Hamilton Beach Wave Action Blender for Kitchen, 48 oz Jar for Smoothies and Shakes, Red

The glass pitcher is a little heavier than I expected, however very sturdy and attractive. I like the buttons - easy to wipe clean. Self-cleaning cycle works great. Chops ice, no problem, makes great smoothies (2 servings at a time if desired.) Comparable to more expensive models. It does occasionally require stirring manually depending on the thickness being blended. If you want to skip the manual stirring add 12 ounces of liquid. Very happy with purchase!

The lid is hard to remove once you put it on. It's also not a quiet blender. It might be quieter than others, but putting "Whisper" in the name is a stretch. The one I received didn't have instructions, so I thought I had to twist the jar counterclockwise in order to detach it from the base, but that just removed the bottom piece and dumped the contents of my blender all over my kitchen; just lift it off the platform when it's done blending. Overall, the blender does what I need it to do, but more expensive blenders are probably better. This one works well enough, though I don't recommend it if you have weak grip strength or any kind of arthritis, because the lid really is very difficult to remove.