Bought this one to replace another Cuisnart blender that broke previously (after replacing the blade which became loose from the notches). This one was broken even before we put food in it. Much like the previous one we had, the notches on the other side of the blade that line up with the notches on the base, do not fit together.

Our last model finally ground out the notches out of the base which left metal and plastic dust around the blender -less than a year old. THis current one we plugged in and turned on and it didn't even last one try. Blade attachment was already separated from plastic notches, even before trying with food. On to a new brand now.

After having 2 Hamilton Beach blenders die after 300 smoothies, I tried the Cuisinart Smart Power. Having had it for 3 days, and 5 smoothies, I can't comment on the durability. But I have a few things to say about usability. First, the squat 50 oz jar does not mix as well as the taller Hamilton Beach jars. Second, the plastic handle is strapped to the glass jar, so drips from pouring the contents get under the straps where they can't be cleaned. Fortunately, these do not touch the contents inside. Third, the cap on the lid is annoying. It is loose and does not fit snugly. In fact today, as I lifted the lid to add more ice, the cap fell into the wide jar where I didn't realize what the strange sound was until too late. The blender had no problem chopping the plastic cap into tiny bits - sort of a mini "Will it Blend" episode. (I was able to replace the cap with a better, more snug fitting cap from one of the dead Hamilton Beach blenders.)

The controls are minimal, giving 2 speeds with pulse - this is all I need for smoothies. The buttons are widely spaced and easy to clean so far. The keyboard-like electronic action is much easier to use than typical mechanical buttons. The Hi and Lo buttons either toggle on/off, or are push on release off when the pulse mode is set. There is a count up timer, but I always just look at the way the contents swirl to tell when it is done.

This wasn't the model of choice. I had initially bought the Cuisinart SB5600, but when the lower ring locked onto the glass jar,impossible to remove, I returned it and looked for something substantial. The CBT-500's plastic handle was a turn off as was the shape of the jar. When I came home and read the reviews after the fact, I almost took it back, however, there were some good, positive reviews, so I decided to just turn it on and see what the fuss was about. To begin with, the jar is lighter weight than the all glass jar of both of my former blenders, one Hamilton Beach. I don't like the idea of a plastic handle. I merely turned the machine on to see what the fuss was about --no fluids, just in case I wanted to return it. The offensive smell was there, but it was like a NEW MOTOR SMELL!!!! Noise? On par with my former Hamilton Beach (I think that was a 700 watt blender) and equally as loud as Cuisiniart SB 5600, another 600 watt blender. This morning, I made my first smoothie. I would have liked more than two blending options. This morning, my senses might be dulled, but the smell is gone. Perhaps Cuisinart heard the complaints and fixed something. Cuisinarts also have a sharper blade than the Hamilton Beach and does a better, faster job. It's not that I haven't heard the complaints. I'm aware. I might be eating my words and writing a follow up comment, but so far, so good. Thanks for the heads up on the pouring problem. I went slowly, aimed in a little more towards the middle of my glass and not a drop spilled over. When I turned it back up, it didn't dribble down the side as the taller jars did. I imagine the rings' threading are universal on some of the Cuisinarts, maybe including other brands. Can the jar be changed out for a different style? AS much as I dislike the idea of the plastic handle, the jar is lighter than other brands. I'm a little woman and not muscle bound, and it's not a problem. To those who find it heavy, there's always the option of plastic, which I saw in Kitchenaid models, but after a while, plastic jars scratch up. I prefer glass, myself.

The plastic piece surrounding the blades shattered putting chards of plastic into a smoothie I prepared for my three year old son. I discovered the problem before he ate any. Luckily he eats slow.

My husband used his several times a week to make smoothies...it is the loudest appliance in our house and you can hear it from every room when it's on. The motor seems too powerful, too heavy, too loud, and I agree w/ the comments about the burned rubber smell. Get a different blender!

Bought this to make frozen drinks. Crushed ice well, but the design of the glass pitcher and plastic base traps any liquid or condensation that runs down the outside of the unit. Next time you pour a drink, the trapped liquid ends up leaking everywhere. I don't recommend this one.

Bought this for making frozen drinks and general kitchen use. The motor was strong and made pretty smooth ice drinks....the ice was blended very evenly. I had high hopes! It was very noisey, but I was willing to overlook that.

