Blender Reviews

My former roommate had a Hamilton Beach blender that was great - it would blend up anything I put in it, and it was fast, quiet, and efficient. So when she moved out and took the blender with her, I went and bought this one, thinking it would be the same. How wrong I was. The very first time I used it the blender gave off that 'hot' smell and quit working until it cooled down. The second time I used it, it stopped working for good.

And reading the reviews for other Hamilton Beach blenders, it sounds like this is hardly a rare occurrence. I don't know what the deal is, but I'm taking it back and you can bet I'll be exchanging it for a different brand.

I bought this blender because of the larger-than-average jar size. This turned out to be its only positive attribute.

This is the loudest blender I have ever owned. I kid you not, I generally wear ear plugs while using it. Also, it does a very poor job on ice. I have made frozen margaritas a few times using this blender, and it has always been a battle. I suspect that the shape of the jar is largely responsible.

I suggest you look into a higher quality blender with a smaller capacity. It's better to have to make more batches than to be required to "help" the blender manually every time.

Hamilton Beach is the number one brand in blenders and this wiz at whirring is a good reason why. Easy on the eyes and on kitchen counter top clutter it has an easy cord wrap for tidy storage. Bound to be a favorite of Sunday-only cooks and gourmet chefs it has an extremely powerful motor that makes quick work of vegetables and breaks ice in a jif. With its regulated 12 speeds we can blend to our preferences. A streamlined and commodious plastic jar is a plus size - holding 56 full ounces, so this blender accommodates family-size fixings or treats for a crowd. And those aren't all the pluses: a 2 oz. measuring filler-cap makes adding ingredients a breeze; easy to clean buttons and base keep it sparkling, and a "SureRest" jar base keeps it from tipping. This blender is not only a wizard but a workhorse, too.

Never got the blender working, but the cigarette lighter worked fine.

We bought this thinking it would be a lot of fun on our camping trip. Boy were we wrong! The first night it did not work at all. The second night I tried pushing the tip of the plug in a couple times and realized it was stuck, so after a little while it started to move a bit, and then it worked. The next problem came becuase the bottom of the base says you have to do one minute on and one minute off but the instruction booklet says something completely different. Either way after 15 minutes of cyclying on and off I had nothing but smaller peices of ice and a broken blender. Don't waste your 21.99 unless you just want to use the pitcher as an oversized shaker as we did!

Great item! Luckily, I read reviews before buying this at my local store which gave me patience. Several people complained that it never worked. By looking under the pitcher I could see the little ramp underneath that must be aligned with the gray switch on the right side on the top of the base. IT WORKS. Just be sure the pithcer handle is at the right like the picture above and you're in business! 12 volt DC coffee maker works great too.

I hate this blender. Its on its way back to the store. I've never gotton it to stop leaking. It is very hard to get the top on and off of the base. The base is very lightweight and the top heavy. When it is full of liquid it is very easy to tip over. Junk.

From the moment it came out of the box it has been trouble. A break on the lid occured immediatly, this had to be a defect since the piece broke off when I put it on. Releasing the glass unit from the stand is a pain, pushing the release button does not work. After 1 use, the blender is leaking. I took it apart to fix the leak and had problems getting the lid off, I threw it in the garbage after owning it less than 24 hours

The double safety lock system is a little bit complex.But if you know how to deal with it,it realy help.Every thing is very
good when I use it.

I received the Smoothie Jr. as a gift and was so excited. After unpacking the machine I realized I was missing the stir stick. Back to Basics was wonderful!!! They sent one to me free of charge. I was ready to make great milkshakes and smoothies. My first attempt flopped. I tried a simple milkshake, but it would not mix up, let alone dispense from the dispenser. I kept adding milk to make it thinner, but it never would work.

I thought, maybe it's my fault, let's try again. I tried using a banana, strawberry yogurt, orange marmalade, 1/2 cup crushed ice and used over a cup of milk. The machine wouldn't even chop the banana, let alone finish off the ice. I am very frustrated with the machine, and hate to tell the person who gave it to me.

Good Luck with yours should you decide to purchase. You may want to try the Elite, it could be stronger.

For what most places charge for the "Smoothie Jr.", I suggest spending the extra couple of bucks to get a "Smoothie Elite". However, I got this on sale for only 20 bucks.

If you need a blender and want a smoothie maker, like I did, just get the smoothie maker. It is capable of all the things a blender is, but it also has a dispenser valve.

