Review on Versatile and Convenient Blender: Hamilton Beach Stay or Go with 32oz Jar, Grinder for Nuts & Spices, Portable Cups, BPA Free (52400) by Casey Tatum

We love this car. We wanted a second cup for the previous HB blender but they cost more than $8. It turned out to be so cheap I bought it instead. (We paid about $22. It looks like it's grown since then, but look for another deal on Revain.) One of us is on a liquid diet, so we're getting used to it multiple times a day. Now we drink a lot of fruit smoothies. Like: Well-integrated mixing/drinking cups. Three sizes as shown in the pictures plus a regular 32oz mug. mixing cup. Overall a small area on the counter; We keep it on the counter and never have to take out our large blender as 32 ounces is just about enough. Lots of clever design touches including how the blade fits into the open end for blending and then releases for drinking. 2 large leak proof lids plus a lid that can be opened or closed for on the go. It can be easily removed from the blender for a short time to add or fluff up other ingredients. The containers appear to be made of very durable plastic. No BFA. As long as you clean them immediately after use, a jet of warm water will do, although we use a bottle brush. Powerful, unlike its predecessor. (I think 400 watts). I wouldn't turn it on for 2 minutes in a row, but 45 seconds isn't a problem. Enough power to cut frozen fruit or whatever. (See below for full size ice cubes.) Good switch design. You can just click it for a few seconds or turn it on and let it run. The parts are assembled and disassembled very quickly with no possibility of misassembling them (except see below for "clutch"). Weaknesses: The biggest problem is the high aspect ratio of two large drinking cups. (Meaning: tall and thin.) This makes them harder to wash—the bottom of the cup won't clean in the dishwasher. I understand why they did it - a small diameter is required to keep the blender's "footprint" small. We bought a $4 bottle brush which is perfect for cleaning bottles and solves the problem. Small cups don't have this problem - they should provide two small ones and one large one, not the other way around. The high aspect ratio also sometimes results in poor top-to-bottom circulation when mixing. Remember to leave a 1 inch bubble inside so you can take it out and give it a quick shake. When we first got it, we sometimes couldn't push the cup deep enough into the base. The result was rapid erosion of the sleeve between the blades and the base. (The construction details are painstaking - that becomes clear when you see them.) So far this has not caused any problems. Small security flaw: The switch is very easy to press accidentally. There is no "completely off" setting other than unplugging. For the most part, the design is very safe as the blades are completely out of reach while blending. HOWEVER, you CAN place the blades on the base without a cup. (There's no reason you'd want that, but I did once when we first got it.) It's dangerous in this situation, as a quick touch of the trigger switch will fire the blades and anything they touch , like fingers, shredded. . In short, I would prefer a safety interlock that prevents the engine from starting if everything is out of order. Tip: use crushed ice. If you must use full-size dice, make sure they don't jam the blades. The order of the ingredients matters. Frozen ingredients are placed on top so when shuffled they end up on the bottom. Keep the overall mixture fairly runny. For example, add milk in addition to yogurt. I suspect that with 90% Greek yogurt he will never mix the top and bottom. Overall: We love it and, as mentioned, use it all the time. I'd love to give it 5 stars, but the high aspect ratio requires a few tweaks.