Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I've had this blender for a month and use it every morning to make my green smoothie. It works very well, thoroughly pulverizing tough leafy greens (mainly kale) and cubes of ice into liquid along with various types of fresh and frozen fruit. The powerful 600-watt motor is noticeably more effective than the more common 450-watt motors. The pre-programed blending modes are very nice. The Frozen Drink program reverses the blade while ramping up the speed. The blade reverse feature really helps get stubborn frozen fruit, ice and tough leafy greens down into the blades. The glass pitcher and the rubber top seal very well, and the steel blade mechanism is mondo durable. The bottom collar and rubber seal work flawlessly to prevent leaks and reliably mate the pitcher to the base. A few minor negatives: "7-speed" is a bit deceptive. This is a 3-speed blender (High, Med, Low) with a high and low pulse plus the two pre-programed blending modes: Food Chop and Frozen Drink. Also, this blender is loud when running on high speed. Granted it is not any louder than other blenders, but be aware it makes noise. It would be nice if the blade reverse were available outside the Frozen Drink program, i.e. with a dedicated control button. Overall a excellent blender. You won't be sorry you bought it. UPDATE (March 2013): Still going strong, chopping up ice and smoothies every morning. Be sure to replace the blade periodically. I recommend the ice chopper blade if you are doing smoothies or a lot of ice. It is time to replace the when it has a lot of up-and-down movement on the blade shaft. New blades are tight with no such movement. UPDATE (October 2014): The blender still working great. Just replace those blades. UPDATE (July 2016): Still going strong. Keep those blades changed. A reply below claims their blender does not reverse in Frozen Drink mode. Not sure if Oster changed the specs. Please see attached video. Enjoy! :)