MADE IN CHINA! Of course. I ran it as soon as I opened the box; came fully-charged. Sounded very similar to Norelco, cutter heads similar in design, maybe improved upon, I'll decide that later. Proof will be in the "puddin". Is there a lesson to be considered here? China's economy has boomed. Ours, well.........yeah, the Norelco is European, but maybe made here nowadays by the parent company, I don't know. Consider: Norelco replacement cutter heads: $35. New thingy: $10 dollar throwaway. Norelco will NOT RUN while charger plugged in; new one does; this suggests ability to work if battery has inadvertently not been recharged. If this baby works as well as the Norelco, I'll order 2 more, not knowing anything about life expectancy of the product, but knowing full-well: I'll croak before I wear them all out! Frank
I think that China does a lot of “cloning” of our expensive products. I have a Vitamix blender that my daughter bought for me, and they sell for around $400 new. I have seen the Chinese version of the Vitamix and they sell for under $150, a huge difference in price. From what I have read, the Chinese can buy the same parts that are used for a vitamix motor, and then they assemble it themselves, and add a plastic casing that looks like the Vitamix casing. Probably , they do something similar for the Norelco look-alikes. They can buy the parts that are used by Norelco, and then assemble the parts into a motor, add a plastic case, and have a Norelco shaver clone that can be sold for much less money.
In the past, I have used electric razors and a whole string of fancy razors, with three blades, five blades, seven blades, or whatever, along with shaving cream and after-shave. However, for the past decade or more, I have been using a safety razor, dry, with no shaving cream. I'm not sure why they call these things safety razors because I think this is the kind of blade that people kill themselves with, and it would be pretty easy to accidentally cut yourself putting the blade in or taking it out. However, I have had no trouble shaving like this, without any of the fancy stuff.
Interestingly, Frank, I seem to have pretty much the same shaver. Bought it about two months ago and am satisfied with it. Battery life is longer but the trimmer was better on one of the previous models I had. It set me back ca. $45 which I consider a bargain. Will buy another one if it lets me down. No spares, no repairs. I'd had the previous one for 10 years and it was still working.