I was skeptical about getting an electric razor for the longest time. I had heard stories of people always going back to regular manual razors. It took some convincing and peer pressure, like my electric toothbrush, for me to give one a shot (I guess it's not really a shot since I'm stuck with it). Being the cheapo I am, I decided to resort to Ebay, the smart shoppers' choice for goods of all kinds. It was $45.00 after delivery.

I was quick to get this new toy out its obnoxious plastic shell container. I had to cut two adjacent sides and then try to pull the contents out. I wish more products were packaged in boxes. More importantly, I wanted to use the razor as fast as I could. I had to wait for 4 hours for the initial charge, as suggested in the manual. Unfortunately, I had to go to class, so I wasn't able to stay the whole time and watch the power indicator LED blink. Actually, it started to blink after about an hour. The manual says normal charges take that long, so I disregarded the blinking and continued to charge the unit for the whole 4 hours.

When I came back from class, I washed up before using the razor. This seemed like the only logical preparation method for shaving (I've tried shaving right out of bed in the morning and the Norelco works just as well). I don't have super fast growing facial hair or anything, but it does grow. I shave about twice a week. I had tried electric razors before, and the Norelco 7845 XL was just as good if not better than a manual razor. It left my face smooth, almost to the point that I couldn't stop rubbing it because I was looking for stubbles of hair the Norelco left behind. None.

Cleaning the Norelco is as easy as the instructions show. It still scares me a little every time I rinse the shaver that water will seep through some cracks and cause all sorts of problems. As expected, all the hair within the chamber flushes out when rinsing with hot faucet water. Probably the most annoying part of cleaning is waiting for the shaver to air dry. I'm even considering using an air duster to dry out the shaver. I'm just one of those people that hates waiting for things to dry.

I can't make any judgments on the battery life since I haven't had the shaver long enough to see the energy drain to pathetic levels. From what I've been told, they all eventually get to a point where shaving only is effective when the unit's plugged in.

Conclusion: I have no regrets getting this shaver. I feel like I've been missing out my whole life. It shaves clean and without any cuts.

Pros:
+ Shaves clean
+ Quiet
+ Easy to clean
+ Portable
+ Good ergonomics

Cons:
- Long initial charge (subjective)
- No LCD (available on better models)

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