Krups 243-70 Power X Plus Combi Blender

The blender works just fine for smoothies, shakes and sauces. It doesn't crush ice as well as some of the more powerful professional blenders I've come across, but it's adequate. The food processor is a poor replacement for a real food processor, i.e. Kitchenaid or Cuisinart. The capacity is small and it does not chop very evenly--half your food turns to mush while the other half remains in big chunks. It is, however, good for making breadcrumbs. Get the blender, but invest in a separate food processor if you really need one that works.

I've had this blender and food processor for 1.5 years now, and it's a wonderful widget at this price point for a young person learning/expanding cooking knowledge, with limited kitchen space and a limited budget to stock kitchen tools and gadgets.

Kitchen appliances are like any other tool: buy cheap, buy twice. I'm glad I spent another $10-20 over the next step down, because a glass pitcher beats the heck out of plastic jobs that crack and split easily. My pitcher still looks quite pristine despite reasonable use! The speed and evenness of the blending is great compared to my various former roommates' machines, with a wide range of speed, and the option of separate power burst as well as ice-crusher functions.

Yes, the food processor attachment is a simple thing -- only one twin-blade attachment that fits on easily, somewhat small in volume -- and therefore won't do everything perfectly. But, the alternative is spending a lot more $$$ for a Cuisinart or whathaveyou. At my...Read more

Understanding that ALL products have occasional "lemons," where they should be returned with no questions asked, let me say that my Krups is by no means a sour machine. I have had this blender/processor combo for over 2 years now and am very pleased with its overall performance. The blender, which I use at least 4-5 times a week, makes extremely smooth drinks and crushes ice well on pulse and high power settings. It is great for converting chunky ice crems, esp. with chocoloate chunks :) , to milkshakes. It also makes very smooth purees for sauces. I would not suggest trying it, but I have also dropped the blender a couple of times and can truly say it is a sturdy container! The processor is adequate for its basic purposes, although I would not buy this combination if you are specifically seeking a multifunction processor; however, for saving space and money, it is a great deal. The processor is very good at dicing firm vegetables such as peppers, not so good as softer ones...Read more