However, the reason I am returning this to the store is because of the non-functional lip on the pitcher that is supposed to be used for pouring. It is too small to be functional. Also, the shape of the base that holds the glass pitcher on the blender is a bad design. It traps any liquid that happens to run down the outside from pouring or from condensation, making this blender a leaking mess in a matter of seconds.

Each time I poured a drink, no matter how I tried, liquid would drip off the small pitcher lip, down the side of the glass pitcher, and get trapped in the plastic housing that holds the glass pitcher on the blender. Then, next time I poured a drink, not only would the lip leak again, but all the liquid that was caught in the base dripped everywhere. Pretty good blender, but a horrible design for the pitcher and base.

I purchased a Cuisinart blender since I own a coffee pot and food processor and have been quite satisfied with both products. I decided that I would purchase a blender and went by the brand name. Big mistake!!
From the 3rd time I have used this blender there have been problems. First the bolt at the bottom of the blade sheered of during use. Secondly just after I had it repaired on the second oneration the blade will not move and have to take it back for additional repairs. If you are contemplating buying a blender think twice before purchasing a Cuisinart!!!

This looks and feels like a top quality model, until you start to use it. I have found that it drips everywhere when pouring, that the liquid goes under the nice brushed steel bands at the top, AND the liquid ends up in-between the glass jar and the plastic base of the jar, forcing a full take-apart everytime you clean it. I like the power, but would recommend any number of $10 blenders before this one.

I'll repeat what others have said. I've owned this for about three years, used it very infrequently for frozen fruit smoothies, when the black plastic gear housing sheared off from the base, rendering the blades useless. I called Cuisinart and was advised to buy a new gear assembly, which wasn't the problem. I hate throwing away good money after bad. When I called back, customer service seemed in denial of this obvious engineering flaw, and wanted me to pay to ship the heavy base and pay to repair it. I realize it was just past warranty, but given my infrequent use and the company's bad design, I just felt that Cuisinart should make things right for the expensive product they sold. My $30 Black and Decker blender has outperformed this $100 Cuisinart. If customer service dealt with this issue, I would have given them another chance, but now I will always avoid and never recommend Cuisinart.

Was a christmas present for my Dad. He loves it and has decided cuisinart makes some good stuff. Haven't used it myself so can't give any 1st hand opinion on it.

Cleaned it once or twice and it does seem very sturdy and well made.

Don't be fooled by the poor reviews. This blender has preformed flawlessly for the last 3 months. I have used it approximately 30 times and haven't had a single issue.

My wife and I received this as a wedding present 4 years ago. We use it infrequently, and recently have noticed a strong burning smell. Similar to what other people have said it appears the plastic gearing that powers the blade is too weak to support any kind of heavy job and some light jobs. I have used it more lately and it stinks up the kitchen and has even made some pretty terrible noises. I imagine that it will continue to work intermittently, but I am going to need a new one. I think I will not choose Cuisinart.

My parents have had the same Oster blender for 30 years.

My main purpose in purchasing a new blender was to make fruit smoothies. Your uses may vary, but this is the only real thing I did with the blender for the short time I owned it, as it is a primary requirement for me. My current blender gets clogged and just doesn't have the power to blend the frozen fruit without me having to put too much OJ in it.

Things I didn't like about the blender:

1) The jar design and blades are not any better than my 10 year old Osterizer, yet this blender cost twice as much. The mixture quickly stuck to the sides, and didn't even make it down to the blades.

2) As others have said, the motor is quite loud, but I didn't use it enough for the new motor (aka burning) smell to go away. This smell seems to be pretty typical of most new blenders.

3) Why have a nice glass jar, nickel base, but then a cheap plastic handle? Not to mention the collar around the base of the jar is actually plastic painted to look like nickel.

4) The blender does stay in place while blending, but it's very heavy, large, and cumbersome to use.

5) Lack of enough blend settings, controls are more difficult to use than they should be. There's only a few blend settings, the osterizer I had came with 16. This wouldn't be a problem if there were automatic settings, or the ones that were there actually worked. I don't remember the actual details, but I do remember having to push the power button, select the setting, and who knows what else to star the thing. Why not just push the setting I want and have it start blending immediately?

