I purchased this blender about a year ago from Wal-Mart. I've had a number of blenders over the past 30+ years but always ended up giving them away because I seldom if ever used them -- too much bother -- and have this thing about getting rid of unused stuff but finding yet another excuse why I "need" to buy another blender. I got it strictly for smoothies. I wasn't about to pay $3-4 a pop for one smoothie. I planned to do the research but when I saw this I liked how it looked and really liked the price, around $18 at the time. The spout thingy was neat, but I was really blown away by the 500 watts. How bad can it be with 500 watts? I'm not a technical person but after comparing the wattage of this one with the others on display, I knew I had nothing to lose. If it blew out after recouping the price of 4-5 smoothies, to me it would be a fair tradeoff.
It's plastic, very lightweight and easy to move around. That works for me. Soooo easy to clean and disassemble when doing a thorough clean. Immediately after use I rinse it, fill it less than half full with hot water and a drop of liquid detergent, hold the lid down and give it a couple of whirls on pulse. Take it off and shake it around to get the top clean, then rinse again and make sure I open the spout to let it drain. If you don't clean it right away, you'll have to scrub it clean. You can disengage the spout, replacing it with the screw cap at the bottom of base, if you don't want to use the spout. My smoothies are so thick now I just pour it out.
The first couple of times I used it, I smelled burning rubber but I do push this thing as far as filling it with ice and whatever else I want and doing it as quickly as I can, using the setting that gives me the quickest results, be that pulse or smoothie or whatever. Again, I like this blender so much I figure I'll replace it with the same if I blow it and it's not under warranty. (It's a 3-year warranty.) So far, so good. No more burning rubber even though I still fill it with ice and a mixture of everything.
I'm reading "Green for Life" so I've added greens, celery, carrots and other vegetables, chia seed gel, flax seed, a little honey, etc., to my juice and fruit mixtures, both frozen banana and other fresh and frozen fruit, all of these things at the same time, including ice cubes. DELICIOUS! My husband didn't like the vegetables added at first but now he really looks forward to them, which is just about every day or every other day now. The blender works like a charm. It doesn't pulverize the greens (spinach or romaine lettuce)100%. There's a small amount of greens that doesn't get chopped up - but very minute bits that aren't that noticeable and not worth the price for a higher-priced, "better" blender as none of them get 100% 5-star reviews anyway and mine works well enough to suit my needs. No problem whatsoever with ice. It has only bogged down on me once, but I just turned it off and nudged it around with wooden spoon and it's been good to go. Now, if I can remember, I put the ice cubes in after the juice, which is first. Sometimes I put them in last.
I'm not that easy to please, but I'm very satisfied with this blender. It's still a pleasure to use. I'm sending one to my son for his bday.
UPDATE 2/16/15 Before purchasing my Vitamix 5200,I re-ordered the above HB blender. It didn't look the same as my original HB blender and when I used it, it leaked all over the place from the spigot and it was closed. I returned it. It could've been a fluke.
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Reviews with images
The dispenser spigot is an unnecessary hinderance
First off, the dispenser is a gimmick. The pitcher only holds enough for a couple of drinks, so why not just pour them? It comes with a screw-on cap to use in place of the dispenser, but even that is a hinderance because you still have to remove it to wash the pitcher, otherwise debris can get trapped in it.I don't know what they mean by "wave-action" mixing. It mixes in a whirlpool, just like any other blender I've ever seen. You can see in the picture that the blades are arranged the same as other blenders.It makes about as much noise as other blenders in this price range.On the upside, it's easy to take apart for cleaning, having only 6 parts. There are 7 parts in the picture because you use either the dispenser OR the screw-on cap.This is just a basic, run-of the-mill blender - no better, no worse, but with an annoying gimmick attached to the front .
