Cuisinart CSB-78 Smart Stick Plus Cordless Rechargeable Hand Blender DISCONTINUED

This is a wonderfully powerful hand blender. It is LARGE. People with small hands might want hold one first before making an online purchase. I am not delighted with nicad batteries since they are fussy about being discharged before being recharged, but maybe they are necessary due to the large current draw of the motor. This is ideal for pureed soups. No more 10 trips to the blender with hot soup dribbling all over the counter or burning my hands.

Not great, but OK. Top black piece contains the batter and a slide out plug, so you unhook this part and plug it straight into the wall to charge. The other accessories are a whisk, mini-food chopper that the unit powers from above, and the "blender" stick that can reach down into a large glass, small bowl, or something like that -- a little container that's fairly tall and not too wide is included because using a normal bowl can lead to a mess of stuff flying out the sides until you get the hang of it. It's not cheap but it's fairly well made and useful. I especially like the battery so you don't have to be tethered to a cord and plug.

So this immersion blender was decent while it lasted. After 8 months the button no longer depresses to turn the unit on however.When I called Cuisinart because it was under warranty they wanted me to pay to ship the defective item back to them (fine) but they ALSO wanted me to pay for them to ship me the replacement AND it would be 7-10 business days. Two weeks and I'm supposed to pay shipping both ways. So we're looking at twenty bucks or so to get a replacement UNDER WARRANTY.If you have a defective unit upon purchase, just return it through Amazon!!!! I'm SOL because it's 8 months which exceeds Amazon's return limit for items.I told Cuisinart I would call them back if I didn't find another immersion blender from another brand that I wanted to buy. I think I would rather buy something else instead of risk having another one of these units die in another 8 months. They are cutting corners on their manufacturer warranty and betting that people will pay the shipping because they are already invested in their product.Oh review on the hand blender while it worked:* it did have good power.* It IS a BIG hand blender. Unit is three pieces - 1) the charging battery handle portion connects to 2) the motor portion connects to 3) the stick and blade OR your mini food processor. It's a little unwieldy.* And I sometimes had a hard time getting it situated to charge (had to be "just so" in the electrical socket.) In retrospect I probably should have simply returned it because of that but it still worked and blended well ... while it lasted.Meh.

I ordered this because my other cordless blender broke. I didn't realize that this one was that much larger, and heavier. As it turns out I love the fact that this blender is more powerful than the last and does the job alot quicker. I would recommend this blender, but with the idea the buyer knows the weight issue.

I bought this rechargeable hand blender for our travel trailer. We often stay in full hook-up RV parks, however we sometimes go to national parks where full hook-ups are hot available. I make a protein smoothie every morning and use my hand blenders (I have 3) for blending my banana and ice into my smoothie. This rechargeable, even fully charged, barely provides enough power to blend these specific things for two minutes. When I'm finished, I need to recharge it, and keep it plugged in until I need it. But, when power is not available, it is only good for 1 maybe 2 morning shakes. It definitely does not meet my expectations for the purpose I purchased it.If you are using it for blending soups, or something less challenging than ice and bananas, it probably works fine. It doesn't hold a charge very long. So, for your home kitchen use, or if you are able to keep it plugged in when not in use, it may work well for you. I don't use this one for much more than my smoothies, but did have a need to make whipped cream one time, but the battery had already died, so I didn't have an opportunity to test it on something else. Oh, and it is on the heavy side, and top heavy. There is room for improvement.I might add I have the version with a cord (not rechargeable) at my office and it works just fine. Except every now and then the motor makes a whining noise. This blender gets the most use and has lasted over a year.

I don't know what could possibly make this immersion blender any better. I'm married to a chef so my search for an immersion blender was very thourghul. I checked several rating sites, talked to friends & checked out a high-end upscale kitchen supply store. I had seen a video that show this model whisk skim milk into a frothy topping but did not believe it until we whipped 1% milk into low fat whipped cream.My top 5 reasons this is the best choice out there:1) it's cordless-even if my counter space doesn't allow me to work near an outlet, I can use this just about anywhere except underwater!2) the chopper attachment has let me chop/mince up onions, garlic, scallions, peppers etc into small enough bits to hide it in foods from the pickiest texture critic. (Which is me, I don't mind any of the flavors of those foods listed but I hate their textures when I bite into food.)3) easy clean-up & storage. This takes up way less space than using our old food processor & blender.4) the price was only a little higher than a comparable brands immersion only model that without any of the extra features.5) my husband can use it to make salad dressing & within 15 seconds, I can take the base & chop veggies. It's so easy to use & switch.