Phil,

I switched from blade to electric about a year and a half ago, and I've found that the electric shaver gives me fewer skin problems than the blade. I'm using one of the Norelco 3-rotary waterproof jobs so I can use it in the shower. I can also use just a small amount of plain soap on my face instead of shaving cream, which is nice when shaving in the shower.

With the blade, I had to shave every other day or every third day in order to let my skin recover. Now, with the electric shaver, I can shave daily if I so desire.

However, I have also found the following, which may be drawbacks for you:

- No electric shaver gets as close as a blade can, despite the ads. This is not as bad as it seems. In my case, what this means is that my beard is decently short, short enough to last a day, and then the next day the beard is long enough again so that I can get enough bite out of the electric razor to be able to shave again instead of having to wait a day. It sounds screwy, but what this all means is that I have an overall average shorter beard than when I used a blade. No prickly in-between days.

- The electric shaver still cannot get my neck hairs, those are too thick for it and the skin is too soft and pliable. I still have to use the blade on my neck. But since I keep both in the shower with me, shaving is a quick thing.

- You can still nick yourself with an electric if you get it onto skin that's too soft or skin that's not stretched taut. Watch out.

- Don't use a face shaver on any part of your body other than the face. Do not ask me how I know this.

- Expect some learning time to get used to using the electric. You won't get the perfect shave out of it the first few times. Give it a chance for a while.