For the past 11 years I've been using a 5-blade shave club razor, badger hair brush and traditional shaving soap (cake). With those implements, I was getting VERY close shaves, but also a good bit of nicks, razor burn, and mess. Also, it takes awhile for the hot water to reach the master bath in my house, and it's COLD up here in the Smoky Mountains in winter. Often I'd skip shaving altogether for two or three days.Last time I'd used an electric shaver was in the '70s, when I was in my early 20's; the results were unimpressive, and typically raised acne problems. As the saying goes, "You've come a long way, baby".Fast-forward to last month - I got tired of standing around waiting for hot water, and then subjecting myself to that final, pore-closing COLD water rinse, only to be rewarded with the need for copious amounts of styptic liquid. So, I took a chance, and after reading reviews, I bought the 5000x electric. The instructions stated that it might take up to 41 days (interesting number...) for my skin to become accustomed to the electric, and results might not be great until then. Ok, fair enough...Well it's been 30 days, so I'm a little shy of what's recommended, but, I think my skin has adapted to the new deal. So here goes - if things change in 11 days, I'll update this review.First - does the 5000x shave as close as the best result from the 5-blade/shaving soap method? No. BUT it comes pretty darned close (pun intended). If I spend the same amount of time as I did with the blade/soap, I get a very close shave; a perfectionist will still notice a VERY light stubble, but it is in no way visible, and many times, the blade/soap system left similar results if I wasn't 100% on my game (and who is, first thing in the AM?). On the occasions where I got a really close shave with the b/s method, more often than not, there was blood; sometimes a tiny bit; other times, the phrase "like a stuck pig" comes to mind.This 5000x is greatly superior in several ways:First - no waiting for hot water, or the messy shaving soap to soak the whiskers (although I could still do that with the 5000x - it's waterproof and will shave with soap, gel, cream, or just plain water - all of these will lubricate the skin and make the whole thing more comfortable, at the cost of time and mess). Dry shaving with the 5000x is not uncomfortable; it's just a bit smoother wet... but not enough to justify it.I've discovered that, after the initial shave with this thing, if you wait about 10-15 seconds for your skin to "reset", another pass or two will provide an even closer shave, with even less stubble remaining - ALMOST "blade-close". Just keep in mind, no electric will shave as close as a good blade or five, but it will be easier and safer.Cleanup is incredibly simple - press the button on the shaver's head and the three-rotary blade assembly pops up, revealing all that nasty stubble around the drive shafts... lightly tapping the 5000x's head dislodges most of it, to be easily washed down the drain. As previously mentioned, it's waterproof, so you could rinse it if you like. I choose not to, for the same reason I hand-wash and dry my good kitchen cutlery.And that leads me to my one and only complaint with this purchase; Phillips/Norelco obviously went to great lengths in engineering an efficient, effective, and simple to use shaver at a reasonable price. They even include a nice case and a trimmer head for sideburns or beard edge trimming. But they did NOT include a simple, inexpensive cleaning brush, to get all the stubble out of the drive/blade areas. Luckily, an unused toothbrush does the job nicely.Charging is pretty fast, and the (non-replaceable) batteries last for well over a week's worth of thorough shaves. The charging cable is semi-proprietary (not a USB mini or C) and relatively short, but it's sufficient. The shaver won't turn on with the charging cable connected. Good safety feature - it would be...unpleasant, if the power cord came in contact with a sink full of water.So; while your mileage may vary, I would recommend that you give this electric a try. As the headline for this review states: I'm sold. This thing is too convenient, and does too good a job to go back to the slice-and-dice of blade shaving. As a bonus, I don't have to splash icy cold water on my face if I don't want to. Yay.UPDATE: Ok, 4 months to the day of purchase. If anything, this thing works better than when I last reviewed it. I don't know if my technique has improved, my skin as acclimated to the razor, or if the shave-fairy just waved his/her magic wand at me. So I will say that though it doesn't give me a straight-razor-barber-shop close shave, it's at least as good as my 5-blade, shave-club razor in terms of closeness, and still, not nicks, cuts, or bleeding of any kind. I DID experience ONE pimple, but I can't really say it was from the 5000x. VERY Satisfied (but still can't understand why they didn't include a cleaning brush)...
