I had started making smoothies in my regular blender, but got tired of the mess (dirty big blender with multiple parts to clean, and dirtying another cup to drink from.) I decided I needed an all-in-one solution without spending too much. After a brief research, I figured I couldn't lose too much trying this blender for $15. It was PERFECT. My existing smoothie recipe fit in it exactly, so I did not have to make any changes or adjustment. It is just right for an individual smoothie serving. It does chop up and blend frozen fruit (bananas, strawberries, blackberries, raspberries, and blueberries) just fine. You just need to make sure there is some liquid in there to help with the blending, and you'll have to pulse a bit in the beginning to break up the larger pieces first, otherwise, it will get stuck and lodge the motor. Once it is broken up, then I can blend continuously until I am satisfied. I have been using this daily for over a month and have had no issues with the motor. It also traveled with me on vacation, to daily swim practices and weekend meets, and pretty much everywhere on the road where it got knocked around quite a bit. Yet it still lasted over seven months. I'll take a little better care of this one. It was working fine with the hairline crack, not really leaking more than a couple of drops, but since I was buying my (very much interested) dad his own for Christmas, I decided to get a new one myself. A perk of it being inexpensive! Anyhow, I was very pleasantly surprised to find a new taller lid!! I had the original thin lid in the photo, now it is like an inch and a half tall. Which is PERFECT since I always fill it up to the top, and when I blend, the smoothie overflows up through the lid due to foaming, etc. Now it doesn't anymore, YAY! Took an already perfect product and made it even BETTER. Ten stars!! Read more
I'm about to buy my 3rd one. I've got one at home, and one I take on the road with me. I'm buying a new one because the one I've had for a little over a year has finally gotten a small crack at the bottom and leaks slightly; I don't know if it's because I had stored it for a short time in sub-freezing temperatures, or just because I've used it until it cracked. Who cares? It's $12, that comes out to a buck a month. I use it anywhere from 2-10 times a week, depending on how warm it is and what I'm in the mood for. I was reading some of the other reviews complaining about several things, and I wanted to address my thoughts on those issues after having used one of these for about 2 years. Leaking around the lid: I just now filled it 3/4 full of water to test it out, since I usually make smoothies or shakes with it, and they are much too thick to leak. Yes, it will leak a bit around the slide cover of the travel lid, if you are blending thin liquids. It wasn't very bad, and if you hold your hand over the lid it won't get everywhere. All I can think of is that some of the reviewers aren't snapping the lid on completely and it's leaking around it. I've never had a smoothie leak through or around the lid. Not blending anything solid/only blending stuff on the bottom. People, if your mixture is too thick, it can't get down to the bottom to blend up correctly. A large kitchen blender will blend thicker stuff because (a) it's got a more powerful motor, and (b) a much larger blending container. When you are using this, it's better to put the liquids in first, and then the harder stuff up top; otherwise, you are going to have a very thick mixture on the bottom that can't rotate up and let the thinner stuff down. This isn't a design defect, it's just physics and the way things are. When I make smoothies, I put the ice in last, and it grinds up large chunks of ice very smoothly. If it's still a bit too thick to blend up, I add a bit more milk or juice or whatever so it will work properly. Once it gets going, it has a nice whirlpool effect and everything gets blended well. As far as the smoking motors, I have had no problem with either of mine. You can smell the motor bushings when you use it, but it's the same smell you get from every electric motor, just ask anyone who owned a model train as a kid. I only blend for less than 20 secs at a time, so maybe that's why I have never burned the motor up. You can't leave it going continuously like you might a large kitchen blender. People, this is a one serving blender, and for $12, you get more than what you pay for. I'm sure there are better ones out there, but not for even twice the price of this one; if I have to buy a new one every year, I can live with that. You can't compare it to a full sized kitchen blender and expect it to do everything the big one does. I thought about taking one star from it for a couple of things I would recommend changing about it (I think a blending lid would be a good idea, and it would make it easier to clean if you could separate the blades from the bottom), but in the end I decided that I couldn't expect those things from, once again, a $12 blender. In conclusion, it does what it professes to do (makes smoothies and shakes), does it very well if used properly, and does it for what I consider to be a bargain price. That should be the gold standard for 5 stars, in my humble opinion. Read more
