---

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #16 in Kitchen & Housewares
• Size: Medium
• Color: Black
• Brand: Hamilton Beach
• Model: 51101B
• Platform: Windows
• Number of items: 1
• Dimensions: 11.90" h x 4.20" w x 5.20" l, 2.52 pounds

Features

• 175-watt personal blender for smoothies, shakes, and more
• Simple one-touch operation; durable stainless-steel blades
• 14-ounce blending jar doubles as a travel cup (less to clean)
• Fits most car cup holders; recipe book included
• Measures 3-3/4 by 3-3/4 by 12-1/2 inches

---

Customer Reviews

Most helpful customer reviews

437 of 447 people found the following review helpful.
Great design, go easy on the motor, though
By S.A.
I got this for my 17 year old son to make smoothies. He made the most delicious peach smoothie from ice and the Big Train Fruit Tea Smoothie Blast syrup also bought on Amazon. The consistency was smooth and perfect, just like a professional frozen drink. I asked him to make me one. On the second smoothie the motor died. We thought maybe it needed a little "rest" but sadly, it was the end of the road for that blender. When pressed for details, my son admitted that he noticed a burning smell before the motor stopped dead, and yet he kept pressing that button! Bottom line: great design, lightweight, nice personal cup size, easy storage and cleanup. The motor is just not very powerful, and can't take long blending times. Still, we are going to order a replacement and see if a bit more TLC while blending gives this blender better shelf life. Seems like it worked for some of the other reviewers.

Update: we got the new blender and it is working out great. You just ha ve to be careful to pulse the blender as you go along, and stop for a few seconds (10?) if you start to smell the motor smell. Ice is blended into drinks very well, with no big chunks. The only downside is the no dishwasher requirement. I feel pretty tempted to try it, but as this is already the second blender I will resist.

495 of 508 people found the following review helpful.
Awesome and Perfect for Smoothies!!!
By D. Truong
I was looking for an inexpensive small personal blender that was powerful, easy to use, and could blend a perfect smoothie. I did a lot of research and looked into about a dozen other brands including the famed "Magic Bullet". What I found out was that not all personal blenders are made equal. The "Magic Bullet" didn't get very good reviews even though it is by far the most popular. After all my intense research, I settled on this one... The Hamilton Beach Single Serve Blender. Here's the scoop on what makes this surprising blender the "cream of the crop" :)

Pros:

-Simple and easy to use
-Easy to Clean
-Powerful enough to chop frozen fruits (and probably ice too)
-Pulse button allows you more control because you can start or stop it.
-Seems very sturdy and only has 3 parts to it. (lid, glass, and base)
-This thing is freaking cheap... got mine for $15.
-Blends Smoothies perfectly with no unchopped pieces of fruit.
-Power cord can be tucked in and wrapped around bottom of base for storage.

Cons:
-Emits a slight 'burnt oil' odor while it is in operation... but it's not as bad as it sounds.
-The Lid seems kind of flimsy.

Conclusion:
At $15 this little blender is not only a bargain, it gets the job done and does it well! In fact, it works just as well as my friend's personal blender which costs more than twice the amount I spent on this one. The elegance and simplicity of the design is also to be admired. The plastic blending container also doubles as a travel mug and the Lid to it doubles as a sipping lid when used as a travel mug. It's a nice surprise to see a product in which you can see that they put a lot of thought into it's design. It's positive aspects greatly outshine the few negatives... especially when considering the price. So if you need an amazing blender but you're on a budget, pick this one up and never look back! By the way, this th ing is also available elsewhere... like "Wally World" and "Target" ...and at the same low price :)

68 of 71 people found the following review helpful.
Great little device for daily smoothies, but does not last even a year
By Mary A. Mattox
This is an amazing value for the price! I have a full-sized blender, but it was just too much for what I needed (1 serving smoothie), and was annoying to clean such a large thing afterwards... so I wanted something smaller. I LOVE the design of this blender - it's a very simple 1-button machine that allows me to throw everything in it, blend, and then just twist off and GO! The lid slides open to allow for drinking my smoothie directly out of it (so it serves a double purpose). The design of the lid is very good - it's very easy to sip the smoothie from this (it has a nicely designed drinking lip), and the size of the container is perfect for my car cup holder. After you are done with base, the cord twists and locks into a recessed area in the bottom of the blender, making cleanup even easier. The blender looks awesome just sitting on my countertop, ready to make smoothies at any time! The only thing I could possibly wish for is more power.

