After searching for a good quality at reasonable price, I found the A7SE at Sam's club. The A7SE is not listed on the Bio Bidet web site, so I had to email asking for the manual just to compare against the regular A7, and the SPA4800 available at the other club. I was confirmed by Bio Bidet that the A7SE has all the features of the A7, plus the extra air dry. The reasons I chose the A7SE are based on the fixed panel (we don't like remote control) and the Sam's club price.
I took me over two hours to have it installed, including wiring a new outlet. The installation is straight forward, but I did have some hick ups that took me longer than expected. It is up and running.
Here are some things I experienced with the installation, and the usage of the bidet:
- Installation:
1: The instruction should have shown the orientation of the plate, as it is not symmetric and could be installed backward.
2: The length of the bidet barely covers the commode seat. I had to push the plate all the way forwards in order to cover the bowl.
3: Snapping the bidet onto the mounting plate is not as easy as shown in the instructions. There are four braces/hooks that you have to line up before it snaps in.
4: I have a CF overhead lamp, the bidet is plugged into a newly installed GFCI outlet, and it keeps the CF lamp flickering. Other appliances plugged into this CGFI outlet do not cause the CF to flicker. Fortunately the outside light overcomes the annoyance of the flickering.
-Usage:
This unit sports all the basic features, plus the air dry for the SE version. I don't have any issues with the operations of the unit. However, this is the wish list that Bio Bidet could implement to improve user's experience:
1: The long strip blue light on the control panel: I expect it to be off when there is no activity, but it stays on day and night. Wish to have a dimmer or an option to turn it off completely. Same with other LEDs for the seat/water heater.
2: Wish the button are back lighted.
3: From the specs, the A7/SE draws more power than the SPA4800, but I am not sure if the listed power consumption is for the initial warm up or for the long run.
Overall, this A7SE offers all feature we need and I recommend it. It did take a bit longer than expected to get it delivered. Sam's sent me a $10 coupon for first time online order, and if you use Discover card, it also add 5% cash back (make sure you go through Discover site first).