Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I couldn't find any reviews of this, but I bought it because 1) I wanted a small blender for the smoothies I make every morning & afternoon (on a diet AGAIN, sigh...) and 2) it was the only one that had a cup that was big enough! So many of the other "personal blenders" have 12- or 16-ounce containers, but this one is 26 ounces; and when you add fruit and ice cubes to a package of Myoplex Lite chocolate cream powder, it really blows up (so to speak). Also, I'd read reviews saying some small blenders can't crush ice cubes, so I even bought small ice cube trays--but this thing has no problem with ANY size cubes. So I'm very pleased with this blender. UPDATE: Had this for about 6 weeks now, still love it. I throw in skim milk or water, the powder, frozen strawberries from Costco (they're great), and 3 large or 6 small ice cubes, and in about a minute it's all blended up. I might take it off the blending stand for few seconds to shake it up if some of the powder's gotten stuck on the top (which turns into the bottom when you turn it over and drink out of it), but that's no problem. And best of all, when I'm done with the shake, I just wash the cup, the lid, & the cap with the blades in it, and I'm done. Tip: If you're making a smoothie or protein shake using powder, just put about half an inch of water (or whatever liquid you want) in the bottom, THEN the powder, then ice cubes and the rest of the liquid/other ingredients. That way, the powder doesn't stick to the bottom. NOTE: I don't like to drink straight from the mug with the travel lid on, because it's pretty hard to get the liquid out. I also got tired of drinking out of the mug with NO lid on it, because you're drinking over the "threads" at the top. I considered buying an inexpensive "sipping rim" that screws on, which is available from Back to Basics' website (it's sold with their other blender), but instead I just put the lid on and use a 10"-long, 12mm wide glass straw from GlassDharma (don't get the 14mm straw, it won't fit thru the hole--I found that out the hard way). You can buy it from GlassDharma's online site [update: they now sell 4 of the 10" 12mm straws as a set for only $36 and only $4 shipping). Their customer service is great. Can't get them Amazon, tho, this size isn't available). UPDATE 3/30/12 Well, I'm still using this thing, still really liking it. I have to say, I was surprised to read the negative reviews (mine was the first review, so I never read the negative ones...) 'cause I haven't had any of those problems. I HAVE had a couple smaller issues, tho: 1) Because the lid is so damn hard to get off once it's screwed on well, I ended up having to buy a lid-loosener; I tried the rubber "doily gripper" types, but they weren't strong enough; so I got the Back to Basics 285 Jar Lid Wrench--works great, and matches the cup (you know, I just realized it's the same company--I wonder if they came up with it for specifically this product...? Either way, it's the only one that was strong enough to get this lid off, it's a real b**ch to pry open). 2) After I'd been using the blender for about a year, the handle broke off the cup as I tried to open it. Fortunately I'd recently bought one of the black sets for my mom so we could split the different-size mixing attachments (they fit the red blender just fine), so now I"m using one of the cups (and a sipping ring) from that. I'd rather have a new red cup--it's a bit bigger than the black one--which costs $10 on the company site, but the cheapest shipping is 8 bucks, no way I'm spending that, when the whole blender costs only $25 here. (It was $36 when I got it.) The motor's still working as well as ever, tho--haven't had any problems with that. I use it at least 3 times a week to make smoothies with chocolate Myoplex, frozen strawberries, big ice cubes, and water, and so far, so good. And it's still got the biggest cup of any of the personal blenders (I think). Plus, I do love red. So I'm still very pleased.