A Norelco 3405 LC. Lift and Cut blades. This is actually a very good rotary shaver, perhaps the closest rotary shave ever when combined with some Lectric Shave. It does an amazing job on my neck. It's fairly aggressive, however, and not as comfortable as some modern Philips rotary shavers.
Which ELECTRIC RAZOR did you use today (with SOTD pics)?
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I haven’t used a Norelco shaver regularly since the late 1960s except for once when I used my son’s triple header. I didn’t think the shaves where very close but I didn’t give it a long time to become accustomed.
The newer Norelcos are alot harder to clean than the old ones from the 60's and 70's. The blades tend to trap alot of stubble. I had to use an ultrasonic cleaner filled with rubbing alcohol to get the stubble loose.
Of course, having more blades makes the shave faster. It only took a minute or two to shave with the 3405 LC.
Interestingly enough, the quality of the shave did not seem to suffer significantly from the lack of "reflex action" in the shaver (what Philips calls the "pivot and flex" that most modern Philips rotary shaves have). And the level of play in the floating heads isn't as great, but it didn't seem to have a problem following the contours of my face.
Remington XL 370 travel shaver. This one is a beater I got off eBay for a few bucks- it's even missing a protective cap. I'm not sure if I ever used a Remington before- I may have as a teenager. This shaver is similar to the inexpensive travel shavers you could buy for around 20 dollars in the 80's, the kind I used to stash in my backpack at school. It has the same Microscreen foil as the larger XLR's, but it doesn't have the trimmer.
The old commercials were right, it does shave as close as a blade. I notice this especially on my upper lip. And surprisingly, it wasn't harsh with only a little hint of tugging on my chin, though I did have to use several drops of oil on the foil to get the shaver to operate quieter and smoother. There was only a hint of tugging on my chin, and the motor is fairly powerful for a pocket-sized shaver (it vibrates alot more and sounds higher pitched and louder than the Braun M60). Like many foil-only shavers, it has trouble with neck hairs. Combining it with a Norelco to get the neck hairs produced a very close shave.
I also won a bid for a full-sized corded Remington Microscreen XLR-700. Because they have fully-engaged trimmers, they are fairly loud. But I suspect it will also be a good shaver.
The old commercials were right, it does shave as close as a blade. I notice this especially on my upper lip. And surprisingly, it wasn't harsh with only a little hint of tugging on my chin, though I did have to use several drops of oil on the foil to get the shaver to operate quieter and smoother. There was only a hint of tugging on my chin, and the motor is fairly powerful for a pocket-sized shaver (it vibrates alot more and sounds higher pitched and louder than the Braun M60). Like many foil-only shavers, it has trouble with neck hairs. Combining it with a Norelco to get the neck hairs produced a very close shave.
I also won a bid for a full-sized corded Remington Microscreen XLR-700. Because they have fully-engaged trimmers, they are fairly loud. But I suspect it will also be a good shaver.
I only had one Remington shaver and didn’t have much luck with it. The shaver gave close shaves but was harsher than a Braun or even a Panasonic. I bought the shaver rather than a Panasonic because I had bought a Panasonic projection HD TV in about 2000. The TV had lots of issues and spent a lot of time in the shop. I was angry at Panasonic. The Remington was the first rechargeable shaver I owned and it was washable under running water. Unfortunately, the cutters would corrode from being rinsed and required more pressure to shave which caused holes and cracks to appear in the screens. I was replacing the screens and cutters every few weeks and eventually tossed the shaver in the trash and replaced it with a Panasonic. By comparison in the five years I used the Panasonic I never replaced the cutters nor the screens.
If my current Braun 7893s shaver were corded it would probably last for the rest of my life. Once the NiCad batteries can’t hold a charge it’s time to replace the entire thing. The convenience of not having a cord becomes planned obsolescence.
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Your experience with the Remington matches most that I've read.
A Vintage Remington Microscreen XLR 800. There is a major disadvantage with this shaver. Due to the design of the obtrusive full length trimmer, you have to hold this shave backwards to shave under your nose. In fact it works better backwards, period. You can't feel whiskers into the full-length trimmer otherwise, if you are the typical guy that has to shave upward with a foil. So it was a strange design choice to put the trimmer where they did- you'ld think you'ld want to cut longer hairs first, but that's not really how it works out in practice . Which means you will have to double-over areas if you have any longer whiskers. And with an aggressive foil, that's not such a good thing.
And that makes accessing the power switch difficult if you are right handed. Also, my unit occasionally surges on shutoff and triggers my bathroom's ground fault interrupt- so I unplug it from the wall.
It's a "meh" shave. It's close, of course, but not very comfortable. My unit probably needs new cutters and foils, but it's such a wierd design I'm not sure it's worth the trouble.
Here's a young guy shaving with his dad's shaver. I notice he holds it backwards, too.
And that makes accessing the power switch difficult if you are right handed. Also, my unit occasionally surges on shutoff and triggers my bathroom's ground fault interrupt- so I unplug it from the wall.
