Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

Previously I was using a standard Hamilton Beach blender to make smoothies and was constantly frustrated by the thing getting hung up on chunks of frozen fruit that were too big, plus it was a pain to clean. I've only had this a few days at this point, but I can't see it ever lacking for power. I tested it with some big hunks of frozen peach and it didn't even notice. I like this blender and am giving it four stars. It has some down sides: - The pitcher is plastic, so may not hold up over time. Or may become a haze of scratches after running through the washer all the time. - There is no way to add things while it is running. I like to add protein powder while everything is swirling around to keep it from sticking to the sides. - The single serve is handy, but for me the container is on the small side. On the other hand, the big pitcher is quite huge and even two people worth of smoothies flies all over the place in the big volume. - I still need to experiment, but smoothies come out chunkier in this than my previous blender. It doesn't seem to draw the food down and create the "vortex" for repeated blending. Maybe I just need to blend longer. - The blade system makes it easy to clean since you don't have to take it apart, but it also causes it to have sensors and things that prevent it from running if it doesn't think everything is locked down. Maybe not a big deal, but it was weird to me at first. It's also the reason for not being able to have it open while running to toss more things in. All in all I'm happy though and I expect this might be the only game in town for people who want something good but not commercial quality/price. EDIT: I've now had this unit for 10 months. I exclusively use it to make single serving smoothies, twice a day, using combinations of fresh and frozen fruit. At about the 8-9 month point, the single serving blade unit disintegrated. The blade is turned by rubber nubs on the motor base meshing with rubber nubs on the blade assembly (the driver system for the big pitcher is totally different). Over time, it looks like the rubber occasionally slips and begins to wear away. I emailed Ninja several times and they never wrote back. When we called on the phone, they sent us a replacement blade assembly free of charge. It's only been a month or two and the new one is also destroyed. I think it broke down faster because the rubber nubs on the base were partially gone (they are now fully ruined). Now the single serve functionality is gone unless I get a replacement base, or the parts to fix it. Overall, I think the design is poor here, since the motor has tons of power to crush ice and frozen fruit, but the "transmission" can't handle it. On an unrelated topic, I think the Ninja doesn't do the best job fully breaking down leafy greens in smoothies. If I put some spinach or kale into my smoothie, the blender will break it down into tiny pieces only, which is slightly gross compared to fully liquefying them. Given how much I use this thing, I would consider a Vitamix which (I believe) fully breaks food down. EDIT (11/16/13): I called Ninja customer service and told them how the nubs on the base had shredded themselves away. They informed me that the unit was not under warranty. I was lead to believe the unit had a 1-year warranty, but apparently items purchase on Amazon have no warranty coverage! I was, of course, welcome to buy a new blender base for $69. Yeah right. Very unimpressed. A significant number of customers must purchase Ninja products through Amazon, but Ninja will not honor any of them. Buy something else! EDIT: (12/10/13): This will be my final edit! Ninja would not honor their warranty, but amazingly, Amazon offered to take back the blender. There was a $25 restock fee, but I found this quite reasonable given that I've had, and used, the blender for nearly a year. I hope they didn't restock it - should be a "disposal" fee. Since sending off the Ninja, I ordered a refurbished Vitamix. The Vitamix is night and day compared to the Ninja. It's quieter and easier to clean, and most importantly, the smoothies are actually smooth. The Ninja, by comparison, left things very chunky. One example is that I had a fruit mix with pomegranate in it and could not use it with the Ninja because the seeds would not blend and ended up in a clump at the bottom of the glass. The Vitamix blends these into a uniform smooth consistency with everything else. If you are "serious" about smoothies (I have them twice per day), the Vitamix is worth the investment.