"Being near Christmas at the time, I splurged and bought a Braun (Series 7) electric razor, but it didn't live up to expectations."

The manual says that there's an adjustment period.

That said, I have a Nixonian beard, and use the Braun 7 Tuesdays-Fridays.

On Mondays, as I allow the beard to grow over the weekend, use the Shick Quattro to hack away at the weekend's growth.

i let the beard grow for a few years back then, but it was mostly gray and made me look much older than actuality, so have been sawing away at it for the past year.