Philips Norelco T980 Turbo Vacuum Trimmer
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Customer Reviews of Philips Norelco T980 Turbo Vacuum Trimmer
Customer Review: Good trimmer, vacuum's okay
Summary: 4 Stars
This is my first beard trimmer for use with my first beard. I read many of the other reviews of the Norelco T980 and having a Norelco electric razor decided to give it a try. I've been generally impressed, although I've never owned another trimmer to compare the T980 to.
Some of the concerns that others noted (followed by my own impressions):
Loudness:
Yes, trimming with a mini-vacuum is a little louder than without. In particular, when 'Turbo' mode is on, it sounds like a mini-buzz-saw. That said, unless you're worried about waking a sleeping baby in the same room, it's not obnoxiously loud.
Vacuum doesn't catch clippings:
Even though this is my first beard, I know trimmings tend to go everywhere when trimming a beard. I didn't expect the vacuum to catch everything (especially since I'm using the trimmer to leave my beard at a 1/2" length- setting 7 of 9). I always use 'Turbo' mode (hoping that more suction will catch more of the clippings), and I tend to catch ~75% of the clippings this way. The biggest issue is that the clippings it doesn't catch tend to be the ones that go sailing across the room (for my wife to find later)-but I would assume any trimmer would do that with my facial hair.
Needs frequent charging:
As I said above, I always use the trimmer in 'Turbo' mode and it's not supposed to last very long that way. However, I've been using three times a week for the last month and have charged it twice. Charging once every couple of weeks was within my expectations.
Smaller trimmer involves removing regular trim head:
People who complained about having to change trim heads must be in a much more significant hurry than I am in the morning. The height guide and standard trim head slip off easily (5 seconds or less-literally). The precision trim head slips on just as easily and really does a nice job with touch-up areas. The precision trim head extends away from the body of the trimmer more than the standard one, making it easier to clean up errant hair.
Height guide slips when trimming:
I haven't seen this problem at all. I was very concerned about it (I didn't want to accidentally shave off the beard I spent all this time growing), but really, any concern of this at all can be eliminated by holding the trimmer so that your grip doesn't allow the height guide to move (which, at least for me, is a perfectly normal way to hold the trimmer).
The storage pouch is a little weird, but I found I can fit both the trimmer and my electric razor in it without any problems, so all the better.
Bottom line- the T980 is generally a good little trimmer.
Customer Review: Great trimmer!
Summary: 5 Stars
Until recently, I had been using a Remington beard trimmer I had received as a Christmas gift from about 5 years ago. The Remington was good but it eventually just couldn't go any longer so I had to search for a new trimmer. I found the Phillips Norelco T980 fairly quickly and was impressed by the good reviews. And it didn't disappoint!
The shipment came quick and I got to test it out (waited an hour for it to fully charge) to see how it would perform and perform it did! The shaver comes with 9 different preset trimming sizes so there is plenty of room for dynamic trimming. The flexible trim guard was something I immediately noticed and enjoyed, since my previous trimmer did not have this feature. In addition the flexibility really does allow you to get a precision trim really easily as it contours to the face great.
The T980 comes with a 2 bristle (one soft, one hard) brush for cleaning out the clippers but what really is unique about this trimmer is the vacuum that is attached to it. The vacuum is made so that there is less of a clean up once your done trimming your beard, although it doesn't catch all the trimmings it did catch most of them and clean up was much faster than what I am used too. It also comes with a smaller clipper attachment for precision sculpting or just your run of the mill mustache trimming which is slid on and off with ease.
The shaver also comes with a Turbo Mode but the only thing this really does that I have noticed is give the vacuum more power, it may also speed up the clippers but I am not sure about that it seems to clip nicely whether the Turbo Mode is on or off. I think because of the vacuum this trimmer seems a bit louder during operation than my last trimmer but by no means is it a chainsaw (haha).
Finally, the trimmer comes with a travel bag for easy storage on trips which I thought was thoughtful. The only qualm I had was the packaging...it comes in a really sturdy clam shell package and with no helpful opening tabs so it could take you at least a few minutes to get everything out without cutting yourself on sharp plastic edges but since that has nothing to do with the performance of the trimmer I wont go on about that.
So all in all, this trimmer is a fine replacement; dare I say upgrade to my last trimmer, it is said, "You get what you pay for" well, with the Norelco T980 I think you may be getting that and then some! Precision trimming, ease of use, and convenient clean up and features makes this shaver a must buy for any man especially those on the job hunt!
Customer Review: When recharging, you must remember to later unplug: or else what?
Summary: 2 Stars
The mechanical tech department at Norelco have produced another fine shaver/trimmer mechanism. Unfortunately the sales department has downgraded quality by packaging the trimmer with a cheap recharging system.
Most high end rechargeable items nowadays can be left in the recharging base constantly, always ready for use. Not this thing. The user directions warn that it must be charged no longer than 24 hours. What happens if you forget? Perhaps this item would not dangerously overheat, maybe it would just lessen the life of the batteries. Who can predict what bad things might happen?
Other cautions in Norelco's documentation: "... do not recharge trimmer between trimming sessions. Continue using it until the battery is completely empty". And then twice a year you are advised to run down the batteries completely to condition them. The batteries in some other devices (which use other chemistry) do not require any of these special maintenance routines to remember. Those trimmers are nice to own, compared to this one.
