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Not a Cuisinart blender. Had two that broke/smoked up on me during simple blending jobs. I'll never buy one again.

we picked up a food processor with blender attachment made by black and decker at macys. we paid $65. both food processor and blender are very very good.

I heard Oster blenders are not so great anymore. I have a crappy Hamilton Beach one, but it works great for smoothies and drinks and cost us a whole $15 after a $5 off coupon at Bed, Bath and Beyond. HB has some kind of technology they use in their blenders so that bits of your drink don't get stuck to the side.

My old roommate had a Magic Bullet. It works great for some things, like smoothies and mixed drinks. If you learn what blade to use when, it can be a great secret weapon. A friend of mine uses hers to make omelets. It's good for small spaces (obviously) and stores well.

I have the Magic Bullet and love it! It's great for smoothies and salsas, but I really hate using it for blending hot liquids. Sometimes the plastic gets too hot to handle. If you want something for both hot and cold liquids, I would suggest getting one with a glass pitcher/container.

The Cook's Illustrated from March '09 recommends the Kalorik BL Blender, Model 16909, about $50. The Waring one, Model MBB518, made the bottom of their list. (The very top one, just above the Kalorik, is the KitchenAid KSB580 for about $150, or maybe $99 if you look around online.) (I only know all this because it was in the weekly e-mail they sent around this morning.)

Most consumer grade stuff these days is complete and utter junk.

If you are in Canada I'd recommend you go to a used place like Salvation Army Store or Neighbourhood Services, and look for a used Osterizer that has a date stamp earlier than 1990. These were produced before the Canada/US free trade agreement, and were still made extremely high quality in Canada. With very powerful motors that just simply never burn out no matter what you toss at them.

Best part is that it will probably cost you 5 or 10 bucks. And parts and assessories are available everywhere really cheaply. I think just in the last couple years they finally chanced the interface so that brand new stuff no longer works on those old units, but everything made prior to about 2005 should work fine with older powerhouse units.

I got an Osterizer for Christmas around 2000 and sure enough the motor blew. But I picked up an early 80s motor/ base for 10 bucks and all the attachments fit just fine. And it has been motoring along great ever since.

My wife got me a Breville Hemisphere Blender for Christmas and I love it. The Snow setting is great for making frozen margaritas.

I am searching for a new blender after my Oster Beehive fell apart on me... twice. A friend sent me the Cook's Illustrated reviews and this one, the Kalorik, got Best Value. It sounds great for a low price! http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000MVJARG/ref=s9_simz_gw_s0_p79_i1?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=center-3&pf_rd_r=1XKEZFVRF1N7JP1HREJK&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=470938811&pf_rd_i=507846

I love my magic bullet -- use it every day, and have never had any complaints. Plus it was cheap, and it's small.

I love my roommate's Magic Bullet, but really only for mixed drinks and the occasional omelet. The food processing applications they show on the infomercial are complete crap, in my experience.

I picked up a 5-speed KitchenAid blender at Target a while back for like $60. Retail is $89.99, but this one was an online purchase that had been opened and returned to the store. That blender is definitely my favorite in the price range.

Planning on picking up a Vita-Mix for myself for Christmas...

I hated the magic bullet...I think there is a good batch and a bad batch. I couldn't crush ice to save my life! Salsa was uneven and it smelled like burnt rubber all the time! I sold it! But I think I'm either going to stick with my brevill stick blender or get a kitchenaid one.

I agree with Bushidoka, the old Osterizers are awesome, and the new ones stink (including the Beehive, which Cooks Illustrated once suggested--I've blown out my motor already)....

My mom loves her Waring Pro, and they're on sale right now at the JCPenney outlet:
http://www4.jcpenney.com/jcp/X6.aspx?DeptID=62371&CatID=64234&GrpTyp=PRD&ItemID=1790252&attrtype=&attrvalue=&CMID=62371|62928&Fltr=&Srt=&QL=F&IND=16&cmVirtualCat=&CmCatId=62371|62928|64234

I've had great luck with my Oster. Simple, easy to clean, and blends pretty darn well. It can be noisy and may walk across the counter when blending stiff things.

http://www.amazon.com/Osterizer-4126-Contemporary-Classic-Beehive/dp/B0000AZUWA/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=home-garden&qid=1256916989&sr=1-2

Fair warning: I own the Waring Pro Blender shown above and it is NOISY! As in SUPER-loud, chainsaw-deafening, "my-2-year-old-cries-when-I turn-it-on" kind of noisy. Other than that, it works really well & I got it on sale @ BB&B for about $75 or $80. And they always have those 20% coupons, too. It's fairly top-heavy though... the base is actually a chrome-colored plastic. Keep that in mind. The glass container is nice & sturdy and it cleans well. Plus, it's pretty snazzy. :)

I owned the Waring Pro for 8 years until it died.
I now own the Kalorik BL Blender, Model 16909.
The Kaloriik is a better blender. Much better.

