I used this blender 3 times daily for over a year and it is still used daily/ or near daily to this day over 2 years later. The most important points are as follows: It is loud. It is not simple to clean. The container scratches more easily than I would've hoped for over time. It is very powerful and made by an American brand that will still exist in a few years and that will repair it should there be any issues in the future. The unit may over heat with nut butter level thick foods. The worst features about this blender is the noise and the fact that it wasn't quite as powerful as I had hoped given its noise. I was expecting noise levels close to that of a vacuum, but this blender truly is louder than that especially due to how close you are likely to be to it when its in use. I watched many a review about the noise and power, but you can't appreciate just how loud it is until you use it regularly in your personal personal space. This device is not for preparing a morning smoothie for apartment dwellers or those with roommates, unless you are comfortable making a lot of noise, or your kitchen / living space have sufficient sound deadening, or distance from people who will hear the noise. With sound proofing and distance of some kind you may not dramatically disturb others, but you will still likely make enough noise that they will consistently know you are blending. I do think this unit should be ordered with some kind of headphone ear plug. I find blending is bearable when i have earbuds on. In my case, the noise would have been more acceptable if the unit did not have a problem overheating. I purchased this unit to make fruit and veggie smoothies, nut-butters, and soups. It can do all those things, but when making nut-butter it requires the addition of oil and the cautious slow pouring of ingredients, to prevent the unit from stopping and displaying the overheat caution code. I bought this unit because of the positive reviews and I think the media material advertised that it was strong enough even to make raw nut butter without the addition of oil. So, the first time I made nut-butter, I added the nuts (not filling the container) and I worked the nuts into butter, however, the second time I did the same, it started overheating. Every time I would make nut-butter the unit seemed to give up earlier and earlier, or I had to go slower and slower, until I settled on a safe timing to add the ingredients and the addition of a significant amount of oil to prevent the unit from over heating. I think the continued shortening of the blend-time is a protective measure to ensure that it could continue to operate, although, I am not sure about this. The blender does seem like it would have the digital sensor smarts to do this, given its price and manufacturer's warranty. Such a feature may be how the company doesn't loss to much money on the most aggressive of blender-users. Either way I was disappointed as I had expected this loud machine to be capable of powering through basically everything, especially given that at least one reviewer mentioned the differences between Vitamix machines is more in the lengths of warranty and features and operating volumes rather than their power since they all use a similar motor. Lastly, the unit is tough to clean, which is true of many units. Thick nut-butters may create a lot of residue under the blades and it may be best to take the cup apart with the special wrench that you can buy to ensure that you thoroughly cleaned the unit after any thick and sticky food prep. The issue is that the unit doesn't ship with the special spatula under blade spatula, or the wrench to open the blade assembly. This is a great long term purchase item and it has already lasted longer than the previous ninja pro chef i had. If you believe you will be a smoothie, slushies, or soup type of person and want to support American made products that aren't built to be replace in 1 or 2 years this is a good choice