Hamilton Beach 50754 WaveStation 10-Speed Dispensing Blender Reviews

• AWESOME at crushing ice

  
  By A1SH2M0LXT323 on 2005-10-05
  I first bought one of these for my father for Father's Day. You should know he's a very cynical guy and I kept my fingers crossed that it would meet with his approval! He and my mother often host parties, and he regularly serves ice-blended drinks made in a regular blender (i.e. stawberry daiqueris). His regular blender often left ice chunks that clogged the straw and remained in the bottom of the glass once the drink was finished. Being the cynical perfectionist he is, I bought him the Hamilton Beach Wavestation to see if it would work better. I chose this over the Back-to-Basics smoothie maker because of the poor quality reviews it gets on many sites.
  
  The Wavestation is AWESOME! There is absolutely NO ice chunks, and no hand-stirring necessary because of the "wave action" mixing. Basically, the shape of the container and the blades create a vortex that continually pulls the top of the mix downward, unlike a typical blender that mostly just mixes what's in the bottom.
  
  My hubby and I decided to buy one of these for ourselves too, mostly for fruit slushies for the kids (we don't entertain the way my parents do!). This is, in my opinion, the best smoothie maker option on the market.
  
  NOTE: At first my dad complained that really thick mixes wouldn't come through the front dispenser and he had to pour them. We found this to be true too, but the pouring worked extremely well (no spills). Then I read in the instruction booklet that with thick mixes, try turning ON the machine, dispense, then turn it off again.
  
  
  

• Wow!

  
  By A1ROGFCFNMTB96 on 2005-11-02
  This is an amazing blender - fast, efficient, and easy. I make smoothies for breakfast every morning, and this blender handles anything I want to throw at it...even frozen peaches, which all of my previous blenders have pooped out on. It dispenses drinks quickly, especially if you leave it turned on while you dispense, and cleans up fairly easily. I only wish it could go in the dishwasher. Highly recommended.
  
  

• Blends well but...

  
  By A239VFGH5RDHLC on 2005-11-15
  This blender does blend ice and smoothies better than any other blender I've had. But it is not dishwasher safe as Amazon says. The manual says to handwash everything. With the dispenser spout, there's about 6 separate pieces you have to handwash after using it. I'm used to sticking the pitcher and blades in the dishwasher and forgetting about it so this has been more work than it's worth. A thicker plastic pitcher would have been nice also--this feels thin and cheap.
  
  

• WaveStation is remarkable.

  
  By A17JV0S28ZCXBY on 2005-10-12
  Our WaveStation is truly remarkable. The claim on the box of "No More Ice Chunks!" as a result of the company's wave-action system is true. The blending action is quite different from other blenders. Rather than just spinning the contents around at the bottom of the container, the ice mixture is pulled from the top of the batch, down into the blades for a continuous blending operation (no hand stirring required). The result is a smooth, chunk-free frozen drink that dispenses easily from the tap in front of the blender. Wow, what a pleasure it is to have both a well-made frozen drink and a trouble-free dispenser. My guests are delighted when we use this machine and refill their glasses frequently (I cannot tell if it's my drink recipes or they just like to use the dispenser). This is the best blender we have ever had.
  
  

• PERFECT BLENDER

  
  By A2ERKJH9GZ3L0K on 2005-11-08
  Used this twice since I received this a couple of days ago. Wow this is very easy to use and clean and store. Both times I ve used this Blender, there was no problem. I made banana shakes the first time, blended up in no time, Yummy shakes.
  
  The second time I used this was yesterday, I made strawberry smoothies. Blended up the ice and strawberrys as well as the yorgart to a real fluffy smoothie dexture.Very Yummie as well.
  
  As soon as I get my hands on some fresh dates and some creamy vanilla ice cream and add some walnuts, then blend for real yummy date nut shakes. Try it you will like it.
  
  
• Is this really the same blender from the other reviews?
  By A3SGJME8S062FM on 2005-12-04
  I was disappointed when I first received the "Wave Station" because for some reason I was expecting the blending jar to be glass. I decided to give it a try anyhow. Now I'm really disappointed! Although it may be powerful enough to crush ice, every time I've used the blender I've had to stop it several times and manually spoon the ingredients out of the recessed areas of the jar. As for the "dispenser", I've given up on trying to dispense my smoothies - it just wasn't going to happen. I'm not sure if anything more viscous than water is getting through that spout. Washing this thing is also quite a challenge; too many parts, none of which are dishwasher safe. I'm glad I didn't throw out my old blender with the broken handle - at least it was functional.
  
