24 out of 24 people found this review helpful.
This Is Not Your Mother's Blender
Date of Review: Dec 10, 2002
The Bottom Line: It looks very modern & attractive sitting on the counter & it blends well.
My original review from December 2002 follows, but here's an update from July 2003: The motor still works, but the blade won't spin. This is a design flaw that doesn't seem to exist in other blenders made by this company.
On the In2itive, the motor inside the case spins a spindle, on top of which sits a cog. The cog sits outside the case (on top of the base unit), and it's what makes contact with the base of the pitcher & makes the blade spin inside the container. They poorly designed this "spindle/cog" combination, because they aren't firmly attached to each other. To explain this better, have you ever turned the knob on a car's radio, and the knob wouldn't change the volume because it had become stripped? You have to pull off the knob and turn the spindle that sticks out from the radio. That's what happened to this $70 blender, and it's only 8 months old. The cog is so completely stripped that you can freely lift it off the spindle completely.
I called Sunbeam/Oster, and they're sending me a pre-paid mailing label to send in the blender to get it fixed for free. I really really like this blender, but is this going to happen again after the warranty expires?
Because of this happening, I've lowered the rating from 4 stars to 3, and I've changed my recommendation from "yes" to "no". If it weren't for this problem, or if Sunbeam/Oster had a permanent fix, I would still recommend it. Their other blenders aren't designed this way, so I guess I would rather have another one of their blenders since they have the best blade, and an all-metal drive.
::::: Original review from December 2002 :::::
Overall, this is a very nice blender, and I'm happy I got it. It was kind of expensive for a blender, but worth it. It was $69 at Walmart. I've been using it for 3 weeks now & here's the scoop….
The base that houses the motor is very heavy and wide. It won't tip over easily. I hope the heavy weight means that the motor is good quality. It's supposed to have an all-metal drive, according to the advertising. The container is an unbreakable polycarbonate. It's crystal clear & attractive. Only time will tell whether it becomes hazed like other plastics do. The lid has three rubber ridges on it to prevent things from spilling out while processing. On the box, it says that this is guaranteed to be the best blender you've ever owned, and there's a 60 day money-back guarantee. There is a 2 year manufacturer warranty.
The pre-programmed cycles are what set this blender apart from others. Depending on which cycle you select, the blade will either spin fast or slow, pulse, and it will even stop and reverse direction! I've never seen a blender with a blade that spins clockwise & counter-clockwise and it seems to benefit the operation.
I don't like bits & pieces left in my smoothies, and this blender didn't let me down. All the other blenders I've seen have a blade that's made of two separate pieces of metal joined together at the middle, with the prongs bent either up or down. This model also has that, but in between those two blades, there is a food processor-type blade sandwiched in between them. This razor sharp blade virtually insures that anything you process will end up being perfectly smooth. The drawback to this blade is that it seems to whip up a lot of air into the liquid you're blending, which causes the level to keep rising in the container. This primarily happens when making a smoothie with milk as the main ingredient. And, because of all this excess air, you'll be burping a lot after drinking your smoothie!
The recipe book that comes with it is wonderful. It includes all sorts of recipes that take advantage of the programmed cycles. The program cycle buttons are arranged nicely – there are 5 buttons grouped on the right for drinks & crushed ice, and 5 on the left for batter, salsa, soups, baby food & nuts. There are other buttons for the power, start/stop, pause, pulse, and the buttons to raise or lower the fixed speed, if using it manually.
This is the loudest blender I've ever used (probably because the motor is so powerful). If you use one of the pre-programmed cycles, the blender will beep when the cycle is complete. This isn't necessary of course, since the racket has ended, which is a good clue all on its own. When I first started using the blender, I actually preferred to put everything in the blender, start the "smoothie" cycle & then leave the room to avoid the noise. Now, I use the "salsa" cycle, which is relatively quiet, since the blender starts & stops on its own & goes at a slower speed.
I guess this is the best blender I've ever owned, but to some (including myself a little) it might be overkill. To just turn the blender on at a constant speed (without using one of the programmed cycles) you have to press one button to turn on the power, then press another button to select the speed, and yet another button to actually start the blade twirling. I would actually just prefer a one-button operation. There is a learning curve involved here, of course, but sometimes simplicity is just better.
It looks very modern & attractive sitting on the counter & it works well. I would recommend it to my friends, including my fellow members at Epinions.
