I was excited to finally get to open the box when I got it. It was much bigger than I expected but I love it! It has a nice large base and I noticed off the bat that it has safety features. When plugged in, the low medium and high settings will not function until the pitcher is twisted all the way on. Even on the lowest setting, this blender is so very powerful. It blends ice and frozen fruit in a matter of seconds. It also includes a huge stick to help when adding foods from the top of the pitcher. Very easy to assemble, disassemble, operate and clean.