The Smoothie Makers are terrible -- I bought one and get rid of it after trying a few times. The spout was the pits as anything thick wouldn't flow through. Clean up was also awful as the parts aren't as well constructed as a real blender.

I use an immersion blender for smoothies -- it makes them right in the beaker that comes with it.

Oh no, I ordered one today for my sister. She wants a blender to crush tice, not so much for smoothies, but for otehr drinks, like daquirris & milk shakes etc. Any more advice on this?

Michie

I also bought a smoothie maker and returned it. Sometime later I bought another one, but returned that too. I liked the idea of a stir stick, but didn't like the plastic (rather than glass) container. The worst was the spout. It does get clogged and you have to clean it often. A good, slightly expensive blender is much more useful!

Any advice on good blenders to crush ice?

I have a Waring "commercial bar blender" (the stainless one). Have had it for close to 20 years. started out using it mostly for making margharitas, now I use it every day for smoothies, plus other cooking uses. Mine was a gift, but I think it is totally worth the money. The spout on "smoothie makers" looks like it would be really hard to keep clean!

My brother and sister-in-law have a smoothie maker. Can't remember the brand, but it is quite excellent.

Makes and pours thick fruit smoothies, crushes ice, and mixes killer frozen margueritas.

I have one of the 500W Cook's Essentials Smoothie Makers and I LOVE it. It's loud & noisy but the spout has never gotten clogged. Now it fully smoothes, so no whole pieces (such as fruit, etc) are left to get clogged. Nor has cleaning been a problem, but I always clean right after use. The only problem is the plastic...the spout cracked yesterday during blending. Ideally I'd like a commercial blender. But if anyone knows of where to get replacement parts for the Cook's Essential the please let me know.

I bought a Bartec smoothie maker about 6 months ago, It works great. I think it doesn't really make a difference which one you buy, My smoothie maker crushes ice with ease. I would read the reviews and see what people are saying about the overall power of the smoothie blender before you purchase. I would recommend buying a Bartec blender/smoothie maker, mine is excellent and has not let me down yet!

@Jackgorman1997...I know this is an old link, but is your Bartec still working?