I'd been using an electric (Braun 6xxx?) for a long time until recently, when the screen tore and I haven't bought a replacement. I love the electric, but apparently I have skin of steel, since I don't have razorburn problems with the electric - but I do with blades.
However, while my electric has been out, I've switched to blades, and evaluated about 5 different kinds - it turns out that creepy vibrating razors do actually help, but the difference in closeness between 3, 4, and 5 blades is immeasurable.
As to the original question, what kind of electric do you use? One of those useless 3-rotor kind? What you need is one with the straight foils that pivots in 3 axes and is slightly flexible. My Braun was pretty nice, and has worked well for over 4 years - and it'll continue working well as soon as I feel like buying a new screen for it.
Unfortunately, razors aren't the kind of thing you can take for a test-drive in the store. They should be.