The main reason I'm giving this blender 2 stars is because you can get the same thing for $20 at Target with a cheap Osterizer, instead of paying $100 for this thing (I bought mine at Bed, Bath, and Beyond for a quicker, easier return). That, and as I've already mentioned, my 10 year old Osterizer does a better job for my purposes.

I ended up returning this blender and stepping up to the Breville Ikon 600- I'll write a review on the respective product page, but I'll just mention that even after first use of the Breville, I'm much happier.

Blender was purchased as a countertop appliance for making frozen drinks.
The two speeds with ice crushing and pulsing options meets all of our needs and the product looks good on the countertop. Not likely the best product for cooking as more speeds would likely be required, but it exceeds all of our needs.

This is another disappointment from Cuisinart. Everytime I use it to mix a smoothie, with yogurt and fruit, the motor just freezes up and burning smell emits. Yesterday smoke started pooring out of it. NEVER buy Cuisinart appliances -- I buy their most expensive product lineup and EVERY TIME have failures. A new food processor took a dozen emails, calls, and shipping returns to finally get a bowl that wouldn't lock up with food in it. My coffeepot drips when it pours, very poor design. I returned a crock pot because I burned myself on it everytime I used it.
Disgusted, what a disaster!

I got this thoughtful gift from someone who felt they were getting me a quality product since it is Cuisinart. But, it is truly awful. The worst thing is how loud it is. I'd like to know what the decibel level of this noise is because it is probably off the charts. I'd probably use it more if it wasn't for this and the fact that it is really super heavy. Cleaning it is like a workout for your upper arms. And it doesn't clean up quickly. Apart from this it works good but this for me is a major downside. I wish it would break so I could justify purchasing a different blender.

While renting a place in So. California for the winter the Waring RB75 blender here died after 5 weeks of use. It was new when we got here so we called the owner. We were told where she bought it so we returned it for a Krups KB720. We kept that exactly two days. It didn't work well and smelled of burning rubber when in use. We have a Cuisinart at home so decided to get one for this place. This is a different model than ours but it fits in with the decor here and I have to say it works PERFECTLY! Yes it only has two speeds, but really, how many speeds do you need? And it does not smell like burning rubber when it is used. I like that it comes apart for cleaning - something the Waring did not do. I don't know what these other reviewers were doing with their blenders that they gave it such poor reviews but with the Cuisinart I'm finally able to make my morning smoothie without lumps, chunks or hassles. Next up...Margaritas!

I had this blender for 3-4 years and was very unhappy with it. The design is poor (liquids tend to dribble terribly when poured), the motor seems weak, and it is hard to clean. Food seems to get under the metal band around the top and is not reachable. Today, after only sporadic, medium-duty use over the few years I had it, my blender outright died.

I have other Cuisinart products that perform very well, but this blender is a loser.

I had the same experience as another reviewer in that the gear that attaches to the carafe sheared off - mine wasn't melting, however, it just wasn't up to the torque of the blender, which does have a nice big motor that makes all the lights in the house dim when it's turned on...the thing is, though, it doesn't do that great a job. My old blender did just as well overall and better with small quantities (it was the Braun with the triangular carafe); this one does an awful job with anything less than about 2 cups. I replaced the gear piece but it still has other issues, the most annoying being that unless everything is seated absolutely perfectly when the carafe is assembled it leaks like a sieve, and it is nearly impossible to assemble precisely because of the stupid plastic collar, which is purely "decorative". The same design flaw makes it huge pain to disassemble for cleaning - the grip is inside the silly collar thing and it's hard to get good leverage, and the collar doesn't have anything to hold onto. It also has "decorative" metal bands on the carafe which rust between the metal and the carafe, and are not removeable. I would highly recommend checking out other products.

This blender is a piece of junk. I used it maybe twice, each time it smelled like it was on fire, which kinda worried me since my Cuisinart coffee maker did catch fire. Last night I tried to make milkshakes and the turning wheel broke in half (the part under the carafe which hooks into the base to make the blades turn). It broke because it was starting to melt in the center where the screw goes through. I will never ever buy another Cuisinart product as long as I live. I still have their toaster, so I am alerting our local fire department!

When it works, this blender does a fine job, and looks great. However, our first one quit turning the blades in less than a year. We sent it in, after MANY calls to customer service, and they kept the darned thing for 3 months before deciding to send us a replacement. The replacement lasted only 2 years before the blades broke. During that 2 years, we figured out that our extra set of blades didn't fit in bottom ring properly, and allowed fluid to pour through the motor. Great. I should have save up to buy a vitamix instead.

