ER389K Rechargeable Beard and Mustache Trimmer,men

Reviewing an electronic beard trimmer should not involve a critiques of the present-day consumer capitalism. But in this case, it is unavoidable. So here it goes. The product: This is a rechargeable electronic beard trimmer. It has no fancy features. It does not look "cool". It clips well, it is intuitive to use, and it is very serviceable. The battery is dead? Just open the trimmer and replace the battery yourself. This is a relic of bygone days -- the craziest thing is that Panasonic somehow still manufacture this (in Japan) and you can still find it new on Amazon. I am speculating that Panasonic still manufacture this product because there are demands for this product from some of their old channels, and they feel obliged to answer the demands. But what are "old channels"? Panasonic (rather, Matsushita) used to maintain a peculiar business model in Japan. All their consumer products were used to distributed through the chains of the local, mom&pop electronic stores. These tiny stores only carried Matsushita products, and they sold everything at MSRP. They were supposed to maintain a local, loyal customer base; if you are a customer of a "Matsushita electronics store", you were supposed to buy ALL electronics from this store, ALL AT MSRP. You were expected to keep using the same product (that you paid its MSRP for) for the eternity, and the store -- you should be well-acquainted with the mom&pop running it -- would service the product for as long as you kept using it. This clipper would make the ideal product for this business model. A customer of "Matsushita electronics store" was not looking for anything fancy, or anything cheap; indeed, he would not be cross-shopping this with anything else. He was looking for something that works and is reliable, which this clipper provides. In turn, this clipper is easily serviceable for the mom&pop who likely were well-experienced in repairing things, but also had to cover the vast range of consumer electronics products. "Matsushita electronics store" had its virtues; it produced less wastes, it helped maintaining the local economy (and the local community), and made its products easily available to elderly who would have had difficulty operating new electronics by themselves. This business model was by no means limited to Matsushita; the industry for consumer electronics use to operate in similar fashions across the globe. It also was not a sustainable business model in the changing market -- we like to cross-shop products, we like to have big discounts, and we like to have something new and fancy. If anything, Amazon is the antithesis of what this clipper represents. Matsushita had resisted the onslaught of brick&motor stores (think Best Buy) the longest, but eventually they yielded. But somehow, the clipper still remains. Somewhat ironically, this "old school" business model still remain in the world of Business-to-Business (B2B) instead of Business-to-Consumers (B2C), because B2B has characteristics which are far more congruent with what this clipper represents. But that is a story for another day.;)

I first bought this trimmer 25 years ago. After about 10 years, I had to replace it and I did so with the same model. However, I lost this replacement after a couple of years and found to my disappointment that Panasonic had stopped production of this model. Over the ensuing 5 years, I tried 5 or 6 different brands of trimmer -none of them came close to the ER389K and I continued to miss having this available. I finally found one for sale from a website in Singapore which lasted probably another decade without even a change of cutting blade. The battery began not to hold its charge for very long so, on a whim, I looked on Amazon and was amazed to find it available. I'm not sure if this is old stock or if Panasonic has resumed production (I'm hoping the latter!) but I'm now the proud user again of this great device. It's good for a not-too-close shave as well as a beard trimmer. The thing I like most about this besides the very high quality and long-lasting cutting blade is the lack of clutter - no charging cords & no attachments to lose. The one shortcoming is that that it charges only from 120v outlets. This can create a problem when traveling overseas. Some countries have 120v/240v shaving outlets in bathrooms and these will work well to charge this trimmer. Don't try to charge it from a 240v outlet! I generally relied upon the different-sized (& incompatible) outlets overseas to warn me to use a voltage converter but in Thailand (and perhaps elsewhere) US flat 2-pronged outlets are common but they use 240v not 120v. I was fooled by the compatibility of the outlet and quickly fried my trimmer when I plugged it into a Thai outlet. But having to carry a voltage converter when traveling overseas is a small inconvenience compared with its many benefits. This is hands down the best beard trimmer on the market and its the only one you'll ever need. Why there have been no attempts to imitate its design is amazing to me. The only way it could ever be improved is by making its charger accept universal voltage input.

What a great little trimmer! Made in Japan - something one does not see anymore in consumer products. Very convenient - no charger and cables to worry about, no 15 attachments to take an entire bathroom cabinet drawer. The blades are high quality, I haven't had a single hair pull for the couple of months I've used it. I oil the blades after every other use and hope they will last a long time. The battery seems good enough for a short vacation even in a country with incompatible power (the trimmer works only on 120VAC). I trim about twice a week. The last charge was a month ago so it lasted 6-8 uses already and still has juice left. Without the plastic guard the lowest trim is about 1mm which is good enough. It will not give you the smooth shave feel and look but 1mm is more than sufficient to make the rest of the beard stand out. For special occasions I take out my razor. Each position on the sliding trim guard is a 3mm increment: 1 - 3mm 2 - 6mm 3 - 9mm 4 - 12mm 5 - 15mm 6 - 18mm I highly recommend this trimmer. I wish more things were so thoughtfully designed. Update 7 months later. Still working perfectly fine. No complains. Great little machine. Update February 2024. Still working great!

I have had a number of these trimmers over the years. They have a great blade that trims hair very closely and cleanly. However, the battery life is the one bad thing about this item. And when the battery goes, the trimmer is no good because the battery is not replaceable. Was excited to see this trimmer on the market again, but have to wonder if someone just found some old stock to sell. I charged trimmer according to the directions- it trimmed for about 15 minutes before losing a charge. Recharged it and it acts like it has lost its charge already- after one use

This is an old model, battery did not last long (1.5 yrs.)I would buy a newer model.

The primary reasons that I bought this was that it was pretty much "self-contained", meaning there was no additional parts to keep track of (charger, charger cord, various size blade guards, etc.), and the price was reasonable. Have used it twice, and while it isn't the best trimmer I ever bought, it's adequate, and the "pros" outweigh the "cons".

Great quality!

I have been amazed that the original one still worked - was just telling my wife that 2 days before it quit. I knew it was going to quit for years - never in stock - ANYWHERE! Amazon has always had a listing. I even found a Portuguese YouTube video on how to replace the battery that i have saved. So when it quit I ordered a new rechargeable battery. After I ordered I thought I'd look one more time for it. Amazon had it. I have tried over the years to find something else just in case. Even bought the battery powered smaller version Panasonic ER240B. Nothing works as well or is as portable. The fact that it does not use a charging base, charging cable, etc is amazing. Simply slide out the 2 prong plug from base of shaver and plug it into the wall. No heads to change if you want to cut your beard a little longer, just slide the guide up or down. Nothing to loose (except the oil bottle). I had to charge the old one the day before I intended to use it which ain't bad for a 15 year old battery. I kept shaver oiled and clean. The new one is exactly the same as old one externally. I'm sure the old one had a NiCad battery. Nothing on the box says what this new one's battery is. It cuts clean with a wide cuttng surface. This thing is small - about the size of a candy bar - so easy to take with you for trips. Mostly plastic but feels solid in your hand. Fits inside your dopp kit with no issue. If you trim your own beard between haircuts, BUY THIS BEFORE IT DISAPPEARS again! You won't be sorry! P.S. I kept the battery so that's my next project to get old one back up and running P.S.S. Just noticed it went up eleven bucks to fifty bucks since last week P.P.P.S. Instructions say the proper way to dispose of NiCad Battery so its a NiCad