Braun Series 7 790cc Clean & Renew System Electric Rechargeable Male Foil Shaver

I was looking for a new shaver as the battery had packed up in my five-year-old Philips and saw this one advertised in GQ magazine. As a gadget junky I was attracted by its features and the cleaning station which is a real plus. After one week with this shaver I have to say it is awesome... the shave is as close as you can get with an electric and, more importantly, the shaving rash around my neck which I had taken for granted for years has vanished after just a week!!

The plus points for this shaver are the closeness of shave which, as I said, is excellent, the cleaning station which leaves you with a 'brand new' shaver every morning and the quality of build - feels like it is built to last for many years... On the subject of cleaning, I see that Mr A. N. Thame has proved he is a real man by not reading the manual. If he had, he would know that the 'hygiene meter' does not replenish when you wash it under the tap, only when you use the cleaning station! As for his 1 star rating, that is ridiculous - this really is as good as you can get in an electric shaver.

The minus points are the noise - it is much louder than Philips alternatives and the price (which is why it only gets 4 stars) - £175 is a lot to pay. However, it still works out cheaper (and easier) than razor blades over a life of a few years.

If you are not worried about price and want an easy, clean and irritation-free shave every day I would highly recommend the Pulsonic. My allegiance to Philips has now officially ended!

First of all, I have a confession to make - I have been 'wet' shaving for twenty odd years and have never felt the need to buy an electric shaver as the last time I used one (in my teens) I felt I would have been better off with an electric potato peeler, or perhaps a visit to my local barber - Mr Sweeney Todd esq.

Before I talk about my experience with this shaver, let me tell you a bit about it. It is packaged very well, with a lovely little carrying case (complete with little cleaning brush) for your travels. The charging/cleaning unit is relatively small and looks good. Now the shaver itself is remarkable, really light, ergonomically designed with a great deal of care in the design and the looks. The beardy/tache/sideboard trimmer pops out like a scene from The Matrix, although unfortunately every time I use it I am still in dreary Manchester and not in a computer simulation. Under the shaver is a dial which lets you know how much battery remains and how clean the shaver is and whether it needs a clean or not.

As a relative shaver virgin, I had asked advice from (generally male - females were not much help apart from the lady across the road from my mum who could put Burt Reynolds to shame) colleagues and friends about the benefits and disadvantages and faced lots of negativity (including 'make sure you have some moisturiser' and 'it will hurt like a ....')

So it was with some intrepidation (and a rather uneasy feeling in the pit of my stomach) that I started to shave with my new Braun 790cc, especially as I hadn't had a shave for about a week. However, after a few seconds I was already converted as it was really good, all those hard to get bits that I always miss with a wet shave were removed and there was no rash, no pain and pretty good results if I say so myself (even my better half went 'wow' when she saw me). I found to get the best results you need to press quite hard and follow the contours of your face and then pick up any stragglers on a second sortie.

So now I have a rather dirty shaver, although this was easy to rectify. I popped out the heads, removed the majority of the hairs (into the sink - I am a bloke) and then popped the shaver back into it's charging/cleaning unit. This flashed through its programme, informed me that the shaver was not fully clean and after I pressed the 'clean' button, went through the cleaning cycle (which takes about five minutes and is really quite noisy, a bit like a washing machine but only noisy intermittently). I now have my shiny new shaver again, fully charged (takes about an hour) for it's next use - and I can't wait!

As I do not have a shaver socket in the house I had to buy an adapter plug for the charging unit so you may have to factor this in to the cost (couple of quid) but apart from that this is brilliant and you never know - you may be a convert too.

I have never been a great of electrics, though have owned quite a few. There is no comparison to a wet shave, though as someone with a heavy beard for whom shaving everyday leaves my skin sensitive and with the usual rashes this now allows me to shave everyday with pretty much no rash (still breaking it in after 2 years of wet shaving). The usual problem area of the neck, where hair can grow at different angles is much relieved by this Braun. Couple of whinges -

1. The hygiene/clean-o-meter is relatively pointless, after two shaves it needs a clean
2. The cleaning base seems to have the problems of it's predecessors - once cleaned the shaver head remains wet with the cleaning fluid
3. The carry case is cheap plastic - for the money spent I would expect higher quality

Other than that, very happy with the purchase, only time will tell on durability - but certainly happy I made this choice over the Phillips or lower priced Braun's. Reasonable build quality, if not a bit 'blingy' compared to other Brauns' I have owned.