It's a "meh" shave. It's close, of course, but not very comfortable. My unit probably needs new cutters and foils, but it's such a wierd design I'm not sure it's worth the trouble.
Here's a young guy shaving with his dad's shaver. I notice he holds it backwards, too.
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How old is this model shaver? A lot of foil shavers had the trimmer mounted on the front of the shaver. In 1957 Braun came out with the Combi DL50 model which had the trimmer at the bottom of the head on the front side. Later versions had the trimmer slide up above the head using a three position slide switch on the front that was also the power switch.
I’m not crazy about the new model Braun shavers which are utilizing a separate removable trimmer.
From the late 70's and early 80's.
The trimmer is not like the Braun trimmer's of the era. It's called an "intercept" trimmer, and is designed to work similarly to a slotted head, to cut longer or low-lying whiskers. It can also double as a detail trimmer, and is always engaged.
Some foils shavers did that years ago. I have a Sears-branded shaver that does that, for instance.
I'm really interested in these but can't find much info besides Amazon. It looks like even the 'cc' models don't come with a cleaning station... I wonder if Braun is moving away from these entirely? How does the shave compare to a Braun series 3 or 'normal' series 5 for example? I'm getting rid of my series 9 because the head is just way too large, replacement foils too expensive, and I'm not convinced it's really doing anything that the lower end models can't. I've had a few series 3 and a series 7 and have found nothing to justify the higher price tag of the 9 besides it being much bigger in the hand... Which is a negative for me. I was about to pull the trigger on a regular series 3 proskin but these new models kept that finger hovering lol. I'm just going to cut my losses and sell my like-new braun series 9 9290cc set up for the price of a 3. Clears out some clutter, gets me the device that suits my needs better, and passes along a great deal to someone who couldn't normally afford the high end series 9.
…I have both the series 3 & 5 , and fine the 5 more powerful , and the head size about the same. I would suggest to buy a 5 .
I would agree with magoo75 and go for the previous series 5 shown on Amazon as model 5030s rather than model 5018s. The 5030s has the pop up trimmer while the apparently new 5018s has the trimmer that replaces the head as a separate uniit similarly to the new 7 series. I would wait until Braun gets their website back up on the 21st. Of this month before making a decision.
@Flyboybob & @magoo75 I actually have a significant amount of experience with most of Braun's portfolio from the last decade, less these new 'easy clean' models of course and I appreciate your advice. My problem with the series 5 is the cleaning station is too big (as big as my series 9, doesn't fit my bathroom's usable area and I'm not remodeling for a shaver lol) and I'm looking at the models without pivot. My series 7 was really nice in that it was small in the hand but a tank, I do regret getting rid of that. I always liked my series 3 models and they are cheap to maintain, that's why I was looking at those again. Amazon has the Japanese import 3050cc shaver with cleaning station for only $64 new after a sale and coupon... That's tempting. Also, it's a cool red color not normally sold in the US haha. The series 3 and 7 share the same small base footprint and similar smaller hand feel. The 7's occasionally go on sale for around $100 with the base which is a great deal. I've seen the 7's with base at Marshall's and tj Maxx for $75, I have another 10% due to a family employee discount.
The trimmer on most Braun's is easily the worst feature. I've even had it cause problems putting the protective cap on the shaver.
I didn’t realize that you have previous experience with the series 3 shavers. Usually as you move down the shaver models the speed and power of the motors also decrease along with the prices which really affects the shaving experience.
As I have said before on this forum, i’m not a fan of cleaning stations. Among my reasons is that they take up valuable counter space. All of the shavers you mentioned are waterproof and washable which makes the cleaning station a superfluous device. I have been very happy with my 7893s and I only use it dry. Therefore, it doesn’t require lubricating the screen and trimmer. Amazon I bought mine for $100 at Costco and I suspect that they will be deeply discounted as soon as the new 7 series shavers show up on Braun’s website.
That problem has been solved because the 7, 8 and 9 series shavers don’t come with a protective cap and the new series shavers don’t even come with a cleaning brush.
I wonder how much that adds to the profit picture and raises the CEO’s annual bonus.
The new 5, 6 and series 7 shavers are now on Brauns website, Electric Shavers for Men | Braun US - https://us.braun.com/en-us/male-grooming/shavers-for-men, all 3 still can still be had with the cleaning station, I have a Series 3 shaver also and the new Series 6 that I have shaves much better then the 3, I like the ergonomics of the new Series, easier to hold, as for the shave I would say it shave as well as the old Series 7, the new Series 6 is suppose to be the shave for people with sensitive skin, it is a very comfortable shaver and the price is right at $99 if you don't need the cleaning station.
Thanks for the info!
I haven't been able to get on the Braun website for months, I always get "403 - forbidden: access is denied", anyone else get the same?
That problem has been solved because the 7, 8 and 9 series shavers don’t come with a protective cap and the new series shavers don’t even come with a cleaning brush.
Well, the nylon brush honestly I wouldn't miss that much, except for cleaning cutters (which I guess they want to phase out anyways), but they need to explain the lack of protective cap.
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