Decent and lasts longer than others

I purchased this trimmer in 1999 to replace an almost new, fancy Panasonic model that worked horribly. This has no frills, its about a five inch long plastic trimmer with an inch long stainless steel trimming head, a guide that pops on and off to control the height adjustment of the trimming (I think there are five positions), it has an on/off switch, a charging light, a stand up charger unit, a tiny brush, and comes with small oil and disinfectant liquid packets. On the plus side, it's lasted longer than any other cordless trimmer I've owned-- invariably all the others motors would die within two years but this one keeps on chugging. The unit is not without its flaws, however.

Let me talk about the ways I use this product. Initially, I had a beard when I bought this unit, but I shaved it within two weeks of buying it. Since then, I have used it to trim sideburns, to trim my hair around ears and sideburns (without its guide), and (dare I admit this?) to trim my body hair. My wife would use it to clip the hair on my neck and shoulders, but the trimming head was too small to do this very quickly, so she eventually switched to a much larger Wahl trimmer meant for haircuts.

On the beard and sideburns, using the guide, this is generally a good trimmer. However, the guide has popped out of place while using it a few times, resulting in trimming way too much-- not a good thing. Also, sometimes the guide just won't pop into place evenly, so the left can be cutting higher (or lower) than the right. When removing the guide to trim the hair around my ears and sideburns, this trimmer excels as its just the right size.

On the body, this is not the best trimmer. I realize this is not the intended use necessarily, but I would bet that many men use it for this purpose all the same, whether they admit to it or not (someday I would like to find a trimmer meant for this purpose). Without the guide, it often leaves nicks and cuts, even if I'm very careful. With the guide, it cuts pretty unevenly and I must trim multiple times to get the desired cutting length. When trying to trim at one of the lower lengths, I am generally left with little red marks on my body for the next 36 hours. Sigh.. these are the lengths I go to for good grooming.

In terms of maintenance, you have to oil the blades periodically. I use it about once or twice a week and would say that it needs oil every two months at that rate. A major problem is that hair seems to get inside the unit somehow and you have to unscrew the blade and disassemble somewhat to get all the hair out using the tiny brush. If you don't remove the hair when it gets in, the performance decreases substantially and it makes a funny noise. Speaking of noise, I would rate this one slightly below average as its loud enough so you wouldn't be able to hear the phone five feet away when using it.

Battery life has never been a problem. It has never run out of charge during a trimming "session" and after almost five years, the battery is still quite powerful. I just leave it on the charging unit when not in use and all is well. The initial charge may have taken 5-10 hours, as I recall.

Overall, this trimmer gets top marks for longevity, but average (at best) otherwise. I would recommend for heavy users to set their sights a bit higher.