Great buy!

My wife and I have owned this little juicer now for about 6 months. We used it every day for about a month when we first bought it, and now use it on an average of about 3 times per week, so it gets a lot of use and has proven its hardiness, to date. I actually cook more than my wife, so I'm writing "our" review....

As most everyone who wrote opinions below, we really like this thing. It is quite strong. We guys like power, and this thing isn't too bad! You can bog it down if you try, with 3 large carrots going in simultaneously, but if you're realistic in your expectations, you won't be let down, especially at this price.

As far as noise goes, my opinion is that it's neither loud nor quiet. It's in-between. I can definitely hear it in the bedroom when my wife uses it, and you can't really talk over it when you're in the kitchen with it in use. On the other hand, for something that runs at the speed it does, the company did a great job in muffling the sound.

As for small objects, including grapes, you have to be quick, for sure! Throw them in and merely hold you hand over the hole, unless you're quick with the plunger. But you won't need the plunger for the softer fruit / vegetables, because this juicer will break them down in seconds flat. I've found the opnions about oranges are pretty accurate, as well, but I've learned that if you juice the softest items first, you won't likely have too much problem with the juice getting into the container. If you throw in apples first, some of the peelings may begin to clog the micro teeth (somewhat) and soft items that spill their juice quickly can cause the juice to slide up the filter's sides and into the pulp, making it wetter than usual. Just save the more meaty items for last - and make sure you cleaned the microfilter VERY WELL, and you'll get the maximum orange juice, no problem.

This leads me to the point about mangos. Like the person below, I noticed that mangos make more of a pudding than juice. I found that it really doesn't matter how ripe they are. When juicing this fruit, I would advise one to stop the juicer after every 2-3 mangos and clean out the filter. This particular fruit is very meaty and sludgy. Nevertheless, the juice tastes great!

Another special note: Kiwis. This fruit does just fine when peeled first. However, if you're in a hurry like me, I like to just throw in a couple, skin and all. See the note on mangos above. If you wait until the end, you'll be fine. The weird thing about carrots is that as meaty as they are, they DON'T clog the filter! As a general rule of thumb, if you're juicing anything, if you suspect you're not getting all the juice, you may be right. Just use your good judgment and clean out the filter mid-juicing, if you have to.

Cleaning. A whiz, just like everyone says. I spend about half my total time cleaning out those microfilters, though. If you want the juicer to perform its best, there's no way around it. My tip on this is to (using the brush that comes with the juicer) scrub the outside of the screens first. If the food gets hung up going INTO the filter, it makes sense to dislodge them most easily by scrubbing the outside and pushing them back out the way they came in. THEN scrub the inside, washing the fibers down the drain.

I want to add that we owned a different model before this one. It wasn't as powerful, so it took longer to juice. It was more wasteful, making it even slower to juice. It was noisier. But worst of all, it was a mess to clean; all the many parts being a pain, plus dripping fruit and veggie guts all the way to the sink! We have never been happier with our upgrade. Technology has certainly taken these processors to a new level!