Tong Family

!>http://www.sonicare.com/images/products/Dsum_hero_LORES.jpg! Connie got these Sonicare toothbrushes for Calvin, but I have to say that I really love them. The only confusing thing is the names of the various versions, so here’s a decoder ring and where to buy them:

* Elite (a.k.a Best). They have two models, the Elite 9500 which has two speeds and different size brush heads as well as the Elite 7300 which has a timer on it (it beeps every 30 seconds). We have the 7500 and it is fine although superseeded by the 9500. Like all deluxe models it will even tell you how much charge it has left. The super highed is $140 at “Amazon”:http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000EHNDD0/ref=e_deav_acc_1_6/103-5447738-4251819?%5Fencoding=UTF8&s=hpc&v=glance&n=3760901 with for the person who has to have everything. Replacement heads for the E-Series are $30 for a pair. While the Elite 7500 is $105 at “Amazon”:http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00008BFXK/qid=1153799803/sr=1-2/ref=sr_1_2/103-5447738-4251819?%5Fencoding=UTF8&s=hpc&v=glance&n=3760901 and that’s a good value considering the 7300 is $101 at “Amazon”:http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00008BFXJ/ref=pd_sim_hpc_2/103-5447738-4251819?%5Fencoding=UTF8&v=glance&n=3760901 but only has a single brush, so you get another one for $5.
* Essence (a.k.a. Better). This is the middle of the line model. Main difference are that the 5500 has that pacing thing (called the Quadpacer for some marketing reason) while the lower end 5300 only has one brush head (each brush head lasts six months and is worth $10 or so) but is just “$68”:http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000AMRII0/qid=1153799914/sr=1-5/ref=sr_1_5/103-5447738-4251819?%5Fencoding=UTF8&s=hpc&v=glance&n=3760901 while the higher end one is “$90”:http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000AMRIIK/qid=1153799914/sr=1-9/ref=sr_1_9/103-5447738-4251819?%5Fencoding=UTF8&s=hpc&v=glance&n=3760901
* Advance (a.k.a Good). This is their low end 4100 model without things like a recharge indicator. It is just $50 from “Amazon”:http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00008BFXG/qid=1153799633/sr=1-3/ref=sr_1_3/103-5447738-4251819?%5Fencoding=UTF8&s=hpc&v=glance&n=3760901 and it is $20 for a single head. BTW this is also called the A series and used to be called the PS-1

Looking at this pricing, I’d say that the 5500 at $70 is probably the best value. Only small featurette you give up is the 30-second timer thing and for the difference, you end being able to another pair of heads for $30. Or if the pacing thing is important the now discontinued 7500 is a good value at $105 since it includes two heads in it.