Cuisinart SPB-7CH SmartPower 40-Ounce 7-Speed Electronic Bar Blender, Chrome
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Kitchen and Housewares Reviews of Cuisinart SPB-7CH SmartPower 40-Ounce 7-Speed Electronic Bar Blender, Chrome
Customer Review: broken in 2 years
Summary: 2 Stars
Well, this blender got me too... I had forgotten about how initially disappointed I was that the "chrome" base was chrome-painted plastic, until recently reading all the reviews. I bought this blender based on the reviews 2 years ago (I guess it was still relatively new back then), the name brand, the look of the jar and keypad. I have been using it regularly only recently to make baby food and hummus, and it has already stopped working. I suspect it would have stopped working a lot sooner if I had been using it more regularly prior to now. I haven't yet opened up the motor to see what is wrong with it, but I suspect it's the broken plastic gearing mentioned in several reviews. The "on" button lights up but pressing any of the blend functions does nothing.
Incidentally, I was able to get hummus and baby food pretty smooth, but it did take a long time, as does blending ice drinks. You have to have enough liquid component in addition to the food solids to get the chunks to fall down to the blades and blend. Otherwise the blade just spins inside a self-created air pocket, and doesn't blend anything. I think this is fairly typical, but from reading reviews on the Osterizer Beehive and Waring blenders, this is less of a problem.
Oh yes, after blending for awhile, one gets that smokey smell from the motor. But unfortunately, if you don't blend for a while (2-3 minutes), you can't arrive at creamy smooth - not even on the puree setting.
Prior to breaking this blender was only a mild disappointment. Now it's a total disappointment.
Customer Review: Poor quality, even worse customer support
Summary: 1 Stars
We have been using this blender for about seven months. We make daily smoothies with crushed ice (crushed from our ice maker) and frozen fruit (bananas, strawberries, etc.) and milk or juice. We have always noticed a slight electrical smell from the unit whenever we were mixing our drinks. The quality of the blend was generally OK; occasionally it was unable to break up some of the ice chunks.
A plastic part on the base of the unit ended up shattering. This is a cheap plastic piece that turns the blade. I e-mailed Cuisinart's customer service group. It was a couple of weeks before they returned my e-mail. I had also left messages with their customer service number. After a few attempts I was finally able to speak with someone. I was told that I would have to send the blender back to them, at my cost, and include a ten-dollar check for them to repair the unit. After I told them that their policy was against the law in the State of California they agreed to issue a pickup tag with UPS and waived the ten-dollar fee.
I finally received a new blender back about a month and a half later. I will never purchase another Cuisinart product. We have since replaced the blender with a Kitchen Aid KSB5. So far this blender is incredible. It makes easy work of blending ice. I cannot recommend the Cuisinart because of its lack of reliability and Cuisinart's non-existent customer service.
*** Update ***
This review was first placed in 2001. It is now April 2009 and the Kitchen Aid KSB5 is still running strong!
Customer Review: Good Blender
Summary: 4 Stars
I have an old Osterizer (beehive) that I finally decided I needed to replaced. I looked at several different blenders and finally ended up with the Cuisinart. It is performing well for me. Most of the items I am making require crushing ice cubes, and this blender has done a wonderful job. I am getting nice smooth drinks with not chuncks.
As another reviewer mentioned, the based is a chrome plastic convering. But unlike many other blenders, this does not feel too flimsy.
The base is sturdy and the controls repsond well (I had tried a Kitchen-Aid and could not get the off button to work). Clean-up was a breeze, although I do wonder if the pastic based on the jar will hold up over time. I am so use to the metal one from the Osterizer, that the platic does not seem as durable.
My only real complaint is that this unit is a bit noisy. The Kitchen-Aid was very quite by comparison (but pulling the cord to turn a blender off did not seem like such a good thing), so I guess I had expected a quiter unit (the Oster is at least 25 years old -- probably older -- it was my other comparison point for noise).
Longevity will be the key to this unit, but for now it seems like one of the btter choices available.
Customer Review: plastic moving parts? seriously Cuisinart?
Summary: 1 Stars
Should have returned this when we noticed a burnt plastic smell on first use, but figured it would go away, and frankly, I was just too lazy to take it back to the store.
We hardly used the blender for a couple years, but recently got on a smoothie kick and what do you know, within a month of daily use two of the plastic parts (the bottom of the blade assembly) fused together and locked up the blade altogether. Ahhh, that's why it smelled wretched -- the parts that power the blade are plastic!
The motor itself works well, perhaps too well for the cheap plastic pieces that it powers. So, I could be eco-friendly and just replace that fused part, but why bother when another of the many spinning plastic pieces will surely fail soon anyway?
Please pay attention to the negative reviews here and understand that any positive ones are going to break before long -- it's inevitable with plastic moving parts. This isn't about one bad blender or batch of blenders; the product is a failure. Buy a blender with METAL gears and blade assembly. From the cheapest Oster to the priciest Vita-Mix, everyone else other than Cuisinart has apparently figured out that plastic on plastic equals CRAP!
Customer Review: $60 blender at $20 quality- UPDATE***
Summary: 1 Stars
I purchased this model about 6 months ago and I've been VERY dissapointed ever since. So dissapointed I will never purchase a Cuisinart product again. I actually thought they had a reputable name.
1) It doesn't blend ice- it won't even blend a few frozen strawberries.
2) It looks cool and shiny but after a few washes the shineness fades.
3) The glass jar boasts a 40oz capacity which makes no sense because it can't handle 40 oz of anything.
4) the bottom leaks no matter how you assembly it!
5) pricey- $60 Not worth it.
Your better off buying a cheap $20 blender at your local corner store than to buy this product.
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I still feel the power and price don't add up. But I've learned to accept it's limits and now I'm OK with it. The power is weak and the blender won't chop ice, but neather will a $20 blender. I fixed the leak by messing with the rubber ring and blade placement. I would still suggest buying anothe product. You only payig for the look- yet it's not made of metal like it looks like it does. It's a fake shiny sticker-like cover. And it doesn't stay shiny very long. Pass.