We bought this blender over a year ago and used it without complaint several times a week. Never smelled "burned rubber." Then all of a sudden it stopped working. Cuisinart told us to return it along with a check for $10. In less than a week a brand new blender arrived on our doorstep!

Looks great in my kitchen but I, too, only use it for shakes & smoothies. It DOES smell like burning rubber nearly every time. I used to think something was wrong with it and now I just disregard it. And after less than two years or making smoothies, I'm replacing the blade & gasket assembly.

It is heavy and it is big, so dedicated counter space is best. My biggest complaint however is it is LOUD! I don't use it as often as I thought I would because it is so LOUD, much more so than the processor while working larger, firmer food. I haven't noticed any burning smell yet, but I'm not the primary user either. I love Cuisinart, and have their products throughout my kitchen...but the noise on this one makes me shy away from using it much.

How did a company like Cuisinart manage to find so many ways to mess up a blender?

The interface is so complicated that my wife literally couldn't figure it out. You have to press 3 buttons just to pulse. Then after pulsing, if you want to let it go by itself you have to press 4 buttons! It might not sound like much, but it's very unintuitive. I hate using it.

And it smells like burning rubber.

And it died.

Absolutely not recommended.

I was skeptical when I purchased this blender after reading the other 35 reviews here at Amazon. I picked this up at a local retail shop because I had a gift card which made this blender only $52 ($102 normal retail price). Got home, plugged it in, and made my first frozen berry smoothie.

I smelled the same "burning rubber" smell that others have commented on and having worked in construction for a couple years can say that is the smell of a powerful electric motor. I smelled the same thing using electric drills. This is a 600 watt motor... not the cheap motor you get with a $35 blender.

The blender is heavy. The glass jar is thick and heavy as well. I'm a guy so I don't mind the lifting of this weighty behemoth, but if weight is a consideration for you just keep that in mind before you purchase.

The blender crushes ice like a champion, frozen fruit is no problem. With any blender put your liquids in first, followed by you softer items and heavy (ice like substances) last.

The mouth of the jar is wide and it can be tricky when pouring out your liquid but its not all that bad.

The metal blades are sharp and thick, good for chopping up those ice cubes and frozen strawberries.

I like the clean simple buttons and interface. Has a handy count up digital timer to let you know how long you've been blending.

Overall I am very pleased with this blender and would not hesitate to purchase it again.

PRO: Heavy duty construction and motor, powerful. Large capacity. Simple button configuration.

CON: Heavy. Pouring of liquids from its wide mouth might prove challenging if you're not careful.

We have owned this blender for about 3 years. If I had to do it again I definitely would not buy this blender. First, it is very loud. The timer quit working and the band rivets around the jar are rusty. The only things I like about it are that it is easy to clean and the jar is nice and big. Other than that don't waste your time.

The motor is very powerful and the blender does a great job! The first couple of times I used it, it did smell a little rubbery, but that went away or perhaps I'm used to the smell. The jar is 50oz so it is pretty big, thus, the whole thing is a bit heavier. The drip spout isn't dripless like it claims, because it is a bit smaller than normal spouts. However, the blender does a great job mixing and crushing ice without leaving chunks, which was the most important feaure to me. I agree the timer feature is bit questionable and I haven't bothered to figure out how to use it, because who would use a timer when using a blender-it usually only takes a few seconds anyway

This is our fourth new blender in the last three years. My wife and I prepare one large smoothie everyday that has no ice, but lots of frozen berries, fresh fruit, etc. Nothing else goes in the blender. This blender looked nice and was so heavy it implied quality. It even worked great for a few months. Then one day the gear that delivers power from the base to the jar stripped right off. Now it is out of warranty. This is not simple to replace since the plastic/rubber piece separated from the steel shaft. We paid close to $100 for this thing so spending a couple of hours bringing it to someone who will charge $25-$50 to repair it seems like throwing good money after bad.

This blender,like many others that I will not waste anymore time reviewing, is described as heavy duty, industrial or commercial grade. None-I repeat-none of the ones sold at your retail store are comparable to the better commercial models. Save yourself time and money and buy the real commercial models that will last you a lifetime. You can easily find quite a few brands and reviews on the internet. The ones used in restaurants, bars and other food service businesses are constructed to a higher standard and have replaceable parts that are readily available over the internet. Be prepared to pay $200-$500.