Mine came with a 'blender cap' so you can take off the dispenser valve and use it as a regular blender.

If you need all of those various speeds and setting, get the "Smoothie Plus". It has the convenience of a smoothie maker with all the settings of a blender.

Broke in 40 seconds after a burning smell in first use.

OK, I was looking for a professional blender to make "killer margaritas", but I found this one for 30 bucks. It had Maragrita in it's name, so I was curious - how can an inexpensive blender make a good margarita?
It arrived, it's all plastic - but that's ok, hopefully it won't break :)
It works! it takes a little practice, and time, with the pulse button to break the ice cubes - but the results are incredible!!
The margarita came out like a "Chili's Margarita" - my favorite! and you can put some more tequila in it to make it a better margarita!
Overall, it's a little wimpy, has a hard time breaking ice cubes, but the margarita that it makes is perfect! - minus a couple ice cubes that didn't break-up. But if you like the margaritas that come out of the machine at "Chili's Restaraunt", this unit will make one just like it.

I had purchased from walmart and it died on me. The motor died. Replaced with another under warranty. The second on died. It quit while blending tomatoes. I called Oster and they replaced it with a new one with a LCD screen. I believe they are aware of this defective model. Let's see if this one unit survives. I suggest others with this model get an upgrade.

Intuitive's blending performace is very comparable to the high-end Vita Mix blenders. It made perfect smoothies, blended ice beautifully, and chopped vegetables and nuts. So I was very happy with the Oster -- until it broke after three months.

The part that spins the blades came off. Contrary to what some say, the base is not all-metal -- the blade spinner rubber inside. That is why I would smell burnt rubber whenever I used it.

My mom also had bought the blender but is returning it because of the smell.

If the base was indeed all-metal, this blender would be perfect.

I've own my blender for 3 months and use it daily; I think it's worth every penny. My previous blenders were much cheaper and had plastic drive and over time the plastic either broke or wore dull. I purchased the Oster Inspire In2itive Blender/Food Processor because 1) it has all metal drive design 2) the glass pitcher is thick and durable; which is hard to find these days 3) the base design is compact and sleek, and 4) the one-touch 10-preprogrammed cycles with the option for manual cycle.

I've found the In2itive blender to be very durable when chopping high density items such as ice, nuts, or vegetables. Unlike many blenders, Oster still uses all-metal drives with 500 watts so it doesn't overheat or strain to chop high density food.

Clean up of the blender is a very simple. With a FIRM twist of the bottom the glass container separates, leaving the sealing ring, VERY SHARP triple blade unit, and plastic "jar" (connects everything to base). I've never placed the blender components in the dishwasher so I don't know how well they hold up.
Like other reviewers, I had one leakage experience which occurred several days after I got the unit. The leakage was not due to poor workmanship, but I failed to tighten the glass container to the plastic "jar" causing the sealing ring not to seal properly. Luckily, my first ingredient was water so pouring the water out and turning it over to tighten the jar wasn't a big deal. Due to the weight of the glass container, I doubt if I could tighten the jar without turning it over. After washing and reassembling the unit, you MUST TWIST FIRMLY the jar so the sealing ring compresses against the glass container.

The downside to this blender is its "intuitive" nature. It knows exactly when the base is slightly misaligned - either the blender will not start or it will stop during one of the programmed settings. The easy and only resolution is to lift the container from the base and place it back on.

Overall I'm extremely pleased with this blender and would highly recommend it to others. If the price is drawback, I recommend purchasing any of the other Oster blenders with the all-metal drive.

We love the programming and the blending but we have to double the amount as it leaks half of what you put in. We did contact Oster and though much confusion got a new gasket and blade assembly. And it lasted three uses before it started LEAKING AGAIN!!

Not recommended. This would be a great blender - if it didn't break. The gear used to drive the blades is connected to the motor by plastic (or some form of rubber, I'm not sure.) Regardless, the 'plastic' wore off after 4 months of regular use, making the blender unusable. This was a present, without a receipt, so we were worried about the return policy. The good news is we called Oster customer service directly. They were polite and are letting us exchange the blender by mail. They say it will take a few weeks. Until then, we will be looking forward to having our morning smoothies again.

