Others say...

"Best hand blender!"
I love this powerful hand blender. It will puree soups in zero time. Great features include easy cleanup in the dishwasher and the traditional blender attachment. I researched many different brands until I settled on the Braun for one major reason: the design of the blade housing. Many brands have small holes around the blade housing to allow liquids to flow through while blending. My previous hand blender had these and they would CLOG every time I used them to blend something fibrous (like butternut squash). I always had to clean out the holes mid-use. The Braun has a nice fluid design that does not clog!

"Powerful blender, very versatile"
I love this blender. I have had mine for about 3 years and never had a moment of trouble with it. I chop cabbage for cole slaw in the larger container and use the mini chop attachment for cutting up a single onion or a few sticks of celery. The blender is wonderful for smoothies, milk shakes,smoothing out lumpy gravy in the skillet, or thickening soup in its own pot. I DO take care of it. That means I chop my frozen strawberries in half before blending them for smoothies. I use chopped ice instead of cubes when I want to blend ice into a drink. I recently bought one for my mother and found that I had to order the mini chop attachment separately--it no longer comes with the blender. For $13.29 it was worth the price for the additional versatility.

"Excellent, compact, powerful device"
I checked with my mother before I bought this, she has been using a previous model for years on a daily basis and it's still going strong. It might not be as powerful as her Kenwood Chef but it is much easier to get to (mounted to the wall) than the Kenwood so it gets used all the time.

The blender is as big as my conventional blender, but it works better. The whisk is geared down from the direct drive and is powerful and effective, much faster than my previous hand mixer but not suited to absolutely everything. The blender, as shown, does an amazing job of turning anything you stick it in into puree.

And it's not Chinese!

400 Watts is over half a horsepower, but there's an easy to use speed control on the top, so you don't have to be concerned about it running away from you. If 'Home Improvement' made a hand blender this would be it. Having used this a good bit more now: this is a very powerful hand held device. It has more power than the Kitchen Aid Artisan, pretty much the standard in the US, with 400 Watts as opposed to the Artisan's 325 Watts. I found blending and chopping hardly loads this device, it has as much power as a good electric drill.

Excellent.

"solid performance"
well constructed, quiet, form and function in one. I have used it for a few weeks since purchase and so far its performance is excellent.

"disappointed product, disappointed refund response "
I bought a "refurbished" product, which means, as far as I understand, it should be a likely new, but fixed some problems and it SHOULD WORK PROPERLY.

Unfortunately, I recevied a product with some dirty on it and NOT WORKING.

I asked refund, and send back within 3 days after I received the product, but I have NO RESPONSE, not even a single email, until now.

I WILL NOT deal with this seller anymore and I WILL NOT recommend to my friends.