I make and drink two 40 ounce raw green veggie-fruit smoothies each and every day (as posted on Youtube). We own a $400 Blendtec, and it does a wonderful job, replacing our previous generation VitaMix which only did a so-so job. The 600 watt, 6-cup Oster Beehive blender produces the same quality of smoothie as our Blendtec, in the same amount of time, and for only $60!!! Unbelievable!!! If you are looking for an affordable smoothie-drink maker, I wholeheartedly recommend this Oster. It blends the ice, frozen fruit, veggies, and greens as well or better as our $400 unit. No issue with lack of power, burning motors, etc. Other Oster Beehive benefits...you can purchase genuine replacement/additional containers in glass or stainless steel for $20 and plastic containers of all sizes for less than $10. Note that Vitamix and Blendtec containers run $150! And since the Oster blade and seal are easily removed and replaced, using, cleaning and maintaining the Oster is 100 times easier than its much more expensive counterparts. And though heavy, the glass container is just too cool. Over time, the plastic Blendtec and Vitamix containers show their age...not so with the Oster. Regarding noise level. The Oster is no louder than our two high priced units. Our Blendtec has the great preset feature. Press the smoothie button and it produces a perfect smoothie. The Oster has one switch, on, off, and pulse. For my smoothies I pulse a couple of times, then let it run for a minute or so. Perfect everytime! Bottom line... Wish I would have tried the Oster prior to purchasing the higher priced units. I would have saved a ton of money. Oh, and the Oster looks retro cool! Note that I purchased the Oster from Amazon, delivered free in four days! Cannot beat the Amazon price and service. Update 9/20/2012: I continue to use the Oster to make two smoothies each day and it is working perfectly. I found that the order you place the ingredients in the container makes a difference. I found this sequence works best: 1: Liquid, 2: Protein Powder (if used), 3: Leafy greens, 4: Fruit/Solid Veggies, 5: Frozen fruit and Ice. I place items 1-3 into the container and run for 10-20 seconds. While blender is running, I chop up the "4" item(s), then I place place items 4 & 5 in container and blend for a minute or so. Works perfectly every time. Update: January 2013 I continue to use this blender every day for my smoothies. I had to sharpen the blades this past week as they just were not cutting it (pun intended). Easy to do if you have a small sharpening stone. If not, a new set with ring nut and seal will set you back a whopping $5. Anyway, the blender keeps ticking and does a great job with my greens, ice, apple, carrot, frozen berry, protein powder smoothie. I now use a different sequence: water, ice, frozen berries, leafy greens, protein powder (pulse a couple of times), apples, carrots (blend). Works great! Still a very happy Oster and Amazon customer. Update: July 2013 I continue to use this blender every day. The wife is also using it. Continues to work great!!! Update: April 2014 Continue to use the Oster, almost daily (jump back and forth with the Blendtec). I found that not using carrots greatly improves the drinkability - smoothness of the smoothies. I also wanted to remark that though the Blendtec produces a slightly smoother smoothie, it contains a lot more air which leads to a bit stomach bloating, belching, etc. The one advantage of the Blendtec is that I can make a slightly larger batch. I also used the Oster (and Blendtec) in a health seminar demonstrating making nut and grain milks. Worked great! One other comment. When making smoothies, I typically dump everything in the container and blend. However, I learned in several smoothie workshops that blending the liquid and greens first, then adding the fruit and hard veggies works best. And I learned to not use carrots!
