After looking at LOTS of reviews on various blenders, I finally settled on the Ninja Professional Plus Blender with Auto-iQ. It's not the most expensive unit Ninja has but it certainly does a great job. I have a smoothie every morning - greens, ice, fruit (sometimes frozen), etc. and it handles the job beautifully.  If I reduce the liquid a little it's like soft serve ice cream.  When I'm done, I rinse everything, put it back together and add about half a pitcher of warm soapy water.  I then turn it on low for a few seconds and it's all clean.  I definitely recomment!