My husband and I bought this blender because we had the Kitchenaid Stand Mixer, which is the most high-quality and excellent performer in our kitchen to date (and we had some silly idea that our appliances should "match").  Sadly, I gave away our 4 year old Oster blender before I had fully tested this one.
The box it came in depicted the blender filled with ice cubes, and had text claiming that it did a superb job of crushing ice.  Bah.  I have always used our blenders for making icy smoothies more than any other function, and the previous one could puree two cups of ice in ten seconds flat.  No matter how hard I tried with this Kitchenaid, however, it had icy chunks at the bottom of the pitcher.
The other point against Kitchenaid blenders is the design which requires the user to lift the glass container straight up from the electronic base, no twisting.  This is OK if you have never used other blenders, which usually require a twist as you remove them.  In the Kitchenaid, however, this action will disconnect the glass pitcher from the plastic seal at the bottom and you will find the contents released all over the place.  I would bet the farm that 90% of new users experience this charming phenomenon the first they use a Kitchenaid blender, as did I.
The nice thing about a Kitchenaid blender is the easy wipe-clean surface of the control pads.
While this appliance was adequate for all other functions, I feel misled by its marketing and would never recommend it if you plan to crush ice in it for any purpose.
My husband and I bought this blender because we had the Kitchenaid Stand Mixer, which is the most high-quality and excellent performer in our kitchen to date (and we had some silly idea that our appliances should "match"). Sadly, I gave away our 4 year old Oster blender before I had fully tested this one. The box it came in depicted the blender filled with ice cubes, and had text claiming that it did a superb job of crushing ice. Bah. I have always used our blenders for making icy smoothies more than any other function, and the previous one could puree two cups of ice in ten seconds flat. No matter how hard I tried with this Kitchenaid, however, it had icy chunks at the bottom of the pitcher. The other point against Kitchenaid blenders is the design which requires the user to lift the glass container straight up from the electronic base, no twisting. This is OK if you have never used other blenders, which usually require a twist as you remove them. In the Kitchenaid, however, this action will disconnect the glass pitcher from the plastic seal at the bottom and you will find the contents released all over the place. I would bet the farm that 90% of new users experience this charming phenomenon the first they use a Kitchenaid blender, as did I. The nice thing about a Kitchenaid blender is the easy wipe-clean surface of the control pads. While this appliance was adequate for all other functions, I feel misled by its marketing and would never recommend it if you plan to crush ice in it for any purpose.