I kept telling my wife that the smoothies that the Oster were making were just fine, and she kept complaining they were gritty.  After a year and a half I bought her this for Christmas.  This makes very smooth  smoothies compared to the Oster.   I am also able to make 2x as much waffle batter now (so 1 batch instead of 2 smaller batches). However, the best part is not having to wash the blender by hand anymore...    Add some fresh water and soap, put it on 90 second smoothie mode, and the thing is washed!!!  Okay, I guess I still have to rinse the pitcher and wash the top, but it is much less to do.