  
• Good blender
  By A27992GJRRJKUK on 2006-02-24
  I recently incorporated smoothies into my diet. I find that a good thick smoothie made with soy milk, organic plain yogurt, frozen strawberries and the odd banana does wonders for what ails me and helps negate the desire to eat less healthy sweet things. This blender can handle all these ingredients like a champ. I've had it now for two months, and make anywhere from two to seven smoothies per week, mostly using large, uncut frozen strawberries as the fruit. It's still working well, still chopping everything up and doing a great job of blending. It does occasionally need a prod to keep everything blending, especially if I'm going for a thicker, ice-cream like consistency by adding less soy milk, but I find that adding the soy milk before the other ingredients can help keep things moving. At any rate, using whole frozen fruit, it takes less than a minute to assemble and blend the best smoothie I've ever had.
  
  So that's the good stuff. The bad is that the dispenser leaks, at least on the one that I got. It's not a huge problem, as the drip is small and slow, but I usually have a little puddle to mop up after using the blender. Another thing that I find annoying is that the pitcher has an outer, thin plastic sleeve to help keep the temperature regulated. I don't know how necessary this is, but I do know that if I do a quick wash in the sink (I don't have a dishwasher) usually dish detergent gets up inside and I have to rinse, rinse, rinse to get it all out. Sometimes smoothie residue gets in there as well, and it has to be disassembled to be cleaned... not a big chore unless your pitcher is screwed too tight on the base and you can't unscrew it without help! But since I live alone, it's an issue for me. :) That alone would have prevented me from buying this blender. Don't know if others have experienced this.
  
  However, it does do a great job of blending, and the clean-up issues may just be my personal laziness, so I still give this blender four stars.
  
  
• Affordable Quality
  By A1U68EKGUB7AME on 2005-11-28
  This blender is a dream come true. I am surprised at how inexpensive it is for the quality and functionality of this blender. I love smoothies and am surprised at how easily it blends frozen fruit and ice. I consider this to be one of my smartest purchases yet!
  
  
  
  
• Total nightmare of a blender
  By A2T1LZWRGLYJTT on 2006-03-07
  I am surprised at how well everyone is doing with this model. Maybe I got a dud, I don't know, but my Wave Station is garbage. The plastic container has two pieces, which I could not dislodge from each other. Therefore, I could never entirely clean the thing. Worse, the other parts are similarly difficult to remove when following the assembly instructions. I never got it to work right; it would not crush frozen strawberries for a smoothie.
  I am going to have to call customer service before ever getting it to work. VERY disappointed.
  
  
• Started leaking after 5 months!
  By AL5HJLSKDBQF5 on 2006-01-27
  Pros:
  1. Easy to clean
  2. Powerful enough to actually make good milkshakes with ice
  3. The plastic jug is light weight which is actually convenient
  
  Cons:
  1. The jug/blender interface has a seal to prevent leaks but it started to leak there after 3 months of use which just really made me angry because I was happy with the item otherwise
  1. Although substantially more powerful then my previous blender, it does need a good amount of liquid with it to be able to crush ice otherwise it does have trouble
  
  
• Make iced drinks? BUY THIS!!!
  By A37K7FM0FZ6000 on 2006-02-12
  Every time I have made ice blended drinks before, I have dreaded fighting with my blender to get all the ice chunks and not "vapor lock" on air that gets inducted by the vortex. This blender works, plain and simple.
  
  The spout works almost too well even on the thick smoothies. (No, it will not dispense soft-serve ice cream.) It does in fact operate as a centrifugal pump, and the flow slows down only when the level gets low enough for air to get sucked into the blades. (Use low speed when dispensing)
  
  The insulating sleeve on the jar is great for keeping the drinks cold and dispensing over a period of time without smoothies becoming runnies.
  
  Cleanup is more complicated than an ordinary blender, but with only three more parts, I will gladly deal with it. This blender would be perfect for entertaining, since ingredients could be added to the top and drinks dispensed from the bottom without skipping a beat.
  
  In summary... If you make ice blended drinks, you need this... The fact that it is only $35 makes this one of the biggest no-brainers that I have seen.
  
  
• Wave Action
  By AJERI3WNS90GK on 2006-07-21
  It mixes very well once it gets started, but I find I have to stir and move the ingredients around. I make a lot of fruit smoothies, and I've tried alternating the order I add the ingredients, but it didn't make any difference. Most recently I tried adding the ice first, then fruit and yogurt on top -- big mistake. For best results, put the ice on top of the fruit and yogurt. But once it starts, it does a great job, no ice chunks!
  
