The Hitachi wand was a birthday gift from my boyfriend at the time. I think he was embarrassed and at work, so he only looked at the high rating before putting it in the cart. Because we didn't expect it to be so massive, it took us a bit of time to get around to using it. I mean, this thing really is the size of someone's forearm. But when we finally used it... Well! Let's just say that it made me wary of using almost all other vibrators!

What I think sets the Hitachi apart from most other vibrators is the fact that it plugs into an electrical outlet. This limits mobility, but it also gives the Hitachi a ton of constant power. It's especially powerful for just a clitoral stimulator, although I think you can purchase attachments that allow you to focus and direct the vibrations in other ways, enabling you to also use it as a penetrative vibrator, if you want to spend the extra money. Unlike other vibrators, the constant source of energy means that the vibrations don't get weaker the longer you go (as batteries get low), plus you don't have to spend money buying batteries to power this thing! Of course, because of the amount of power the Hitachi has, it's not very quiet, which might prove to be a problem if you live in close quarters or if your walls are paper thin. Some people liken the sound to a jet or a lawnmower. I might not say it's so loud that people in the next building can hear, but I definitely would worry about people in the next room or in the hallway.

The Hitachi has two speed settings. When I first started using it, I hadn't been using a vibrator for a while, so it was actually too strong for me, even on the low setting. It took a few times for me to adjust to the power and figure out how to best focus and direct the vibrations, because the head of it is pretty large. Even now, I still don't ever use it on the high setting. Once I got the hang of it though, this thing could make me come over and over again for hours, although the huge plastic head would sometimes hurt my clit after a marathon session, and sometimes it would overheat. It also was so strong that if I tried using it during sex, the combined sensation was usually too much for me almost immediately. Most of the time, I'd had to stop doing everything and the guy would have to do the rest of the work for the night. But for the short amount of time we used it, the Hitachi was strong enough for the guy to feel the vibrations too (through normal cowgirl position), which I think added to his pleasure.

The head does get a little grubby as you use it, but it's plastic so it's not too bad to clean with a wet cloth. The plastic does have little grooves in it, which I don't feel add to the sensation when using it, but are a pain to clean.