Russell Hobbs 12620 Smoothie Maker

I looked for weeks at new blenders and was taken in by a price reduction at Robert Dyas. I used this at least once a day so my demands are quite high.

The plastic jug locks into place on the motor and is rather fiddly. The plastic tap clogs at any sign of bits. The stainless steel blades are attached to a plastic base that stains with use. The stirrer is great and the hole it leaves I've been known to throw in whole bananas while it's on. The plastic lid stays in place with a quick turn but often vibrated loose.

Now to the cleaning! Honestly it was so hard to clean I actually left it overnight sometimes after a rinse. The tap needs to unscrew before you can undo the base. The base became progressively worse to get apart and the 4 plastic posts that secure it all broke over just a couple of months. To remove the base from the jug you need to line up some arrows, that over time, seemed to get harder to allign and added to my frustration. The tap is the worst design of the whole blender (but that narrowly beats the base locking). When you eventually discover that the tap also screws apart into 2 pieces you realise that liquid stays in the opaque seal after washing. You might need to tip it upside down and try to get some air in there to just to get a few drops of water out. It's worth it though as it does stink if you forget!

My boyfriend even gave up on it before I did. Don't even consider this 'smoothie maker' if there not much strength in your hands. If you're planning to buy it on a whim I'd reconsider as it so fiddly your likely just to see it gathering dust.