  
• One touch dispenser - yeah right!
  By AOG2AAWF92MZ0 on 2006-08-04
  This is a good smoothie blender, but there are a few things I don't like about it. For one thing, you can't really clean it in the dishwasher unless you want to risk warping all the plastic parts. (There goes one star.) Also, the one touch dispenser doesn't really work with a pint glass. It's too tall to fit under there straight. This can be overcome by holding the glass at a tilt and pushing the dispense button with your finger, but ultimately I opted to remove the spigot and use the included cap instead. (Another star.)
  
  If you've got your heart set on dishwashing, don't get this. Otherwise, for the money it's decent.
  
  
• False advertising
  By A39R5NOJ0XV391 on 2006-06-25
  This unit is advertised as being 700 watts, however it is only 500.
  
  
• We love this thing!
  By A2MSQ27PPWYQJL on 2006-07-16
  I gave this to my husband for Father's Day and we absolutely love it! Big chunks of frozen fruit are blended quickly and easily for our smoothies. And the protien powder my husband mixes in gets evenly distributed for a great power drink.
  
  We decided not to use the spout for everyday use because it seems it would be difficult to clean. The rest of the blender cleans easily with soap and water (not in the dishwasher... bummer) and the outer shell removes easily to clean between it and the actual pitcher.
  
  I would highly recommend this product to anyone looking for a quality blender at a decent price.
  
  
• Plastic Blender
  By A3PLDZERFNLWM3 on 2007-01-12
  I love the blender, it blends well. I would have rated it 5 stars but I had to rate it 4 because the pitcher is made out of plastic, therefore the plastic may hold in smells. I haven't had my blender long but I hope I'm wrong about the smell topic.
  
  
• low quality, impossible to clean
  By A38IQ73MG5F0ZC on 2006-11-10
  This blender couldn't handle ice cream, or almost anything else for that matter. It hard a haard time blending canned tomatoes! The blade doesn't come out, so it's very hard to clean. The spout for smoothy displensing was always dirty, under the blades was always dirty. I had mold grow, despite my best cleaning efforts. I finally had to throw it out.
  
  
• Pitcher base breaks, and breaks, and breaks
  By A1CTBL7SW55GTC on 2007-03-08
  After having the base break under warranty, I see it's broken again! This thing may crush ice, but don't put any liquid in it, because after it breaks, it leaks!
  
  
• Very Good but not great
  By A16V5E3QV5FAM2 on 2006-02-05
  Overall I enjoy this blender quite a bit, altho its definitely not perfect. It blends smoothies and ice drinks...ie margaritas :)...without any chunks of ice, making it like a pro would. I use it very often and it has been very sturdy.
  
  The negatives are that large frozen items like an uncut strawberry or a large chunk of a frozen banana can get stuck along the inner ridge of the odd shaped pitcher, requiring removing the lid and manually stirring them. This happens frequently in thicker drinks.
  
  The spout is useful for thinner drinks, less useful for thicker drinks which poor very slowly in the last cup or two. It seems the blade rotation doesn't 'force' the drink down thru the spout well, and its more dependent on gravity and how thick the drink is and full the pitcher is.
  
  The pitcher also has a outer 'sleeve', which insulates the main pitcher's temperature, altho its very unnecessary imo and is just another large thing to disassemble and rinse. (that's not to say its difficult to clean, because overall its fairly easy, including the spout.)
  
  
• Potential Fire Hazard
  By A1KGVBFULICO5C on 2006-12-21
  The blender works great. It crushes ice better than any other blender I've used. It also mixes my protein powder and milk to a nice, thick, even consistancy. Functionally, I couldn't be happier.
  
  The problem is the extremely poor build quality. The gears are plastic. I noticed the black powder coming off from the gears after more than a few seconds of use. The blades don't come off, so cleaning is difficult. Soaking in water over night to clean the blade is not recommended, as the screw that holds the blades togather is NOT stainless steel.
  
  But the biggest problem with my unit is that the motor is arcing. I didn't notice this until just after the warranty expired last month (of course!). Although I'm not sure how hot the arc gets, I'm thinking of throwing my blender out before it starts a fire. You should definitely check yours if you have gas oven/stove.
  
  
• Excellent blender
  By A3ARRZW35B60HR on 2007-02-06
  This blender makes great smoothies and milkshakes. It is hard to clean, but what blender isn't? It dispense properly until you get to the bottom quarter, then you need to dump the contents out the way you do with a normal blender. Works great on margaritas and other mixed drinks that use chopped ice.
  
