Oster 6706 6-Cup 450-Watt, 10-Speed Blender, Black

Had this blender for a year and use it several times a week to make fruit and veggie smoothies.PRO: It crushes ice perfectly well, no problems whatsoever if you put in no more than 5 cubes at a time.PRO: No problem with frozen fruit (I used berries) or fresh fruit. I blended tough mangos, melons, pineapple, strawberries, celery, carrots, beets. apples (and I don't cut them too small beforehand). I use the "ice crusher/pulse" button to break all the food down, then switch to the liquify feature. I even grated almonds in it.Admittedly, the smoothies do not come out as smooth and perfectly blended as professional blenders (but also it might be that I'm too impatient to leave the blender running for several minutes at a time; I usually don't blend for more than 1-2 minutes) but they're not chunky, they're perfectly drinkable.PRO: I was worried about the plastic jar, but it's proven pretty tough. Hasn't cracked yet. I wash everything by hand, so can't speak as to how well it holds up in a dishwasher. But it's not nearly as delicate as it appears. Very easy to clean and store.In regards to the plastic top being a hazard by slipping too easily thru the rubber--I don't know how hard everybody was pushing it in; just don't push it in so hard and it won't fall in!CON: It did smell like burning rubber the first few times I used it, but that's gone now. The blender is loud, but most blenders are loud.You hear the ventilation on the bottom, but even after I run it for 3,4 minutes straight it doesn't overheat.CON: The cord is very short.CON: The jar does not lock in place, and the blender shakes when it's handling a lot of food or when it's on pulse mode. So you have to hold it, at least for the first minute until the blending becomes smoother. This is the only real con that I take issue with.IN GENERAL, it's a fine blender for the price. Makes great smoothies, just takes a little care while handling.

Exceptional blender

I replaced my old Oster blender (white) with this one (black). The motor in the old one is still good but the little metal thing that attaches to the jar that spins finally broke. All the parts seem to be exactly the same except the new one is black where the old one was white. This one is a little quieter and seems to be more efficient. I use this almost exclusively to make smoothies. The ingredients for the smoothie are 1 cup almond almond milk, tablespoon of peanut butter, tablespoon of chocolate powder, 2 frozen bananas, about a cup of frozen blueberries, and 8 - 10 nice sized frozen strawberries. I put the strawberries in last but have to put them in one at a time. And when I put them in, I keep the cover off and push them down with a spoon. The drink is so thick at this point that there is no back splash. Be careful not to push the strawberry down too far or the spoon might get scratched by the blade. Anyway, the reason I'm telling you this is because this smoothie is very thick at the end of the process and the Oster is more efficient and quick making it than the ninja. I borrowed the ninja from a friend for a week and I like my Oster much better. The way I make my smoothie I have to frequently stop the blender and move the ingredients around to get all the chunks blended. The Oster does a little better job of this and it's so much easier. With the Oster I keep the top off, turn off the motor, and can mix the ingredients or take off the jar and shake it. With the ninja it's a 2 part process of taking off the motor, then taking off the top, then mixing. And while stirring, the ninja blades get in the way. Also, the oster has several speeds while the ninja has one. I like both products but for what I do, the Oster is superior. And cheaper!

I just bought one of these to replace.. well, one of these. I have used many "budget" blenders like this one in the past and I finally decided that this is my favorite one in this general price range. My old one's motor actually worked just fine, it is just that I ended up cracking the plastic jar. Ordering a replacement jar was only about $2 cheaper than just buying the entire new setup, so I went ahead and replaced the whole thing.I only use mine for smoothie-type drinks, but I usually have 3 each day. Each one has 20 to 25 whole ice cubes and this blender has no problem grinding them up and blending my smoothies. I would say that my old one went through 500 shakes or so before the jar started cracking and the motor was still good to go. You can get a lot of use out of one of these things making it a solid $20 investment.There are 10 speeds (5 buttons each with high and low functions) and a pulse button that makes it easy to chop up little residual bits that evade the high speed blades. I feel like I really put this thing through a beating and it takes it without much effort. One thing worth noting is that it won't entirely "smooth" some ingredients, kale in particular. Small bits are left of some vegetables. Then again, this is a blender and not a juicer.If you are looking for an inexpensive blender that can handle icey drinks and smoothies without burning out on you, I would highly recommend trying this one out. Like I said, I got several hundred uses out of my old one and it would still be working for me now had I not needed to replace the plastic jar. Whenever this one runs its course I will probably end up buying yet another.

This is a pretty good blender for the price.It does a good job of removing all of the lumps in whatever is being blended. Unlike the old blender I used to use it also does a good job of getting rid of the little "flecks" of spinach that used to appear in the spinach/fruit smoothies I like to make.As some other reviewers have mentioned, the lid is made of flimsy rubber and is somewhat floppy. However, I haven't found this to be much of a problem since it stays on the blender well enough. The plastic jar seems a little cheap, but that's to be expected for the price and it is functional. The largest flaw seems to be that when the blender runs on one of the high settings for a while, sometimes a faint sent of what smells like burning plastic/rubber is noticeable, which is somewhat concerning. However, the operation of the blender doesn't seem to be effected.