For someone who only occasionally will use a blender to make margaritas this may be a very useful blender.

Enough said.

DON'T PUT A FROZEN JAR ON THE BASE AND YOU WON'T HAVE TO REPLACE THE BLADE ASSEMBLY. I am sure the owners manual says that someplace.

My Kitchen Aid became unusable because replacement blades were not available 16 months after I purchased it. Aren't you glad you could purchase the replacement part?

My story: My son put his leftover smoothie into the freezer, jar and all. The next day when he took the jar out of the freezer and put it on the Kitchen Aid blender, the motor broke the blade assembly. The motor base was still good and I liked the blender. Kitchen Aid changed their model and didn't make replacement parts. I think it is unreasonable for a manufacturer to not have replacement parts available after just 16 months. (...)!

I can't say enough good things about the quality and ease of use of my Cuisinart blender. The jar's shape helps the food move and mix better than a round jar. The jar's size is larger than any I have found. I pour from the corner of the jar if the mix is too thick to pour from the spout (which I concede is a little wide). The weight keeps the blender in place. The shipping weight is around 15 LBS is that too heavy? Maybe you should skip the smoothies and switch to a muscle building drink. Most every quality blender has weight to it. The plastic units are light and considered disposable. Keep buying those $30 disposable blenders if you want, however I'll keep my Cuisinart!

The three year warranty and Cuisinart's backing keep us, the consumer, in parts when we do something stupid (like putting the frozen smoothie mix on the blender and breaking the blade assembly). (...) replacement blade assembly is cheaper than being FORCED to purchase a new blender (Kitchen Aid).

Buy the Cuisinart a great value for a quality product.

It looks pretty, it's powerful...what's not to like?

1. I don't use it much for blending ice, as many reviewers do. Mostly I use it for blending sauces, many of them hot. It is almost impossible to put a hot liquid in the blender and turn it on without it spewing scalding liquid all over myself and my kitchen. It EXPLODES, even if you break the seal on the lid. My KitchenAid stand mixer ramps up to the desired power setting -- I wish this blender had the same feature. I have scalded my arms several times.

2. Nearly every use it emits that "motor burning" smell.

3. I now apologize to my family in advance for the noise, which is startlingly loud.

4. The design of the jar. Ack! First, there's the pouring problem that everyone else mentions. There are also numerous places for food to get stuck in and around the metal band at the top of the jar, etc., and I find it really annoying. Even a trip through the mighty dishwasher doesn't work. The jar never looks clean.

I would never buy another one of these blenders. It's too bad, because it is powerful, and I appreciate the lack of 25 speeds (two speeds is perfectly adequate, and I'm a very experienced cook). But if you think your blender is trying to kill you, you take the hint.

I LOVE IT. THIS THING CAN CHEW UP ROCKS AND STILL MAKE ONE HELL OF A SMOOTHIE. WE BOUGHT THIS AT ER KUCHEN LADEN IN FREDICKSBURG TX GERMAN SHOP FOR (...). THE FIT AND FINISH AND THE POWER OF THIS UNIT WILL KEEP US BLENDING FOR MANY YEARS TO COME.
MARC AND EMILY R.

I couldn't even pour water out of it without it dribbling on the counter. I am not sure what the engineers tested with, but I can attest that water and smoothies both dribbled out.

It looks great, and it was powerful enough that i didn't have chunks in the smoothies, but I had to make extra to account for the 1/4 that spilled over.

I have thoroughly enjoyed this blender.It is very very very noisy but it is also powerful. Be sure to wear ear plugs when using it.

Until this purchase, I had always used Osterizer products as they were easily available in second hand stores, and, on trips to Mexico, I could find colorful aluminum versions of the bowl to make margaritas with (Coyoacan market).

This week, the gears on my work bowl tore. The same thing happened on a friend's Kitchen Aid equivalent. For them it was a real difficulty getting the repair. Although I am disappointed that this happened just over 1.5 years since purchase, mine will be easily fixe. However, although the Cuisinart carries a 3 year warranty against defects in workmanship, I will still have to pay $10 for postage and handling, plus my costs to send them the part!!!! That doesn't seem fair somehow.