Instruction: Extract information from the supporting document to answer the given question.

Input:
Question: Expected ice to be a finer texture, but also didn't wait the suggested 15-20 minutes.  Is that the problem?
Document: Then, if you follow the directions, you end up with some pretty watery margaritas. I *always* had to add extra ice for a frozen margarita. It's also *extremely* noisy, so if you're serving a group, you're running this conversation-killing appliance every 15&#34; or so. But, here's the *real* kicker.
This thing is amazing! I gave it to my wife for her birthday and she LOVED it. It works great on auto, but I like my drinks a little thicker so I make them manually. My wife likes the way they turn out on auto. I've read some comments and reviews that tell you to let the ice sit out for 20 minutes before using it, but I wasn't able to tell a difference. The only downside associated with this machine is waiting for the weekend to use it.
This machine is a Hoot! Makes excellent drinks and fast. When we had our first party with it I made up three 1/2 gallon(about 20 drinks each) containers of mixings according to the recipe enclosed with the machine. Dump 13-15 ounces of hooch in the pitcher and push the button, Wala, 36 ounces of PERFECT Margarittas in under a minute.I orderd mine at Red's Gear for $249.00 + $20.00 shipping.
Throw some liquid refreshment into the jar and hit theswitch. The Margaritaville takes over from there.I like Amazon, but found that Frontgate has a much better promotionaldeal, and it is on right now (Aug/08). They are offering theMargaritaville WITH a carrying case for the same price. They also havecoupons available to shave another 10 to 15% off. Between the carryingcase and the percent off they were nearly $100 cheaper (and they shippedit for free, just like amazon).
We enjoyed this item from the start. It's very easy to use and routine cleaning has not been a problem. The only negative is that you must wrap a towel around the white collar leading from the ice bin on top and the liquid container to prevent water from splattering.
This machine was a lot bigger than I expected. It will not fit under my cabinets on my counter top without removing the ice container. However, it makes great margaritas and slushies for the kids. Great drinks by the pool on a hot summer day!
Use the shave only option to add however much ice you want, then the blend option. If you're really THAT lazy, use the auto option to get most of the ice you want, then add more manually until you're happy. It adds literally 15 seconds to your time. Not that big a deal. If I could complain about anything at all without feeling like a lazy consumer, it would be that the ice is shaved, but not shaved small enough.
I received this as a gift a week ago and our whole family has been loving it! It took a few tries to get the liquid measurements down to match the ice but after that we've been cruising. The kids love the smoothie and "virgin" 'colada recipies. It didn't take long for our friends to hear about the new toy and we're now making up our own margarita recipes . We can't wait to try it out on the patio this summer!
There is no good way to dry out the ice hopper and the drip container. The problem is that the ice hopper is a closed container, and if you live in moister climates, the melted ice may eventually grow something. You will need to make sure you take the time to dry all the areas surrounding the ice hopper.4. You cannot poor the contents from the pitcher unless you remove the lid. The problem is that the face of the lid is covered in drink from the blending process.
This machine is such a crowd pleaser that I understand why they offer a travel bag. Everyone is amazed by how easy it is to crank out drinks though a bit deaf from its sound. I have used all the settings and made a lot of different drinks. Since it is shaving ice based on an expected quantity of liquid, I have a mixing glass marked for the various drinks and quantities so that I can easily play with different formulas and always have the correct liquid/ice ratio.
Answer: Yes, waiting until the ice loses its frosty appearance helps. Also if the ice cubes are small to start with I have trouble getting them to shave correctly. I'm talking about the approximately 1/4" yhick cubes you get from some ice machines.Barry