If you want a vita-mix at a fifth of the price, get a Villaware Moderno Pro http://www.amazon.com/VillaWare-V001-43100-Infinity-000-Watt-67-Ounce/dp/B000EQ2LUM . I have used many a Vita-mix in professional kitchens and this is as close as you are going to get without spending the big bucks. I would take this over a vita-mix any day at it's price point. It has some design points that make me think it might have parts from the vita-mix bin.

I used to go through two blenders a year, Then I had a Breville which lasted two years, and now I have had this one for almost two years and I have gotten nothing but harder on my blenders. Everything from daiquiris that are so thick they need to to be drank with a spoon to pureeing lobster shells for bisque.

If it pours, it will blend!

I have the red oster beehive and have had it for several years and love it. I love the thick glass of the pitcher (and have a general hatred for plastic pitchers).

I had a roommate that went through MANY blenders burning out the motor. What I learned was that mistreatment kills most blenders, even good ones. In many cases it is not the blender, but the person using the blender.

You need to always have liquid in the blender! Don't put ice and fruit in a blender without liquid and then be shocked when you blow out the motor. Start with liquid in the blender and add ice/solids to blend. You can continue to add ice and solids to the blended mixture. The liquid also needs to come up to the blades.

I think the reason that the magic bullet works for past blender killers is that it has a narrower circumference. This raises the level of liquid in the base and likely helps keep the motor from burning out.

I highly recommend the Waring Pro. Contrary to the other poster, mine is not any more loud than other blenders. The best feature of the Waring is the glass pitcher. There are no removable parts which means you don't have to worry about the seal at the base of the canister leaking. It cleans easily by using a bottle brush or by blending a small amount of water.

I got a factory reconditioned Waring Pro from amazon for $40 or so. Looked new and works great.

Another vote for old Osterizers. They're amazing and just keep going and going.

Otherwise, would your mom consider subsidizing a Vita-Mix purchase instead of full-on paying for a new blender?

I have a Braun blender, which is about $65. It has a good, if loud, motor and will do anything you need it to. I bought it because it was deeply discounted when I went blender shopping, but I feel vindicated because I keep seeing it on "Best Kitchen Appliances" lists.

I have had a Krups for years, and it's worked great. I prefer the glass jar brands to plastic jars - the plastic ones are too light to stay in place unless you're making chocolate milk.

When you're looking for a blender, you want something narrow, that's kind of a V - think of a tornado inside a jar. The big fat KitchenAid ones don't work very well, because the stuff in the bottom outsides don't get sucked into the blades at all.

I swear by my Breville blender. They have a range of price points. All the blenders are heavy duty:
http://www.breville.com.au/products_results.asp?div=3&cat=2&subcat=5

i cant believe no one has yet to mention the wonders of an immersion blender! i used to have a standard blender, but got rid of it once i got my immersion blending. i *think* have a cuisinart, but its GREAT. it has multiple attachments that blend, whisk, and even chop and i can not tell you how much use i get out of the thing. soups, smoothies, milkshakes. i even use it to make pesto and clean up is amazingly simple as i just take off the dirty part and soak without much hassle at all. hands down one of the most frequently used appliances in my kitchen!

I have a Waring Pro blender that I've had about 8 years now. I love it. It can be loud, but that depends on what you're blending. All the parts come off so you can get it extra clean (I'm always scared of blenders that don't have removable blades, what am I not able to clean off??). AND the best part, in my opinion, is that you can get replacements for all of it. The glass pitcher, the blades, the rubber gasket, the lid, the little plastic insert in the lid. All of it. The motor is a champ and keeps on running. I'm a fan of companies that offer replacement parts for their items. It extends the life and makes for less waste!