If this thing had a base, then the base could be placed far from the sink for safety in using AC around water. On those mornings when the batteries run down you will plug in the cord and therefore be using AC. Since there is no base its tempting to just lay it down anywhere.
Comparing the shroud around the cutters, its exactly the same size and looks very much like my old Norelco. But this one has the shroud's plastic teeth cut in the middle so that the head can "float". Bah! Humbug! That cut reduces stiffness and the plastic teeth are now in two pieces, each of which is attached on only one end! This allows the shroud teeth to bend inward on the end where they are not attached. When this happens it will cut the whiskers *really* shorter and that part of your beard will look funny at work a couple days. Yes it happened to me first time I used it. I was used to my older Norelco with teeth which were not bendable, but dependable.
The on/off switch is right on top, and a light touch will cycle it. Wonderful! Now when you travel you pray that the thing isn't running when you go through airport security. How hot would it get in the suitcase if it does come on and run 45 minutes? My old Norelco had a stiff rotating switch that could never cycle on/off unexpectedly.
As for how well it trims, on a scale 1 to 10, I would say 10. That is, when using a very lighter touch than what I'm used to so that the teeth do not compress and sculpture the result.
Customer Review: Fine Trimmer Needs Better Packaging
Summary: 4 Stars
A beard trimmer with a built-in vacuum to keep the trimmings from collecting all over your sink is a good thing. So when I decided it was time to replace my Wahl Vacu-Trim, which needed new blades and battery, I was sorry to see that Wahl apparently no longer makes that model. It seems that the only vacuum beard trimmers available at this writing are the two models from Philips Norelco. Seeing a good price here at amazon, I sprang for the Turbo model, which promised a little extra oomph. Well, the trimmer works very well. Better than the Wahl, I think. To my surprise, I like the look it gives me at the closest setting -- if I didn't know better, I would say it makes an old geezer like me look younger. I haven't had the problems others describe with the length comb changing settings on me. The nicad battery life is acceptable -- I get a week of trims on my full beard and moustache at the Turbo setting. When you see the red light come on after turning the unit off -- figure you have one more trim at Turbo speed. Then it's time to recharge. The unit is a little large, but not unwieldy. I will be interested to see how well the blades hold up to the "ever-sharp" claim. No lubrication needed either! I am deducting one star because of failings in the instructions and packaging. The instructions never tell you which side of the trimmer to hold against your face, and the T980 works the opposite of most other trimmers and shavers. Most others have you hold the side with the buttons and logo against your face; when you use the length comb on the T980, however,you hold it with the buttons and logo on the side facing AWAY from your face. I wonder how many of my fellow reviewers have been using this trimmer correctly, given this unconventional orientation. Nowhere in the instructions do they show a clear photo of a guy using the trimmer. There are two tiny, hard-to-follow line illustrations. Adding insult to injury, the first time I called Norelco for help, the woman rep on the phone -- adding helpfully that she had never used a beard trimmer herself -- gave me the wrong answer. Further experimentation -- and another call to a male rep -- confirmed that I was using the trimmer correctly. The other problem with the packaging is the dreadful plastic blister pack holding the trimmer and accessories inside the box. Any package requiring scissors to open needs to be redesigned with more eco- and user-friendly materials!!! At any rate, the T980 is the current state-of-the-art in vacuum beard trimmers, and I recommend it, the packaging notwithstanding.Customer Review: A Review just for the Sake of Reviewing
Summary: 4 Stars
There are plenty of reviews on this trimmer so I won't go into detail - but I did want to make sure I rated the item. I think overall the trimmer is a good product - it does what it is supposed to do. After a few months of use (1-2 times a week), I developed my own pro's con's for the trimmer. It replaced a very cheap Remington trimmer that I had for years (the rechargable battery no longer held a charge) and although I know "change" can be tough after using something for several years, there are a few things I just can't get past.
1. having to remove the general trimmer and replace it with the mini trimmer is more of a PITA than I thought it would be. My old Remington had a built in mini-trimmer that flipped up on the back side - nothing to remove - just flip up and use. On the Philips, pulling the gate off and swapping the basic trimmer for the mini trimmer is pretty annoying. Granted it's not that big of a deal in the grand scheme of life or my morning routine, but it is still pretty annoying. When you remove the gate and start swapping parts, some of the hair that did make its way into the vacuum chamber now gets scattered about again.
2. many have complained about the height adjustment changing on them... I have not encountered this. I can add that for me, none of the settings match my old Remington. This is not so much a reflection on the product, but more of a: "keep in mind, you'll have to adjust to this new product's height - it doesn't adjust to you". I keep my hair short and for me 3 is too long and 2 is too short. I needed a 2.5. I find that if I press really hard in the 3 setting, I can get close, but it seems to take a lot of work. Again, not so much a complaint on the product, just personal preference.
3. For whatever reason, I can not seem to get the hairs on my lip that are close to the underside of my nose. The trimmer gate seems to be so bulky that it hits my nose before the cutter can clip the hair. I have to remove the gate and carefully trim the hairs using the height of the surrounding hairs that the trimmer did get as a guide.
Other than those three annoyances, I can live with the vacuum not catching ALL of the hair (the Remington flung ALL of the hair everywhere). Battery life seems solid, but I guess only time will tell. Someone else mentioned they wished it came with a stand and I concur - it would be nice. Overall it's a solid product and for those with a lot of facial hair, I bet this would be a great purchase.