Customer Reviews

Philips Norelco T970 Accu-Vac Beard and Moustache Trimmer

5 star:		(35)
4 star:		(34)
3 star:		(15)
2 star:		(17)
1 star:		(29)

 

 

I have been trimming my beard for over 25 years, and this is a great trimmer. I don't understand the complaints. If you gave some people $1,000 worth of silver, they would complain and wonder why you didn't give them $1,000 worth of gold. I have no complaints about this trimmer. Look at some of the complaints of others. Some said it didn't vacuum ALL the hair, and some said only 1% of the hair. I would have to say that has to be "operator error" because I have very little or NO hair left when I trim. My wife is extremely happy with the clean sink. Another reviewer said it was "noisy"....compared to what? It was not as loud as a hair dryer, and what did the reviewer expect - a completely silent vacuum? I mean, a clothes dryer is louder than a clothes-line, but I doubt many people would prefer going back to the days of hanging their clothes out to dry. Someone complained that it took two hands to turn the dial to the beard length position you wanted. Let's see, you hold the trimmer with one hand, turn the dial with the other....hmmmmmmm. Actually, I consider that a strength, because I have had trimmers that have accidentally slipped into another position and messed up my beard. Someone else actually complained that they couldn't open the package it came in with their bare hands....well, I have a pair of scissors at my house. I didn't know being able to open the package with your bare hands was a qualification of a good beard trimmer, but I could be wrong. Well, I guess you get my drift. The beard trimmer works great, the vacuum when used properly is great, and as I said before, it is the best trimmer I have ever used. If you are looking for a really good beard trimmer that will be a lot easier to clean up after, I highly recommend this trimmer.

I keep my hair and goatee very short and I have been trimming my own hair for 10 years. I am not an expert on hair trimming products but during the past 10 years I have used Wahl, Oster, Conair corded trimmers. I have also used Braun and Norelco cordless shavers. I purchased this product because I was looking for a product that could trim my goatee and serve as a travel trimmer for my hair. Although I intended to order it from Amazon, I needed it more immediately and therefore purchased the T970 from a Target retail store for $39.99 (on sale).

I normally do not write reviews but I was surprised at the disparity of reviews for this product. Most people either loved it or hated it. I also became skeptical of some extreme reviews (positive and negative) when I saw the same exact reviews found at places such as Target.com. I hope the following will be helpful to others:

I recommend visiting a store (e.g., Target) such as I did to see the competing products from Walh and Remington. Both offer vacuum trimmers that are priced a little less than this product. In the store, I confirmed my initial decision to buy the Norelco T970 because of the smaller form factor, the 2 year warranty and the no-hassle, 60 day money back guarantee from Norelco (used or not).

The product comes with a cleaning brush, travel bag, thorough instruction pamphlet and heavy (though compact) AC wall adapter. The unit is reasonably well constructed. It is likely the lightest trimmer or cordless razor out of any I have used. The hair trimmings compartment is easy to remove but did not fall out during usage. The dial to adjust the trim length is easy to use (but does take two hands to turn). It has 9 settings and #1 is the shortest. The guard does come off for close-up trimming but did not come off unintentionally during usage. I charged the unit until the top (of five) LEDs began to blink fast to indicate it was finished charging. This took 55 minutes.

I turned on the unit and was ready to begin. It is definitely the loudest trimmer I have used secondary to the vacuum component. It is probably has about 1.5x to 2x the noise of my current Oster or Conair corded trimmers. I doubt this will matter to most people.

I was impressed by the precision of the device. It can cut your facial hair and hair on your head very short and even. I typically use the "blending" guard on the Conair trimmer for my goatee. The #3 setting on this device left my hair about the same length. The #1 setting is extremely tight and will give you a 5 o'clock shadow look. I used the #4 setting on the rest of my head without difficulty.

The vacuum component was definitely not perfect and I needed to take the guard off once to unplug the opening of the vacuum with hair trimmings. However, the vacuum compartment did get about 75%-85% of the trimmings. You will still need to wipe the sink (and take a shower if you are doing your entire head) but clean-up is easier.

Summary:
The advantages of this unit:
-60 day money back guarantee (used or not) from Norelco
-Lightweight and decent design
-Easy to use and very precise trimming
-Ability to use corded or cordless
-Quick charging time of about 1 hour for 40 minutes of use

The disadvantages of this unit:
-Ni-Cad battery (therefore battery "memory" and shortened battery life if you forget and leave it plugged in or use the cord while trimming)
-The battery is not replaceable
-Relatively noisy compared to other corded trimmers and cordless razors
-No stand or hard case (it does not rest well on a flat surface)
-The vacuum feature does not mean you can stop cleaning the sink. It just means clean up time will be shorter.

The VERDICT: For $39.99, I am satisfied with this unit. I give it 4 out of 5 stars. I would probably recommend this device to those that need a good, all-around device for trimming their mustache, beard, goatee in addition to something that can pull double-duty and cut short hair (on your head).

