Be careful about freezing your left-over margaritas in this!

I say that only because that's how we killed my beloved KSB3. I generally make a blender full of 'gritas, and after pouring a couple, I tuck the blender into the freezer. This generally works perfectly, for a couple of hours, keeping the 'gritas nice and slushy, but not if you leave it overnight, and then plunk it directly on the base the next day and fire it up. It immediately broke the drive shaft. I will say only that "my husband did it!"

I had this blender for almost 10 years, having paid in the neighborhood of $40 for it, at a discount store. I was very happy with it, and used it for a few other things as well as margaritas, such as making tomato juice and tomato soup during garden season, as well as making cracker crumbs and bread crumbs, and an occasional ice cream drink.

I did feel as though I would have liked it to crush ice more finely, as I was never able to get a totally smooth frozen drink. There were always lots of small to medium chunks of ice in it and an occasional large chunk. But we didn't mind too much.

I thought it looked nice, style-wise. Mine was white, on a white base, and it stayed white and new-looking, even after 9+ years. It didn't "yellow" like some white appliances seem to do. It was very contemporary-looking, with 6 touchpads on the front of the base--off, on, pulse, stir, mix and liquefy. It's necessary to press the ON button, before choosing stir, mix, liquefy or pulse. An indicator light is beside each of the buttons, so you know at a glance which speed you are using.

I liked the storage hooks underneath the base, for wrapping and storing the cord. It allowed for a much neater appearance when you are not using it, and if you are lucky enough to be able to store the blender in a cupboard, you won't have to fight the cord because it won't be tangling up.

The first few times I used the blender, I had some problems with it leaking from the bottom, even as I filled it up. The problem was that I didn't have it screwed onto the collar tightly enough. The way you have to grasp the base of the collar in order to screw it on seems to be an awkward hand position for me. Your fingers are spread very wide, and I wasn't getting enough force that way, and was afraid of twisting too tight and breaking it. Not to worry, it's hard to break, but if you have arthritis in your hands, this may not be a good choice for you.

The blender is very solid, and doesn't bounce around, although I have to admit, I have a habit of keeping my hand on the top, just in case. This habit is an old one, because of previous blenders I have known!

The glass carafe is heavy, and marked on the side with 1/2 cup graduations, up to a total of 5 cups, but it holds maybe another cup and a half. The carafe is heat-resistant also, and worked fine for hot soups, etc. However, there was no pour-spout, and it was nearly impossible to pour drinks from the carafe without spilling. There is an inner cap in the lid, ostensibly for adding things during blending; I had a little more success (less spillage) pouring margaritas, etc, from that small inner cap. You have to make sure that small inner cap is tightly in place while blending, or there will be leaks.

The blades are stainless steel, and the blade assembly is easily mounted, with the exception of tightening the collar, as mentioned above.

Disassembly for cleaning was easy enough, except for that awkward hand position on the base of the collar.