trimmer kept disconnecting from the main body of the shaver. I am glad that Braun fixed this in the 340S-4 model.

I shave every day, and I shave my full head, not just my face. I find this Braun 340S-4 to be very comfortable, close shaving, well made and non-irritating. I have nothing to say against this shaver, but it IS on the pricy side.

I do have to rework some areas of my head and face to get the shave that I want, but I so far have not seen any shaver that did better.

I get three shaves from a single charge which is better than the 5776 did, but I miss the fact that the 5776 allowed me to shave while charging, which the newer 340S-4 does not (it will not charge & shave at the same time). Beware, if you sometimes fail to charge your shaver, you may get half a shave. There is a red warning light though, and you probably have a full shave left even when it comes on, but do not ignore it.

The engineering of the 340S-4 seems well thought out and built to last, but only time will tell. I got about a year and a half to two years of life from my previous Braun shavers. The feature that spells certain death for the Braun shavers has been the hinge-joint which allows the shaver head to swivel as you perform you shave. It eventually breaks rendering the shaver useless. This doubtful advantage has been thankfully removed in the 340S-4. From past experience, I have noticed that recharge life will gradually shorten over time until the shaver becomes next to useless as well, unless you can recharge while shaving. This is normal for any rechargeable battery, but there is no way to replace this battery in the Braun shavers, so this may be the new Achilles heal of the 340S-4.

I do not miss the black carry case of the older shavers because the carry case was poorly designed anyway and would break into two pieces at the flimsy hinge. Also the case would soon warp so that the two halves did not properly align after only a few months of use. This 340S-4 does not have a carry case at all but rather a plastic head cover which is one piece and pretty much gets the job of protection done.

the Panasonic.

The Panasonic shaves closer, quicker, charges quicker, and replacement blades are also much cheaper.

using daily) and it has a great little trimmer for sideburns or neck hair. If you want an electric razor, spend no more, look no more. this is it. It also is waterproof and specifically states you can use with shaving gel/foam and or soap. I don't but you can, probably ladies would be interested in that. Its much better than the braun I had 30 years ago, but not much has changed. I guess when its not broken, braun isn't going to fix it. That is impressive.

UPDATE 9/2014: OK, I have been using this for several months now, and thought I would update. First off, the good:
1- Shaves good --IF CLEAN.
2- Great battery life, (1 week plus)
3- light weight
4- nice charger stand
5- easy to disassemble and clean
6 trimmer works great

THE BAD:

If this is not cleaned (rinsed out with blade off), every 2 days or so, you will notice the quality of the shave declines rapidly. It will get to the point it almost does nothing. So its imperative you keep this cleaned out. The other issue I have is that the trimmer is very awkward and kind of ungainly. Its good for trimming side burns, but its almost worthless for trimming around ears or neck because of the size and angles that the trimmer is mounted.

All in all for under 60$ I am very impressed and very happy. Initially I was going to remove a star, but as I think about it, my big issue is that I need to clean it? I mean that is a given, and how can I deduct for that. I point it out so that you are aware of it and you keep yours cleaned vs thinking its not working.

I hope this is helpful.