Appliance Reviews

This is one of the worst products I have ever come across. It is poorly made, and began to come loose after two uses. I am afraid it is going to just fall apart one day. Also, it will not let you crank the handle after the corn gets popped a third of the way up. You have to shake the popper to keep the popcorn from burning on the bottom. The whole reason I bought this machine is so I didn't have to cook popcorn like this. I may as well get out my dutch oven and use it to cook my popcorn on the stove top- at least it is constucted well so I know it won't fall apart on me.

I've owned this popper for almost a year now. When I first received it as a gift I was really excited. It makes great popcorn BUT it is a pain in the neck to clean! As someone else stated in their review the L-screws that connect the lid fall out when you take the lid off. Cleaning the popper is a chore because of the was the lid is designed. It only took four or five times of using it before I got tired of cleaning it. I can't think of the last time I've used it because of the chore of cleaning up...I'm back to the microwave.

The butter drip cup handle/hook broke on the second use. I am having trouble getting to the manufactures site. The rest of the popper is wonderful - a little too easy to burn the popcorn though.

As of today, I am waiting on a new seal and blade unit. I purchased a Smoothie Elite in March...it leaked horribly from the bottom. We returned it to the store and got another one. After three or four uses all seemed well, so I threw away the box. Last night, it started leaking everywhere, a steady run...not just a drip or two. I called "Back to Basics" customer service today and they were very nice and will be sending me new parts. Hopefully it will correct the problem, I do feel confident that they will do what it takes to make me happy in the long run. She told me to call her back if I had anymore problems. When the Smoothie Elite is working, it is wonderful. I have never had a smoother drink. Excellent! But, it appears to me that there is some sort of design problem. Two units with the same problem? You decide.

I bought the Pro 600 Smoothie Maker for my teenage daughter, who can live on smoothies during the summer. She loves the machine and made 2 or more delicious smoothies a day for about 4 months. Then catastrophe struck. The motor is quite powerful and there is a lot of action going on when it's running (noise too) and apparently the vibration of the machine caused 2 flanges in the bottom of the machine to break off. This caused the strawberry-banana smoothie to flow all over the countertop and floor. It was a huge mess to clean up and left my daughter heartbroken. I have ordered another smoothie maker--the Pro700 stainless, in the hope it can withstand its own vibrating action better than the first. It certainly crushes ice much better than a blender and it does make delicious drinks. My daughter uses frozen berries, bananas, whatever fruit juice is available and sometimes a dab of homemade ice cream in hers. If the new machine holds up, I will give it a 5-star rating. Otherwise, it's off my list forever.

Hi, I just purchased my Smoothie Elite two weeks ago. (I wanted to stop wasting money on smoothies all the time.)So far, this smoothie maker has exceeded my expectations. I've noticed a lot of posts regarding the noise. It is kinda loud, but its not that bad. I dont make smoothies at 4 in the morning, so its not a problem. The smoothies turn out EXCELLENT. I throw in frozen rock hard strawberries with banana, apple juice, milk, yogurt, some ice cream, and its honest to god better than any smoothie i buy at a store. It turns the frozen fruit into a smoothie in seconds. pretty powerful. i would not hesitate to purchase this smoothie maker again. I've not had any problems with leaking or pouring. that little spout is kinda neat, you just push the lever and out comes your smoothie. i recommend this to anyone who loves the taste and nutrition of a smoothie.

I received the Smoothie Jr. as a gift and was so excited. After unpacking the machine I realized I was missing the stir stick. Back to Basics was wonderful!!! They sent one to me free of charge. I was ready to make great milkshakes and smoothies. My first attempt flopped. I tried a simple milkshake, but it would not mix up, let alone dispense from the dispenser. I kept adding milk to make it thinner, but it never would work.

I thought, maybe it's my fault, let's try again. I tried using a banana, strawberry yogurt, orange marmalade, 1/2 cup crushed ice and used over a cup of milk. The machine wouldn't even chop the banana, let alone finish off the ice. I am very frustrated with the machine, and hate to tell the person who gave it to me.

Good Luck with yours should you decide to purchase. You may want to try the Elite, it could be stronger.

For what most places charge for the "Smoothie Jr.", I suggest spending the extra couple of bucks to get a "Smoothie Elite". However, I got this on sale for only 20 bucks.

If you need a blender and want a smoothie maker, like I did, just get the smoothie maker. It is capable of all the things a blender is, but it also has a dispenser valve.

Mine came with a 'blender cap' so you can take off the dispenser valve and use it as a regular blender.

If you need all of those various speeds and setting, get the "Smoothie Plus". It has the convenience of a smoothie maker with all the settings of a blender.

After about a dozen delicious smoothies this machine stopped working and the Back to Basics company was not helpful in addressing the problem. There were many phone calls and unanswered e-mails. We sent it back for repair twice and it still doesn't work. In fact, the company sent it back missing a part. From our experience this machine is a piece of junk put out by an unresponsive company. But those first few smoothies were wonderful. They need to rethink this product. In the meantime, don't waste your money.

I received this for my birthday as I was looking for a good smoothie and iced coffee machine. I was very dissapointed. It has great difficulty crushing ice and is extremely loud and noisy. It takes a long time to mix up anything in it. It also has to be washed by hand and not in the dish washer. I wish I'd picked a different machine.

I received a Smoothie Pro 600 as a gift. It worked great for this first couple of months, then I noticed that the gear wheels on the base motor and the container were wearing down. They are so worn down, contact is not being made between them, so the smoothie maker is useless. Poor quality.

I bought one of these last summer. It lasted about 2 weeks with infrequent use. I called the company and they sent me a replacement part which lasted 1 use. I was just making smoothies and not doing anything heavy-duty with it...not even using fruit and only a few 1/2 size ice cubes at a time. In my opinion they should recall this Smoothie Pro as defective in design. The motor is too powerful for the construction of the blade assembly. Perhaps my bad experience with this can save someone else from wasting money.

I have had this item for about 2 months. It crushes ice realy well and the pour spout is convient. But that is where it stops. The pour spout was convient until the tab broke. It is completely plastic and very flimsy. Not 2 days later the blade housing stripped and now is completly ineffective. The motor runs fine but is useless without a blade to be turned. With 700 watts you would think that they would realize that plastic is not the best answer. I would not recommend this to anyone unless some changes were made!

It makes nice smoothies but the 700 watts of power creates too much noise. The noise was so loud that at first I thought something was wrong with the unit. The loud noise makes you think twice before using it. They should issue ear plugs with each unit. The retaining nut for the blades vibrated loose and leaked all over the unit. The plastic housing and pitcher gives it a cheap quality look. I would be surprised if this unit last more than one year with light use.