This blender does such a great job. It puts my old blender (that cost more than this one!) to shame. I particularly like that you can select an automated program. It takes all the thinking out of it and makes it so easy and quick. The buttons are easy to use and most important, intuitive. It was very easy to clean and doesn't take up a lot of space on my counter, both very important features to me. It's heavy duty and is obviously high quality. I'm so happy with this blender.