Blenders to quench a summer thirst.(Product/service evaluation)

For $400 you can get a blender that makes a smooth smoothie, crushes ice, and turns out a pina colada that would make a bartender pleased as punch. For $80 you can get a blender that makes a smooth smoothie, crushes ice, and turns out a pina colada that might make a bartender a tad embarrassed. Our suggestion: Live with a few chunks of ice in your icy drinks and save hundreds of dollars.

How we tested. We used 31 blenders to make rum-free pina coladas and strawberry smoothies, puree vegetables, crush ice plus water, and grate cheese. In a tough task, we repeatedly crushed ice cubes without water at each blender's highest speed. Because the Vita-Mix and Blendtec claim to do additional jobs, we also used them and the lower-tech Oster Fusion to make banana-bread dough, salsa, pancake batter, and ice cream.

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Overall scores in the Select Ratings might differ slightly from previous results in part because we now weight ability to make icy drinks more heavily.

What we found. Smoothies were easy for most in our chart; icy drinks were tough for many; ...