Braun MR 400 HC MultiQuick Single-Speed Handheld Blender

Pros: Does many kitchen tasks like blending right in a soup pot or whisking.
Cons: Doesn't chop ice or make good smoothies.

I have to say, this is probably my favorite kitchen electric appliance, and I don't know how I lived without hand blenders before they were invented. But having said how great they are, you need to understand where a hand blender is useful, and where you ...

Pros: Worth more than it's weight in cooking power. Is versatile, and takes up little space.
Cons: Doesn't chop ice

I bought the Braun MR400 HC MultiQuick handheld blender because I didn't want to be bothered taking my regular pitcher style blender out for everyday tasks. I found it was quite useful for so many things that I rarely even use my old blender much ...

Pros: easy to use and great for protein shakes
Cons: poorly made push button

This blender is great for making protein shakes and adding bananas to it. I like large protein shakes and you could submerse this one further into the shake w/o the fear of it shorting out. Most blenders in this class cannot be submersed very far....

Pros: great for everything except ice
Cons: do not crush ice!

the motor blew on mine when a piece of ice got jammed in the blades while making smoothies...

fantastic thing though at a great price. I am getting another one and I'll be more careful...

Pros: Does its job and BLENDS
Cons: not easy to find just anywhere

My first hand blender was a Braun which I bought because I knew the name. I loved it - did a great job pureeing hot soups right in the pot - always a messy job to transfer to a blender. It had good churning action - it was easy to get it all blended. So when I wore it out (after a few years, I bought a GE from WalMart (made FOR WalMart, I understand - it's stamped on the blender), and it's nothing like as good as the Braun. It doesn't CHURN up the soup, and I have to keep moving it around trying to chop up all the bigger pieces, which seem to get trapped in the blade area without chopping, even when very soft.
So now I really appreciate the Braun, and I'm going to go hunt for another one.