Honestly, that line about it being "the only thing that worked" is so real. Some hair just laughs at the standard rules. Tbh it's frustrating when you have to go through so many tries to finally get it right.

Eighty dollars for a machine that just makes hot garbage soup? That's brutal. You'd think for that price it would actually, you know, compost things. My neighbor had one and it just sat there buzzing and making the whole kitchen smell like a damp basement. The whole point is to avoid the mess, not create a new weird science project.

My buddy found a real one after six months.

Freezing drives is a last-ditch trick for newer hardware with stuck parts. That old drive probably has different failure points, like degraded coatings. You might just kill it for good with the moisture.

Honestly, that "night and day" difference sounds like extra work for no real payoff. Most people never even look that close at a berber floor. That shaving and tucking method seems like it could weaken the seam over time, no matter how much sealer you use. Butting edges cleanly is the standard for a reason, it's strong and it holds up. Chasing a totally invisible seam on loop pile is kind of a fool's errand, the texture itself hides minor lines anyway.