Are you talking about those mechanical plucking devices?
I have one of those. I wouldn't say its as effective as waxing. It's just like manually plucking your hair but it's mechanized so it does it like million times faster. The one I have doesn't pull the hairs from the roots just like when you pluck with a tweezer. And it's more painful unlike waxing which does the job quick with one pull and you can get it over with fast.
It looks like this??

This one is called the Epilady.
http://www.epilady.com/legend.asp
I would also be a good candidate for laser hair removal since I'm rather on the fair skined side with dark hair but I couldn't afford the repeated treatments. I need to win the lottery!!! I bought Andrea Sugaring kit yesterday and tried it. It was bad. I prefer my Nair Spa roll on wax, it applies thinly and more evenly than the sugaring kit that I got. I want to try Nad's but $30 a jar is a little over my budget.