I was roaming through the wilderness of a local electronics store, desperately seeking my next margarita. The night before, my Zinbo juicer had died suddenly and violently... a loud "snap" announced its broken driveshaft.

I was looking for a more reliable companion that was enjoyable and easy on the eyes, but prima donnas need not apply.

This juicer seemed to fill the bill. It looked and felt solidly made, and the smooth brushed stainless shape looked good on my counter. Plenty of power and a good reamer design - whatever the citrus, this juicer takes it down to the rind without slowing down and gives tasty, pulp-free juice without any bitterness. For that I respect and adore it.

I like the use of a spout rather than a pitcher; single drinks go straight into the glass with less to clean. It's perfect for mixed drinks that call for juice of 1/2 lemon + 1/2 orange + 1 lime, etc. In addition, lack of pitcher = shorter driveshaft + more space for motor = sturdier drivetrain.

The fast-spin feature is nifty but doesn't give THAT much more juice. The container traps more than the fast-spin releases. After fast-spin, lift the juice container and tilt it slightly toward the spout and you'll be rewarded. From what I've seen, fast-spin + tilting gives an extra 5% at most.

Now... many criticisms leveled by previous reviewers are correct if sometimes overemphasized.

This juicer is good but it's not perfect. Here are the changes I'd make:

1) The juice spout should be longer. It works, but I make sure the surface below is easy to wipe. Must use free hand to stabilize the juicer that's moving instead of the glass that isn't.

2) The rubber feet should be more widely spaced. It appears "cord storage" was inserted between feet and outer rim. Lose the storage, move the feet all the way out, and it might not be necessary to manually stabilize the juicer to keep it from walking.

3) The reamer does fill up fairly quickly. I don't know if this can be readily designed out without sacrificing efficiency. The jam often appears to be the diabolically-strong part of the fruit just inside the rind. However, the sink sprayer clears reamer and strainer in no time.

4) The bottom of the juice container should be shaped like a half-bowl with a deeper channel leading to the spout. This would eliminate the need to lift and tilt to rescue juice trapped by the flat container bottom.

Rummagers, move on... it may not be perfect, but I'm not getting rid of this one! It does what I need, and does it well.

My hands hurt. I made lovely pink grapefruit juice but with one hand holding the grapefruit down and the other trying to keep this machine from jerking to the side and spewing juice all over the counter....well. You get the picture. Don't buy this!

I have to agree with other reviewers who question the sanity of whoever designed this thing. My main pros and cons are:

Pros: Looks nice. Easy to clean.

Cons:

Unbelievably impractical spout, too short and hard to keep over the receiving container.

Very unstable. The rubber feet at the bottom don't actually touch the surface and the unit wobbles on the plastic edge of the skirt.

Cannot regulate the quantity of pulp in the juice. My old $10 Black and Decker could.

I'm afraid the entire top assembly will break whenever I press too hard. I'm sure it will snap any day now.

And finally... what's this big deal about the mechanism that changes direction to "maximize juice extraction"? They advertise it as if it was some incredible Cuisinart invention. My old B&D also did that!

IN SHORT... do not buy this thing. Really. You're better off with a manual juicer or some other brand. These Cuisinart guys market too much on the aesthetics and (former) reputation and are making major mistakes with the design.

I never write reviews, but I had to do this in order to warn other buyers not to buy this badly designed product. Don't waste you're time and money on this piece of junk.

This is my first juicer. I was so excited after using it the first time! I juiced 9 lemons in just a few minutes and got 2 cups of juice! I followed the instructions and it was so easy! The reverse juice function is ingenious and the Fast Spin function works well too. I will say the juicer did "dance" around a bit thus the reason for 4 stars instead of five. I used one hand on the base and one hand on the lemon. It worked beautifully! A fantastic value for the price.