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- Verified Buyer
Stop your endless searching and comparing. Let me start by saying that I've had my eye on a bidet seat for well over a few years. I started building a house and thought to save all luxury expenses until after the home was built, which is what happened. I've been in my house for nearly a month and this seat was my latest luxury appointment added to my dream home. I know this is a big investment for most of you so I'll break it down as much as possible. Since there is always some kind of compromise when retrofitting something like an existing toilet, let's start with the good, then I'll talk about the bad, if you can call it bad. I will also address this brand versus others.The Pros: It's simply human nature to follow in the footsteps of generations past. Most of us were raised knowing how to use a toilet and after simply wiping with a tissue. The more we wipe, the cleaner the tissue gets, but we all know it only really gets mostly clean. We accept that as good enough since it's simply how everyone does it. The pro part is that this product really works. I mean it REALLY cleans. When you lightly tab-dry your spot after cleaning, there is no trace of anything. Nothing. There is also this sense of satisfaction knowing that you're even cleaner than you used to be. That's also how I felt after moving from a regular toothbrush to a Sonicare years ago.Before I mention the Cons, I'll say that the Pros outweigh the cons by miles.The Cons: There is usually some compromise when you retrofit something. In this case, the seat is a fairly large statement sitting atop the toilet. It's wider and bulkier than a toilet seat and although you'd know that going in, once in place, I lost the beautiful lines of my expensive Toto toilet. Now, if I had to put a rating on the pro vs con, I would say 10 points to the pro and 3 for the con. Pro wins!So yes, I'm completely willing to give up the clean lines of my toilet for this utility I don't want to live without now.So let's now discuss features, price and how I ended up with this particular brand and model. If you're anything like me, you'll read a thousand reviews and compare and compare and compare till you feel you have your best answer. I did just that and thought for sure I was getting a Brondell swash 900 or 1000. It was a better value than Toto and the reviews were great. Only at the time I was ready to pull the trigger did I stumble on SmartBidet and starting comparing features. It came down to this: I didn't want to spend upwards of $500 for something that could fail in a few years, so I made a price limit for myself which was $300 and under. After reading a lot of reviews, I felt the features of this model were on par with others' which were more expensive and reviews seemed to back this product up. I'll admit, I've had this installed for about 48 hours, but I've run it through its paces and I would give up my Sonicare toothbrush before giving this up.Operation: This seat has more things than I actually wanted, but more is better than less. I didn't need a heated seat or even heated water. I live in Southern California, so only time will tell if I ever use either function. On those few cold weeks, we have here in LA, I might revisit these functions. I've tested them, and they work, but I don't feel the need to heat anything. I prefer this remote version to the versions with the controls on the side of the seat, mostly for aesthetics and cleanliness. Also, there is a dryer function that works well, but as another reviewer also stated, you're stirring around a lot of air particles that you might want to leave alone. I will say, though, it does dry pretty well. You'll still need a light tap with toilet tissue. The functions I feel are great are Nozzle Position and Oscillate. Only on my second use did I discover the water pressure + and - function and WOW. The top pressure might take graffiti off a block wall. Okay, not that strong but it made you chuckle right? Variable pressure is a great option for sure.******* 5-YEAR UPDATE*******So, five years later it still performs like new. Also, I've only had to change the batteries in the remote once in all this time. Also, I have a tip if you're going to buy one:Click the Energy Saver button on the remote so the unit has (2) red LED lights on. One for power, the other for Energy Saver. It will stay in this mode, just verify now and then by looking for both LEDs to be lit up. The reason you want this is so the heating element for the water sprayer only goes on after you sit on the seat. Otherwise, it will be warming the seat 24/7 and since it uses conductive heating, that can cost you on the electric bill. Besides, it starts to warm the water once you sit and only takes about 60 seconds. You need that time to do your business anyway, usually. It might also warm the toilet seat, but let's get real. It's plastic. However cold your home might be, a plastic seat warms with your body in about 5 seconds or less anyway.***********UPDATE**********Just after the 5-year mark, it started blowing outlet circuit breakers. I thought it was the outlet and changed it. The unit will always work initially, but when I return to the toilet, the breaker the GFI circuit it tripped. I'm now going to consider a new one. I'm not sure if I'll get the same version again or a different one. for 5 years, it worked great until it failed.