I don't think this product should be advertised as a blender and food processor. First the good news: as a blender it works great for me. It does well on everthing I've tried: milkshakes, smoothies, soups, purees, batters. I had to constantly shake my old blender and stir things up, but this one works well on all the automatic programs or manually. I didn't really expect it to work well as a food processor, and indeed it didn't. Chopping onions in it (according to the directions in the manual) resulted in a mix of big pieces and liquid onion--not pretty. I also had to pre-cut the onions so small that it didn't really save any time. As for the leaks, this happened to me too, but then I found out that the gasket wasn't seated properly. I now reassemble it more carefully, making sure the gasket is completely under the "lips" of the bottom part before putting the glass container on. I would actually give this product 4 stars if they didn't advertise it to work as a food processor.

When I ordered this, I thought I was getting such a deal! I now know why it was so cheap - it's faulty and they were trying to unload them!! I used this one day and it worked great - I was very impressed - the next day I went to use it again and the plastic piece that turns the blades shattered! After doing some research on the net, I found that this is a very common problem with this model. I can get it fixed if I send it at my expense or pay ... for the part and replace it myself. Customer service at Cuisinart was not very helpful.

This piece of junk has been sitting on my counter for months - I use it to store tea bags. Don't waste your money on this - it's not what they claim it to be.

I have owned a 7-speed Cuisinart blender for a year. The performace is inferior. Banana smoothies still have lumps after minutes of blending. It has been a long time since I have been so disgusted by a product. Also, the disk with the teeth in the center of the base unit (that meshes with the one on the bottom of the container to turn the blade) is prone to shatter if you lift the container while it is running. Cuisinart will send a replacement part for free, but it is a pain to install. There is no reason why this part should not be made of shatterproof material. I recommend avoiding this product.

Excellent product. One of the best blenders I have used. It has all the great features in one blender like: Glass Jar, pouring spout, easy clean touch plate, and best of all cosumer reports also tops it in the blender category.

I simply love the easy of use of this product.

Bought this to replace an aging blender. Unfortunately we only got to use the blender twice. The third time, the blade stopped rotating. The plastic part that is on the outer side for interfacing to the base started rotating by itself.
Buying this was a complete waste, and this will be the last time we buy a cuisinart product.
Would have given ZERO stars - but the scale goes only to 1 star.

I bought this machine to replace a $15 Hamilton Beach blender that was ready for the Salvation Army. Now I'm going to give this piece of junk away instead. First, it isn't "18-speed" - it's just a continuous adjustment from slow to faster. They could just as well call it 6 or 12 or 24 or 32 speed. Second, it can't even completely blend a ripe banana into a milk shake without leaving 2 or 3 little balls of banana in the bottom. And third, it's EXTREMELY noisy - screams and vibrates like it's trying to destroy itself. I bought a Cuisinart food processor about 20 years ago, and it is still an excellent machine that I use frequently. It's hard to believe this ... blender bears the same name.

It's a blender that does its job with ease and speed. I also tried the Braun PowerMax 2000 and this is a definite winner.

Got our Cuisinart blender from Macy's; with normal usage, after about a year, clutch assembly (round black plastic part at base) broke into two pieces.

I thought I should be able to fix this rather easily. Wrong. Called their customer service, had to mail a disclaimer form first, then they shipped me the replacement part. After opening the blender, realized that since the part that broke still has metal attachment bonded, it won't be easy to fix it. Sigh.. giving up on this one. I thought my case was unusual, but after looking at reviews, this looks like a badly designed/manufactured product. Will not buy or recommend another Cuisinart product again.

I thought this blender was a good deal when I bought it, but I was mistaken. When I first used it, it gave off an odd smell, like burning plastic. I thought that simply might be a factor of the newness and expected it to go away with time. Months later, it still smelled every time I used it. Not only that, it was LOUD. With every use, I had to tolerate the loud whining sound of the motor. One day, it simply stopped rotating the blade. It turned out that the black plastic wheel on the base (the one that couples with the wheel on the bottom of the blender pitcher to spin the blade) just broke in two, thus rendering the base useless. I was very disappointed. After reading the trouble people have had with customer service at Cuisinart, I decided it was too much trouble to seek a repair/replacement from them. I simply bought another brand that I hope will provide better, more reliable service.

I have read some of the other reviews and am sad to relate that I too had the clutch/coupling fail on my blender as well. After a lot of searching on the Internet I found a place that actually carries the part (in Canada). For those of you who would rather spend another few dollars to fix your blender rather than buy a new one, I thought I'd share the link. So here it is: http://www.shaverspot.com/CuisinartParts.html
I just ordered the new clutch/coupling today and will hopefully have a working blender again soon.