I used everything under sun at this point and like you I used electrics and cartridge razor for a while. Like you I never got satisfactory results from wither one. The electric was always leaving unshaved patches as you are describing. The cartridges were not much better, however they did not leave unshaved patches AND THEY COST TOO DARN MUCH. I found that the older the save method the better the shave was. And don't listen to those people you are describing they are simply listining to the advertising hype and as I said above the three jobs of a sales personel is SELL, SELL and oh did I mention SELL. If its the right product for you that's a secondary concern and of ocurse handibal lechter cut people up with a straight look at his technique, I saw the movie a few times, and he held the razor at a ninety degrees to the skin and in a slicing motion. Of course he got the results he did these are two things a straight shaver never ever does.