My husband makes a protein shake almost every morning.  When our last blender finally hit the skids, I did a lot of web searches and decided to purchase this Hamilton Beach blender.  It works like a charm and easily blends ice, bananas, strawberries, blueberries, mango, etc. with no stirring or scraping.  The only reason I did not give it five stars is because the lid is a bit tight and can be difficult to remove for cleaning.  We are extremely satisfied with this purchase and would recommend it to others.