Pros:
1) This is a perfect smoothie maker! Has been able to handle almost anything (see Cons below for more about this) I've put in there, even frozen fruit.
2) The design is just genius to me. I'm able to make a smoothie and go in 5 minutes. After blending, just twist off and go, and lid slides open to allow you to drink/sip... it's totally portable. Device itself is very small, takes up little space on your counter, and does look nice (especially since the cord is pretty much concealed at base of blender). I actually like that it only has 1 button - makes it easier for me.
3) Cleanup is a breeze. Splash some water and a little soap in there and swish around, dump out and air dry, or just let water sit/soak for a few minutes if the food is harder to get off. I've read from other reviews that the lid can become a little flimsy, so I always handwash it. Dishwashers can warp some delicate plastics sometimes...

Cons:
1) As stated on some other peop le's reviews, there IS a burning smell if you push button for too long or if you throw something in there that it cannot handle. Always pulse this thing for maybe 20-30 seconds at a time, do NOT just keep your finger on the button for too long. This is basically just a baby blender, so it's a little more delicate than many of us are used to.
2) This little blender is not able to handle large & hard items very well - I wish it had more power. Examples of things the blender has had trouble with: big pieces of cubed ice, whole frozen strawberries. I used the crushed ice dispenser from my fridge when I need ice, and cut the whole frozen strawberries in half when I need those. If you stick something in there that it cannot handle, the blade is just going to freeze up on you (i.e. get stuck).
3) The blade is small, so it's not always as easy as "blend & go" - sometimes I have to pulse a couple of times and then "help" it by mixing the things at the top into it wit h a spoon so that everything is able to make it to the blade at the bottom and get blended properly. This isn't a big deal to me, although I know that the super expensive blenders that people use for smoothies, like VitaMix or BlendTec, don't require help from spoons as much as this one :)
4) This blender does not blend as well as more professional blenders. I've had a green smoothie (i.e. has spinach in it) from a pro blender and it's perfectly smooth and blended, you don't see any food particles at all, looks beautiful. With this blender, you do see the small pieces of chopped up spinach mixed in it (they ARE small, however). This doesn't bother me at all personally, although it grosses some of my co-workers out :)

TIPS!
1) Because this blender is not very powerful, I've found that it works better if you put the liquid and/or soft items in FIRST and then begin to blend in the frozen items and ice.
2) Remember to pulse, do not continuously b lend for more than 20-30 seconds I'd say (or you will get the burning smell!). I actually pulse for about 10-15 seconds myself (I want this thing to last me a long time!)

Conclusion:
Despite the cons, this VERY inexpensive blender has still been an amazing purchase for me. You definitely get more than your money's worth, in my opinion. I have owned and have used it everyday for 2 months now and it works fine as long as I remember that it isn't super powerful and might need some "help" sometimes. The design of the blender is amazing though and is what makes this stand out from other blenders. It makes it so easy to create a smoothie and go. I am kind of lazy but wanted to change my diet. I have a full-sized blender but it was burdensome - too much - too big - a pain to clean. This blender has made it SO easy that I'm now drinking extremely healthy smoothies everyday, full of things like spinach, veggies, fruit, yogurt, flaxseed oil, and organic raw egg yolks. I've lost 7 pounds and am FULL of energy now also. I'm so happy!! This little blender has made a large positive impact on my health. I'm sure I'll eventually get a VitaMix one day since I'm eating the smoothies so much now, but only when this one dies on me (let's see how long it lasts).

UPDATE Aug 2010: Originally bought this blender May 2010. It's August 2010, and the lid finally cracked - well, I guess I got what I paid for. The crack is getting bigger and starts to leak liquid now as I blend. I've used it almost daily now for 3 months... since I know that smoothies are going to stay a part of my diet now, I am considering upgrading to a Vitamix blender.

UPDATE Aug 2011: I have officially trashed this little blender and am downgrading my rating to 3 stars because it's no good for long term use. I bought another one soon after the lid cracked on the previous one (hey, at under $20 a pop, I didn't think much of it to just buy another) . WELL, a couple of months after purchasing that 2nd blender, the bottom of the plastic cup cracked! Grrr... The mechanism/motor of the units worked just fine each time, it was the VERY cheaply-made plastic container/cup that makes this product a bad idea for long term use. I have purchased a Ninja Prep Pro system and although it's not a Vitamix, it's a HUGE improvement over this little blender (and the Ninja is also Consumer Reports' #2 blender right now, right behind Vitamix!)