The plastic house around the blade stem has cracked and now leaks. At least I'm not alone, I now see that several other reviewers mentioned the same problem. I haven't used it very much, but always on hot soup... maybe it can't stand up to the heat. Too bad, I thought it was such a great gizmo, now I'll be replacing it with another brand.

I bought this model at Walmart for $19.98. My main purpose was to make milk shakes. At first I was very excited as I thought it was much better than lugging out the blender and making such a big mess. While making the shake the attachment kept falling off. I ended up having to duck tape it so the attachement wouldn't unscrew itself.
I left this hand blender plugged in and on my counter for easy access. I found it handy when making Koolaid, ice tea ect., as it blended the sugar completely without having to stir it forever!
I also used the beater attachment when making brownies and cake. I was suprised at how well it did. I thought the beater felt cheap and didn't think it would do the job. To my suprise it performed rather well. It was much easier than bringing out the hand mixer. Easier clean up too.
I made my last shake with this blender last night. The motor or something burned out and will no longer spin. I only had this product for a couple weeks and used it only a couple times. I think that it might be worth your money IF you are not planning on using it for milk shakes. Obviously this was too hard on it. I will continue to search for a better model. I also purchased a Cuisinart model at Target for $49.99-it died the very first time I used it! Needless to say I will be taking both models back. Maybe I will try Bed Bath & Beyond for a heftier version.

I just bought this hand blender yesterday at Walmart for less than $20. I love that it comes with 3 attachments and a nice hard plastic storage case. I used it today to make a pineapple cake. I used the blender attachment to crush the pineapple (canned) into more of a puree and then used the whisk to blend it all together. This blender is SO quiet! I was amazed at just how quiet it was. My twins were napping and never made a sound. It was also extremely easy to clean. The only reason I gave it 4 stars instead of 5 stars is because of my concern about the plastic casing. I've read at least one other review stating that the plastic cracked. I plan to use this a couple times a week to sneak in some healthy foods into my kids' favorite meals such as mac and cheese and spaghetti (you must read Deceptively Delicious by Jessica Seinfeld for picky eaters). But the price was great and I'm hoping it holds out for at least a couple years before I have to replace it. It is a nice powerful little kitchen gadget!

The Hamilton Beach Turbo-Twister is the one kitchen tool I use every day. I throw a cup of frozen berries into a milk-shake container, add a scoop of protein powder, a cup of water, zip, zap, (ten seconds of immersing the tip into the container), and my healthy breakfast is ready. Cleanup takes running hot water over it's tip for a couple seconds. If I use fresh fruit, I add a couple of ice cubes and zap a little longer. It handles ice with ease. I bought this one to replace one I used for several years. Tried another brand, didn't work because the design caused berries to get hung up in the shield and did not finely blend. Great product, no need for a messy blender.

It first cracked. Then the spinning blade stopped spinning. Maybe the tasks I used it for (smoothies with frozen fruit & nut-based purees) were too difficult for it?