Cuisinart 2-Speed Hand Blender

This is a great item...I use it constantly. At this point I have owned this immersion blender for 6 months, using it several times a week. This great tool has sent my Cuisinart food processor (previously the star of the kitchen) to a hidden corner of a lower cabinet, where it rarely sees the light of day. My son loves smoothies, but before I got this blender, I hated making them because the food processor was a huge mess to clean up. Plus, the processor's blades are very sharp, and must be washed separately. I am clumsy enough that I am fearful of a deep cut every time I wash those blades. It has not happened yet, but I fear it still may. When I bought this immersion blender, I was concerned about some of the issues raised by other reviewers for similar blenders... mainly the broken plastic gearings of the motor handle. I have had no problems at all with that. I can only assume that the users were trying to grind up hard objects, such as ice, by putting downward pressure on the blade head against the bottom of the provided processing beaker. I am careful that I do not process hard objects, but honestly I think it could probably handle that too. I would say hold the blade head above the bottom and let the blades churn the ice, thus avoiding applying heavy pressure to the motor unit. But, then, I avoid using ice anyway. TIPS -- 1. Easy storage. I wrap the cord around the motor handle and put it on the shelf, then put the blade arm in the beaker and put that next to the motor on the same shelf. All is very light, compact and occupies very little space. 2. Easy cleanup. Compared to the food processor, this is night and day. I drop the blade head in water as soon as I am done, to let it soak. When I clean up, I wash the beaker like any cup (it's clear plastic, so do not use abrasive wash pads) then put the wash pad tip in the blade head, twist it a few times and then rinse it. This keeps my fingers away from the blades, and still cleans up perfectly. No cut fingers! 3. A tip for usage. When I first began using the blender, I would plug it in, insert it into the cup and begin blending the food. Often, I would stop to add additional ingredients (leaving the entire blender upright in the beaker) then resume processing. I found that sometimes the weight of the cord on the motor handle could cause the whole blender to tip over, spilling the beaker's contents ... big mess! Since then, I press the rear release button to remove the motor section, but leave the blade arm still in the beaker. Then I snap the top half (the motor half) back in place when I am ready to resume blending. This works very well. It only takes one or two spills to see the benefits of this approach. I can't say enough good things about this blender. I really really like the whole idea of an immersion blender and this one is very good. I had never even heard of immersion blenders until I came upon a recipe that specified the use of one. I was puzzled, so I looked it up, bought this one, and will never go back.