I bought this blender for the sole purpose of making smoothies. I was quickly disappointed. Unless you use small, crushed ice, then it is almost impossible to get the ice to crush to make the smoothie. After you put the ice cream on top of the ice, it almost shuts the blender down. The Proctor Silex 7 speed just is not designed for it I guess. I am not sure why it is designed so poorly. You go through the seven speeds, one of them being crush, you would think it would crush the ice to make a smoothie but it does not. I have never been able to make a good smoothie with it. I use it to puree apples to make applesauce and it works well for things like that. It just isn't what I bought it for but at least I get some use out of the money I spent on it. I guess you can't win them all! My best advice is to buy it only if you are looking to blend soft things and not hard things like ice cubes! Just not much of a smoothie maker!

JamesDavis

USA

This is a good blender to have if you like smoothies and protein shakes. On the opposite side it doesn't work well for grinding, chopping, or crushing lots of ice. It can eventually get the job done but it takes a while and a lot of effort with shaking it around a couple of times before everything is chopped and crushed. I've tried using it once to make a green shake made with spinach, beets, celery, and ice cubes. In the end Ihad to add fruit juice to get things moving around, but the shake turned out great. I wouldn't recommend this blender to anyone who likes to do heavy duty grinding. Overall I would give the blender a 4 star. Blending Power Has many blending speeds but doesn't seem capable of blending chunky things like soft diced pineapple. Versatility The only real success came from the smoothies and only if the ingredients were soft and squishy. Ease of Cleaning It's hard to manually clean under the blades, which is the part you can't put in a dish washer. Ease of Use It takes patience and it's very loud but it's easy to use. Design It has a simple design- put the ingredients in and press what speed you want. Durability It's made out of hard plastic so it won't break easily.

JasmineBerryA

USA

This is overall a good starter blender. Inexpensive and serves it's purpose pretty well. Ours is kind of old so it is starting to fall apart, naturally like things usually do. We usually use it to make smoothies in the summertime to help cool us off. With many different speeds to choose from you are always bound to find the perfect setting for any great drink.

adnerb77

Round Lake, IL

Soft items work well in this blender like, milk shakes with fresh fruit. I did not find it that easy to chip up ice for a smoothie. Blending Power It does not chip ice like I thought it should. Understand that it is not a high end blender so I guess for the money it's okay. Versatility Soft things only. I can find no other use for it. Ease of Cleaning comes apart easily and cleans right up in the dishwasher. Ease of Use Basic, mash a button and go... no problems here. Design It seems to handle well for what it was meant to do. Durability Since I haven't found that many uses for it mine sits in a closet so it should last forever.

phoriginals

Johnsonville, SC

This has been a great blender! We purchased it about 3 years ago (yes, I said THREE) when our last one burnt out. Like blenders always do. This was reasonably priced and got good reviews so we purchased it. We use it for smoothies and sauces, making crepe batter too. It's loud. Yes, it's a blender! It's not exceptionally loud, just blender loud. It's also easy to clean and comes apart to clean easily. It has some different options and functions, and is just beyond basic and not overly fluffy and complicated. It's a good solid, basic blender that, blends! Just what you'd expect it to do! The pitcher part is plastic. This is great because it means it's not breakable, and it's not heavy! When I make crepes I mix the batter and then I stick it right in the fridge, then back on the blender again to mix before using and it is just fine! This has surprisingly been a great blender. I expected it to do what it does, I just never expected it to do it this long! We've been exceptionally pleased!

OneHappyBaby

Sonoma, CA

I needed a new blender and found the **proctor silex 57171 7-Speed Blender** being sold for a fairly low price, particularly as far as blenders go. I didn't want to spend a ton of money, so this one won over the fancier, more expensive blenders on the shelf. Based on the price and how it looked, I wasn't exactly sure how well it would hold up. To my surprise, however, it's held up pretty well. I've had it a few years now, and, while I don't use it all that often, it's still running and does what I need it to do. If I try to blend something with ice, it doesn't always get all the pieces smooth, even if I let it run for awahile, but it does a reasonably good job and blends everything else pretty well. I've used it for everything from smoothie making, to pureeing soups, mashing cooked beans, and making breadcrumbs from pieces of bread. It's fairly easy to clean, and considering it's a low cost blender, I'm pretty pleased with my purchase.

SplishidySplash16

Penfield, NY