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I bought this blender at Bed Bath & Beyond. It was about $100 and looked to be more powerful and heavier than the Kitchen Aid 5 model. I also preferred the mechanical connection between the base and the blade. The power is transferred by two gear-type things that have several teeth that mesh together. The Kitchen Aid models had what looked like a two ended wing nut that matched up with only two of the teeth of the base. I had read reviews on Epinions about the 5 models breaking off these teeth and not being repairable. So I disregarded the 5's $20 rebate and opted for the Cuisinart.

Performance:
Well I've had it for a few days and it's working great. I've been mostly making frozen drinks so the ice crushing capability is important. The unit is very heavy, which makes it feel very stable when running. I find that a big plus because I don't want something with 600 watts to be walking around all over my countertops. It comes apart easily and also cleans up pretty easily.

It's only got two speeds but that seems to be adequate for most anything. There's an Ice Crusher setting but I haven't tried that yet, since the regular settings have worked fine for this.

Design:
It looks great. It took me a little time to get used to the plastic handle but I eventually decided that I liked this better than the integrated glass handles on other mixers. I guess I figure that they could too easily break if they fell over on a tile counter. Don't know this for a fact but I'm sure the plastic would handle it better. I like the metal base as it feels well made and solid.

The plastic ring around the base of the container feels a little plasticy but that's what it is made of so I guess that's just the way it is.
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