I bought this blender a couple of years ago when it first came out. It seemed like the top of the line at the time, and probably is still right near the top. Finally, a blender which crushes ice well, yes, this one will do it. The last $20 blender I had couldn't cut hot butter on a warm summer day. Anyhow, this blender performs very well, and includes a great feature where-by it automatically adjusts the motor speed if the contents of the blender won't blend. In other words, if there is not enough liquid, and what you are trying to blend gets stuck, it won't spin out of control and burn out the motor... it will slow down to adjust to whatever you are blending. While sounding a bit strange, this is really a great and useful feature.
HOWEVER, there are a few things which cause me to really think twice about recommending this blender. First of all, after I used the blender a few times, I noticed a black liquid oozing out from underneath where you sit the pitcher onto the blender's base. It looked like oil, but and didn't clean up very easy. So, I called Kitchen Aid, and they said, oh, no, its not oil, its just the rubber portion of the attachment which connects the pitcher to the spinning part of the blender base. They said it happens all the time for the "first few times you use it". Well, let me tell you, it's been nearly 2 years, and that thing is still oozing blackness all over each time I use it. Definitely less now then initially, but it still makes for a messy cleanup. It does appear to be the plastic part, I guess this thing just slowly melts or something under the heat of the blender moving so fast. Anyhow, this doesn't impede the functionality at all, and the blender still works fine, it just is a pain to clean this part up.
The second problem I had was that my particular model didn't have a "spout" for pouring. There was no indentation in the glass part of the pitcher. I called Kitchen Aid asking why, since I had seen some of the exact same blender with this spout. They literally gave me some smart ass reply and basically said sorry, you are screwed. I was fairly upset at this, and decided not to call their customer service again. So now each time I pour the contents out of the blender, I often spill. :) To solve this I usually use a big spoon or ladle to scoop out my daiquiris or other drinks.
Overall: Great blender, works very well, crushes ice nicely, but make sure you get a model with a spout for pouring, and beware of messy cleanup.
Note: This black rubber problem may not exist in the newer revisions of this blender available today.
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