Oster Blender | Pro 1200 with Glass Jar, 24-Ounce Smoothie Cup, Brushed Nickel, Smart Settings Technology, 7 Speeds, Dual Direction Blade, 1200 Watts Power

I, as many here, did a lot of research. There isn't much out there on this blender. What I ended up doing was comparing the parts of each blender from the viatmix to Ninja to blendtec etc. that made them work better than others. The Ninja (I bought one [not from amazon] but realized as I opened the package it had been hastily washed, repackaged and returned. Obviously the first purchaser was not fond of it. I chose to return it promptly because 1. it had these blades that looked cheap and so much molded plastic everywhere. 2. the spindles were too loose. Which made me think it wouldn't last long and if the lids didn't lock they'd come flying out at me. 3. 90% of all the parts are cheap plastic; research shows ALL plastics are estrogenic not just BPA. I have a 3-year-old daughter who loves smoothies, I am not even going to attempt using a machine like it. 4. The jars crack frequently, and the blades need replaced way to soon. $$$. The Ninja belongs in a class of it's own... Infomercial hype and should never be used to compare a blender's ability to do its job. I digress...After comparing many reviews and weeding through the hype and learning how the commercial blenders work I decided to search for something that shared those qualities, all Metal Drive, Reverse action, lots of power for home use and a glass or stainless steel blending pitcher to reduce exposure to estrogenic plastics and reduce the cost of replacement parts. on Ebay I learned that the old trusty Vitamix's of the 90s had stainless steel pitchers and an average wattage of 850. If 850 watts was all a commercial business needed then that's all I need at home. I won't be making 100 smoothies a day like the Vitamix would be expected to do. The Oster 1200 pro is an average of 900 which is more than the older Viatmix 3600s. Logic would say this blender is all I would need. So far I have made 4 smoothies and some frozen banana strawberry ice cream. I've read complaints of people not being able to use it without added liquid... why would you not add liquid to your smoothie? It is important to lubricate the blades and not push any machine with too many frozen solids or tough stems.I used the commercial Vitamix blenders for 5 years at Starbucks. Even those machines had to have a thawing period for frozen fruit, had to have a liquid in them along with the ice and other ingredients to make smoothies and Frappacinos. They are indeed workhorses, but i don't need a workhorse like that at home. This blender is enough for me. It performs like a Vitamix. It creates a vortex, is programmed, has a glass pitcher, doesn't runaway on the counter (no serious vibration) yes it's loud (get a sound a dampener like smoothie shops have if thats a problem for you) Someone mentioned rust on their blades... don't rinse it and let it sit. I run soap and water through the blender then take it all apart and rinse each piece then air dry. I had to do the same for the vitamix's. Both the pitcher and the to-go cup work great on the blender.The only Con i have experienced is the lid on the to-go cup. It slides forward when you take a drink, a minor annoyance. Maybe add a locking mechanism on the lid? I have no serious complaints about this blender. If I encounter anything I will update my review.All in all this is a great machine.

Very good Quality

I love this blender. I have been using a cheapo blender for years alongside my nutribullet machine for shakes. My children broke our blender recently and I could not have been more happy. I was on the search for a glass jar blender with more functions than my old one. I did not think I would use the smoothie function because I had a nutribullet. I read reviews all over the place before setting my mind on the Oster pro.We make a lot of shakes. We make our own salsa weekly. We blend our own green enchilada sauce. And we make a lot of Indian food and pulverize beans almost daily.So for pulverizing beans and making nut butters or nut milks - this machine exceeded my expectations. Nut milks are so much smoother and creamier with this blender.Salsa and veggie chopping - met or exceeded my expectations. I am so pleased with how our first batch of salsa turned out, that I decided to use this blender to also chop onions and peppers for Gobi Manchurian and my goodness did it cut our prep time and make those vegetables just perfect.Shakes - I was a die hard nutribullet girl, but there were certain things I did in the nutribullet that left me with large chunks or too many seeds. Blackberries in the nutribullet left a giant seed pile on the bottom of my glass. Hemp powder left a grainy consistency, as if it didn't mix well. I accepted these flaws. When I used the shake feature on here, my fist shake and strawberries, kale, and hemp hearts. There were almost no strawberry seeds present, they were pulverized, and everything blended so well, I could not wait to try more. I tried a blackberry shake and crossed my fingers, now there were a few seeds, but nothing like before. I was pretty impressed.As for counter walking, if you place your blender in a good location against a back or corner counter wall it doesn't walk. On occasion if I pull out to the middle of my counter, it walks. It might be my house, which is pretty doggone old (1860s) and slanty. I love the presets, you hit them, move on with your life and come back to perfection. I love the glass. Plastic is pretty yucky in my opinion. Glass is easier to clean and if I put hot soup or beans in the blender I don't have to worry about how many chemicals are leaching into my food. I would love it if a glass smoothie cups was available, but alas this one is plastic, but incidentally this cup has been easier to clean than my nutribullet mugs. The top of the blender jar is a plastic cover, which is okay. Overall I was pleased with my purchase, I highly recommend it, and have probably talked far more about my new blender to friends and family for this to be considered normal appliance admiration.

Excellent blender. My only complaint is I have had it less than a year and the glass jar is cracked where it meets the base and the blades need replacing. However it does not heat my food even though it spins super fast. It blends well. I love the fact that I am not blending plastic in my food. It does a great job on smoothies, nut milk, salad dressing, pesto etc. I would recommend highly.