Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I have had this blender now for a month and have used it daily. I do like this thing. Here are the pros and cons I have experienced: Pros 1. The Ninja works really, really well. I have used just about every type of vegetable and fruit in the blender so far, and the Ninja complete decimates all of them into a very, very smooth drink. I also used the blender to puree raw organic pumpkin seeds for our pets (pumpkin seeds have a natural enzyme in them that paralyzes tapeworms, so they leave your pet's digestive tract, and pumpkin seeds are much cheaper than tapeworm meds). The seeds became very fine dust/paste. 2. The price was decent. I bought mine for $119 with tax, adding $14 for a two-year warranty. 3. Its widest point is small compared to other appliances. The blender takes up less than 36 square inches of counter space, as the base is a tad smaller than six by six, and the widest spot is the attachment area, at six by six. 4. It is super easy to clean. I can rinse out the blade disc in hot water and it is ready to use again. The base can be wiped clean if you do not put the lid on tight enough with minimal effort. The cups and lids rinse clean very quickly. 5. It is kind of cute. Sue me: I like cute appliances. Cons 1. The Ninja is LOUD. If you plan on using this in a household with sleeping people, expect to wake someone up. I would place the decibel level at 80 to 85 or so. It is comparable to a garbage disposal with a spoon in it. 2. It might move on you. When I am blending a full 24-ounce cup of stuff, the base rumbles a bit. Place a pot holder under it. 3. It might heat nuts or seeds while blending them. I used this to dust raw pumpkin seeds, and they were a bit warm when they were done. There was not enough heat to make them hot, per se, but they definitely were had a temperature. 4. The plastic issue. This point needs some explaining and might be connected to some of the complaints others have had over the years about the Ninja. The first time we used the Ninja, we made a pineapple/blueberry/pear thing with ice and some almond milk. My daughter stopped drinking it because there were all these opaque-ish and chewed up small pieces of plastic in her drink. I collected all of them: about one teaspoon of plastic shards were in the drink. I read reviews and found others said the same thing. This perplexed me a great deal! There was no place from which the plastic could have come. I began to wonder if it came from a coating on the blades. I made more smoothies, and the plastic never came back, and so I believe this to be the case. If you experience chewed-up plastic in your first drink, do not give up or take the Ninja back. It is a one-time or temporary deal. Overall, I took one star off a five-star rating for the noise and shaky base. Sadly, the warranty I bought got water damaged on my coffee table when I spilled a drink. I hope this thing lasts, because the one point I have read from other reviews is that some of these devices die an untimely death. I love the Ninja and the drinks it makes, and yes--believe it or not--I feel better now that I drink smoothies daily. While I am a huge salad eater, smoothies are portable, yummy, and easy to make. They have improved the quality of my life. Freeze your watermelon chunks for good-tasting ice!