Amazon.com Customer Reviews
Planned Obsolescence - Review written on September 27, 2008
Rating: 1 out of 5
1 customer found this review not to be helpful.
Here are two things Phillips will not tell you about their Sonicare toothbrushes and heads.
1) The collar that holds the toothbrush to the handle will disintegrate in a couple of months. That's what prompted this review, because they would not replace mine after it fell apart two weeks after purchasing a replacement.
They manufacturer these things to disintegrate so you will continue to buy replacements - planned obsolescence. However, I suspect their China supplier is skimping on the plastic specifications and they fall apart in weeks instead of months. (Do you think China would really do that?)
2) UNPLUG your base until you need to charge the toothbrush. If you charge it up overnight, then unplug the base, the toothbrush will work for four brushings per day for about a month. Then, when it signals or stops, plug the base in to charge it.
This method will allow your toothbrush to work for five years or longer. If you keep the base plugged in all the time, these NiCad batteries develop memory and will stop functioning after 18 to 24 months.
A bonus, if you travel a lot as I do, you don't have to pack the charger. Just make sure it's topped off and you're good for a month's vacation.
Will this fit my brush? - Review written on August 17, 2008
Rating: 2 out of 5
The rating for the over all sonicare brush I would give is a 5, but why make it so hard to match replacement heads to the unit you have? My brush says: "PHILIPS Sonicare" and then, etched into the bottom, "061009 HX9500". With Philips changing their models every year, you would think that Philips, or even amazon would list all compatable models with their replacement heads, but they don't. Why? Do they hope we'll give up and buy a whole new unit? So who does list this info? The only people who really care about selling small amounts of items at a time:
eBay sellers!
Doesn't matter what you're looking for, Google your model number, what you're trying to replace, with "ebay", and then click on the first eBay link on the list.