Ninja Ultima Blender Plus (BL830)

OK if you go on YouTube you see this (individual of questionable motives....IE he is paid off by Vitamix) to slam this blender in a very questionable comparison. And he sites (incorrectly) that the product contains LEAD. OK now here is the real world we check our sources and data. Turns out there are TRACE amounts of lead in the power cord, and guess what only California wanted the notice, and now they do not why? Because it turns out ALL power cords have trace amounts of lead. So assuming you are not going to eat the power cord. Then you are OK...by the way YouTube guy a lot of thing in our environment (test your drinking water) have trace amount of lead and other fun things.OK this said this blender is AWESOME and it rocks on everything. My wife who is ORGANIC Wife/Mother of the year. Yes we are that kind of household, LOVES IT. Soup, no problem, smoothies, easy peesy, crush ice, how about some snow. There is NOTHING I have been able to throw at this blender that it does not laugh at. And clean up....how does 5 minutes sound or less. I always have to clean it, she uses and I clean. (OK I use it a lot too (heh).The motor is a jet engine in a box, my kids LOVE to see it go. It is a blender and piece of entertainment all in one. Guests are always asking me where we got it (shameless plug for Amazon).The travel cups are great of busy pre-work mornings. Gee Vitamix does not give you travel mugs.Now for my closing seriously guys a blender is a blade connected to a motor the quality is the motor and having a engineering and IT background this thing is built like a tank. You buy this and you are set forever, give to you kinds in 30 years. This thing is a beast; the way I see it, it is simple want to spend more money then you want then buy this and send me the difference (just kidding). The VitaMix an OVERPRICED blender.Don't believe me, then ask yourself if they were so confident with their product, why pay somebody to bash the competition on YouTube? My experience if Vitamix is scared there is a reason. Could be because they know they are selling a over priced blender.Ninja keep up the good work and hey you may want to consider posting a REAL comparison on YouTube.Great blender and no issues. :)

So was tired of paying $5 a piece for a fruit/veggie smoothie and started pricing out blenders. I searched online and YouTube and found the Ninja. I was very excited especially after pricing other products like Vmix at 3 times more. Everything was in the box as advertised. The upper blades really make a difference by cutting up the larger fruit/vegetables pieces at the top and moving them down to the lower blades. Absolutely no need to push down with a spoon or other utensils like it's competitor.I appreciate the variable speed control and I actually like the slight delay before the motor reaches the full power of the speed selected. It's like it has an internal "clutch" similar to a manual shift car. It allows time to adjust if the selected speed is stronger than needed/wanted for the task BEFORE reaching "full" speed.The pulse feature is quite powerful, almost too much so. I am still experimenting but it would be nice if the variable speed also applied to the pulse feature as to not overly chop something meant to be chunky like pico de gallo. One short pulse can really "go to town" on a tomato, jalapeno, onion etc. This is absolutely NOT a deal breaker!!I have read others review stating that it doesn't get everything smooth, which makes me question how long than ran the machine. At the smoothie place, it has taken over 5 minutes of blending, shaking, swirling, fast, slow, etc, to get it to the right consistency and they are using the industrial Vmix machines. I have run the Ninja less than that and everything was smooth.I have not made whipped cream or ice cream or the like but I didn't buy it for that purpose. I do foresee using it for soups in the Fall and Winter though. I saw online somewhere not to blend hot items in the Ninja but I think that if the pour spout is opened at the top and don't over fill it with food, it should be fine as long as the steam is allowed to escape preventing any pressure build up.All in all, I am very happy with it. It's sleek and cool looking, powerful and does what I want/need it to do and definitely worth my $200!

Best available consumer blender before going commercial or getting a vitamin

I received this product promptly without any difficulties with delivery. It arrived with all it advertised parts. I have been using it now for 2 months and have been very pleased. I use it mostly for smoothies and an occasional batch of pesto. I've had excellent results thus far. It is a little on the loud side (placing your hand on the lid while its running seems to help some). The blades and mounts are heavy/sturdy, the base is stable, the lid is well-made - I really have no complaints. Longevity is the ultimate product of good quality so we will see....but so far I am pleased! Hoping this blender lasts 10+ years! Being that I have only had this product for 2 months I cannot, in good conscience, give it 5 stars but if it continues to perform at this level after another 2 years then I would easily give it all 5.Update: It has been over 3 years and I am still very happy with this product. Blades are still pretty sharp, no mechanical issues, no irregular noises, no leakage, no broken parts, etc. I have found that I only use it about 4-5 times a month (so I am certainly not an every day user) but have been very pleased over the years with this product.