I got this because I was tired of shelling out massive $$ for the Mach3 I had been using. This is almost as good as a blade, and a lot cheaper over the long run. I've had a Norelco and a Braun, and the shave wasn't even remotely as close as a blade. This isn't quite there, but good enough so I get through the day without looking like I have 2nd day shadow. Cleaning is very simple -- running the blade under water, or using soap, seems to work better than the cartridge system, which is good if you want to avoid that expense. Only downside is I had a fair amount of razor burn when I first started using it for wet shaves -- but now (after about 2 months) I am using it in the shower pretty much every day. On the whole a good purchase.