Read First Before Buy Hamilton Beach 54615 Wavestation Dispensing
This blender is absolutely amazing!! I have seen this blender do with ease what my $200 shop blender struggle to do. It chops through large, solid ice cubes like they are butter.
PRO:
1. Motors is very powerful, so crushing ice cubes is a breeze.
2. Perfect design blades circulates contents inside and draws them in for crushing.
3. Large container and can handle a large load.
CON:
1. Side dispenser is a great idea but not very effective. Far easier to turn off blender and pour out content the old fashion way. May work great for dispensing watery blends not good thick smoothies.
2. Blender jar alignment is more three-handed people who have two right hands. Both the on/off dial and the jar handle are on the right. Design flaw must be why blender is so cheap.
OVERALL
Any shortcoming is minute to positives about this blender. It does an excellent job at what is supposed to do - BLEND.
I am buying a few of these as Christmas gifts for friends.
I've only owned two other blenders, which almost always sat in the cabinet unused. This is the first time I use a blender on a regular basis. Now, I only use it to make smoothies or daiquiris, so I can't say how good it would be for other purposes.
BalasHapusThis blender takes up very little space, is easy to clean and the spout is great and makes for less mess when pouring. The spout has a couple of downsides, though. It won't produce anything more than the smallest drip if it's used while the blender is off. There is a setting on the knob that's for dispensing your drink while it's at a low setting. Also the spout sticks out a little ways, sometimes making it difficult to put in the freezer or fridge.
But those things are not flaws in design or engineering, just personal things. Overall, I am very happy with this purchase and hope that it lasts me a long time.
Bought this at Walmart a few days ago (around October 15 2010). It was under 20 bucks and looked good with the pour spout. Even though made in China just like all your name brand stuff is, Hamilton Beach products have served us well when we have had them.
BalasHapusAs soon as I got it home, I decided to read reviews. Many really liked it but there were a lot of negative reviews. I read everything from the pour spout would clog, to the lid leaking, to the blender not working anymore and finally someone saying the spout will not come apart to thoroughly clean.
Unlike me, I told the wife to read the manual before using it as I did. The manual covered all these complaints for us anyway. First off, straight ice will take s a little time but seemed to do the job, obviously the crushed ice cannot come out of the spout. When putting ice in thin liquid the manual says to add after agitation has started. We have had no problem with these instructions. The spout does not clog on us when you use the dispense setting as the manual says. The spout comes totally apart for very thorough cleaning. Also we observed not filling with thin liquid above the prescribed line and the lid has not leaked so far. One other note is that one review said they got no response from Hamilton Beach. I got customer service on the first try to register it.
So while reading the manual has served us well (and we realize that others may have read the manual also and still had problems) I cant say much for durability as we have not had it long. Fibrous items such as orange pulp will have little bits but are way smaller chunks than what our old blender produced.
Will update later if we run into anything. Good product so far.
Update April 15, 2011. Have made smoothies everyday with this and used for other reasons...........no problems. Would buy again and buy for gifts to give as well.
Update July 14, 2011 Still working great. Because we take this totally apart everytime we use it, we seemed to get a situation where the spout interfaces into the port in the blender vessel. I called to look at getting a new spout and because the spout is part of the vessel assembly, we got sent the whole assembly vessel with spout assembly! This also was under warranty so great service and got customer service first try and did not have to wait on hold.
I bought this blender after my last one died. I tend to go through blenders a lot. We make smoothies almost daily for my toddlers.
BalasHapusSo far this is the only one under $50 (we found it for $20 on sale at Walmart) that I've found to not leave ANY ice chunks. Another good thing is having two very active boys...the harder plastic is great and doesn't break/crack.
I'm not partial to any brand so believe me I've tried them all. This one is by far my favorite because I don't have to worry about my boys choking on ice chunks or it breaking when things are thrown in the sink with this sitting in there.
One con I have is that I don't like the fact that it is powered by a turn dial and that it sits on the side. I would prefer buttons, but hey at this price and with no ice chunks I can deal with it.
This blender is absolutely amazing!! I have seen this blender do with ease what my $200 shop blender struggle to do. It chops through large, solid ice cubes like they are butter.
BalasHapusPRO:
1. Motors is very powerful, so crushing ice cubes is a breeze.
2. Perfect design blades circulates contents inside and draws them in for crushing.
3. Large container and can handle a large load.
CON:
1. Side dispenser is a great idea but not very effective. Far easier to turn off blender and pour out content the old fashion way. May work great for dispensing watery blends not good thick smoothies.
2. Blender jar alignment is more three-handed people who have two right hands. Both the on/off dial and the jar handle are on the right. Design flaw must be why blender is so cheap.
OVERALL
Any shortcoming is minute to positives about this blender. It does an excellent job at what is supposed to do - BLEND.
I am buying a few of these as Christmas gifts for friends.
I research lots of blenders and for the money this one had the best reviews. The wave action technology works great and so far I have had no problems with this blender. I make a smoothie almost everyday with lots of frozen fruit/ice and it blends all of it up every time. Plus there is a 3 year warranty..Great!!
BalasHapusI bought 2 Wavestations this summer for an annual beach blender party I throw. Armed with a portable generator and tiki bar, I literally mixed over 100 batches of frozen drinks in each unit in just one afternoon (I stopped counting at 100). I have bartended professionally and recreationally for over 20 yrs and I have never run across a commercial blender, let alone a household version that can create fast, consistent smooth blends AND serve them to the last drop from a built in pour tap without ever having to remove the top from the base. Yes, the tap actually works, and works great! I'm buying more just in case some corporate idiot decides to drop the line. Don't let the low price scare you, the Wavestation is really one of those rare items today that actually work as advertised. Enjoy, and remember to party in moderation, or at least give your car keys to somebody how can! :)
BalasHapusAfter a few years of devoted service my Magic Bullet died (RIP). While I loved it, I only used it for smoothies so decided not to replace it (costly for a smoothie maker) but purchase something specifically based on my "smoothie needs". I read A LOT of reviews on blenders after I saw this at Wal-Mart and decided to do a bit of research and what I found was NO ONE offers this much punch for so little money! Made my first smoothie this morning and I don't understand how anyone can complain about this wonder machine! Granted, I washed it first and didn't tighten the "plug" where the dispenser would go (didn't have a need to attach it, pouring is just as easy for me!) so a couple drops came out which I quickly wiped up, tighten the plug and all was well again (actually did that in reverse order)! Also, this is quiet in comparison to my blender before my Magic Bullet and esp. in comparison to the Magic Bullet. My cats and dogs didn't run for the hills and I didn't feel the need to wrap it with four washcloths to dry to drown out a high pitch hum. Also, the plastic pitcher is super-thick and easy to clean! The nice thing is that yes, you can add the dispenser if you were to make mixed drinks and your friends could easily refill their own drinks by giving the blender a quick pulse (the large dial makes use so easy!) to give it a little mix and then using the dispenser! They might run out and buy this too! What a great gift for someone who loves smoothies or having cocktail soirees! And WOW! The price is SOOOOO right! You would do yourself a disservice to spend any more on a blender when this one is top-notch for little cash! And that is my 2-cents!
BalasHapus