  
• This is Excellent Blender for this price I have ever seen
  By A2TMS4EEW4A4OC on 2007-02-14
  Before ordering this Blender , I did research on many other blenders in this price range. Initially I was hesitating to buy this but my wife said why dont we try this one. Moment we received it , we tried blending ice, made some sauce out of green pepper in indian style and found that it blends as we needed. There are speed selection buttons which helps to preselect the type of stuff you are putting for blending. In addition to this if you want to get the conent poured in glass then there is stopper jack which helps you to get the content out of blender without removing it. This helped us when we were using it for series of blending..
  To me it is the best choice with this price range..
  
  
  
• Not as expected
  By A1L6O6TEPAZ94X on 2007-03-18
  First off, this thing is NOISY!!! It does the job ok, but the "spout" in my testing, is worthless. Following the instructions, using a margarita, it took a very, very, very, very long time to come out of the spout. Motor runing on suggested settings and all.
  
  Secondly, it is hard to clean up. Just not a good choice for a blender. I read Consumer Reports and was going to buy the suggested one, but the snazzy spout on this one made me change course. I regret it now.
  
  Only good report, the shipping was well above par.
  
  
• Really chops the ice!
  By A13JJQSO3YICU9 on 2006-01-18
  I admit it...even after reading the previous reviews I thought THERE IS NO WAY THIS THING IS GOING TO GET FROM WHOLE ICE CUBES TO SMOOTHIE. I mean come on - every blender says it does ice but they never do. Alas, this time I was dead wrong. The smooth smoothiest smoothies I have ever made! The key to dispensing is to have it running at the time. It is a little awkward with the cup. I usually end up pushing on the lever with my fingers while holding the cup, but that might be my own paranoia. As for the dishwasher - I have a two year old and a three year old - everything goes in the dishwasher and so far so good! Only one mishap we've had - my hubby was able to pull off the top of the container without the bottom staying attached which resulted in sticky ooey gooey smoothie EVERYWHERE. That being said, he might not have attached it right in the first place. All I'm sayin' is - watch out for that. It is a week later and I'm still finding sticky spots.
  
  
  
  
• Good blender for good price
  By ASOWPD5CD42QV on 2007-01-10
  Great for margaritas, smoothies, milkshakes or just crushing ice. My only dislike is the dispenser... it clogs up easily and is difficult to clean.
  
  
• Excellent Blender
  By A2EVINZ9GSFU24 on 2007-09-05
  I was searcing for a margarita machine and the ones I found didn't have very good reviews. A couple of reviews suggested to buy just a standard blender.
  
  I searched for blenders and found this one that leaves no ice and dispenses the liquid. The price is very reasonable and the machine worked great. I used it for a party and made pina colada's and strawberry daiquiri's. The dispnser worked well. If the liquid is a little thick there is a button to push while dispensing the liquid which helps it to flow out of the dispenser.
  
  The blender did crunch up all of the ice. I followed the directions and put the liquids in first and then the ice. It is fairly easy to clean. A great machine for little investment.
  
  
• Works well, but . . .
  By A28HIYWWXNDE18 on 2006-01-04
  The "wave" action turns out nice smoothies and shakes, but if we had known the pitcher, lid and blade attachment were not dishwasher safe we'd have chosen another blender. Having to hand wash each piece (and, look out, the blades are very sharp) seriously limits our interest in the time needed for breakfast fruit drinks - the main reason we bought it.
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Quite Pleased With This Blender
  By A1SVHXFN0WZYMK on 2006-11-23
  I recieved this a few days ago and yesterday I used it for the first time. I put in some vanilla ice cream, some milk, some ice and a couple good sized spoons of peanut butter. This blender worked great and made a very delicious and tasty peanut butter milkshake with no fuss at all. I had wondered if I would have to turn it on and off and keep checking to see if the ice was fully crushed like the older model I had but this really did the trick! I also love the feature of the spout where you just press and it comes right out. Im sure I will be using this often!
  
  
• The Jar is too frajile and it broke
  By A25JM519V6IVDP on 2007-01-09
  I purchased this item about a month back. The jar fell down from the kitchen cabinet and it broke. i ussgest to not ot buy this product as the jar is too fragile for normal use
  
  
• Good job
  By A1QC2R3M8BBRGO on 2007-01-11
  It works well. I am glad that we purchased it for when we have the urge to have frozen fruit and juit well blended. I would recommend it to anyone.
  
  

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