This popped up in my gold box, and I decided to give it a whirl since the idea of trimming my beard with no mess had a lot of appeal. The vacuum does half work. Unfortunately, catching half the mess won't change the need for clean-up--there's less to clean, but you'll still need to do it. So my main recommendation is that you shouldn't let the vacuum "feature" be your reason for buying this. If anything, it's a slight negative, because the opening for the vacuum gets in the way when you are doing edge trimming without the attachment.
The next down-side is the "memory" rechargeable batteries. Basically, unless you let the batteries completely discharge before recharging, they will hold less and less charge each time. This is mentioned in the folded up piece of paper that passes for a manual--you will want to read through that. Which leads me to my final gripe: That piece of paper is extremely poorly done--diagrams with no explaination, unclear instructions, etc. So you do have to read it, but you're going to spend some time trying to puzzle it out before you actually figure it out.
For all my complaining, the trimmer isn't completely without merit. It does do a decent job of trimming my beard, which is of course the main point of the thing. I also didn't have any real noise complaints, which seems to be an issue for other reviewers.
On balance though, my main recommendation would be don't pay for the vacuum, because you won't be getting what you paid for.

I have a Norelco T6000 (earlier model trimmer) that worked just fine but the rechargeable battery quit. So I bought this new one the T970 Accu-Vac and it is a case where nothing was wrong but they went ahead and fixed it anyway and not for the better. I ordered a replacement nicad battery for my old and as soon as it gets here, I'm going back to the old one.
What I don't like about the new one -
1) the pivoting head, I'm about ready to glue it into place.
2) The vacuum canister is fine unless you knock it out and now the hair is all over the sink. It falls out too easily.

If you've never had a trimmer then this one might be just fine.

The blades cut nice, but battery life could be better. The vacuum does actually work well, I was surprised. However the curved long design at the end makes an even shave under the nose impossible. Hair directly under the nose is noticably longer than at the lip. Frustrating!

Norelco definitely knows what a trimmer shoud be. This trimmer is the best I ever owned. It does not make much noise, it cuts very cleanly. The vacuum is not perfect (none are) but way better than my noisy Remington MB-70. Also the detail mini trimmer works nicely and trimms much closer than the Remington's.
The ergonomics are great and the accessories snap-in very easily.

For the past 14 years I have sported either a full beard or a goatee. During that entire time, I have ALWAYS bought a NORELCO trimmer. Two months ago I replaced my old Norelco which lasted four years, and bouth this one.

Although I do like the vacuum, the old models had a push out mini blade for the delicate work. This one doesn't. None of my older Norelco's ever slipped from their length setting. This one does, and when it does, it makes me look like I have mowed my face with a weedeater. Furthermore, the self adjusting comb never allows my mustache to come out right. There are always longer hairs towards the top of the mustache that I have to carefully try to cut by taking the brush off.

In addition, I have followed the instructions very carefully and made sure not to over or undercharge the battery, but innevitably towards the end of my trim, the blades get a little sluggish.

This is not a model to buy. Stay away from this model. Although I believe in Norelco, I will not buy one with this adjustable comb, and unfortunately it seems that they have put them on all their models. Until newer models come out that don't have them, I'll have to switch brands. Sorry Norelco!

I've used the T6000 (the original trimmer) for 5 years and loved it until the battery crocked. I've been using it on the wire since, but then decided to upgrade. My first reaction about the T970:

BAD:
* Plastic is VERY flimsy - it doesn't have that tough look.
* Lots of movable parts, which have very flimsy plastic hinges (I think I'll break them soon)
* Not as compact as the original T6000 (Nape trimmer doesn't extend from inside but is rather a separate attachment)
* AcuVac is junk - it doesn't catch all the hairs but most of them. (The trimmer is very loud because of the AcuVac.)
* The little brush needs to be longer - it doesn't reach some of the parts where hairs stick, like the AcuVac containers bottom leaving me having to blow the hairs out - which land literally all over the place making me wonder why I bothered with the AcuVac in the first place.
* Travel case needs to be more compact a made of tougher nilon, the charger alone is HUGE! T6000 had compartments for the Brush and the wire, snugly fitting together. I'm afraid the pivoting head on the T790 will break off the first time I put the trimmer into my travel bag.

GOOD
* The pivoting head actually helps in raising hairs to get a more even shave, leaving hair softer (a feature I've lived without for 5 years, and think can go without a little further)

* Charge Indicator is pretty cool.

I bought it because it is the most expensive trimmer on the market, thinking PRICE=QUALITY, boy was I wrong, but with Amazon's special @ $43+change my girlfriend will have something to use to trim her poodle.

This clipper has some design flaws that make it a poor choice for trimming. My main complaint is that is has 7 settings to choose from but the settings are adjustable by a dial ring on the handle and it is easy to set the trimmer on one setting but have it slip to another setting while trimming giving an uneven cut and closer trim than was desired. This trimmer needs to have a setting lock or the dial in a different location than right where you grip it.

This trimmer rules! I will never have to hear the phrase "There's hair in the sink!" from my wife ever again. Sure, a couple of hairs may get by, but I can easily wrangle those, and it beats the heck out of holding the bathroom garbage can under my chin with one hand and trimming with the other. Gentlemen, do yourselves a favor: drop your old trimmer off at the nearest GoodWill and get yourselves one of these. Sorry to hear shake-man (below) had a rough time, but I think it may have been user error. The only way the adjustment mechanism could be easier would be if I could will it to a different length with my mind...