I was looking for a nice blender that wasn't amazingly expensive. I looked at Pampered Chef and Vitamix and those were way out of range. On the other side of things, I found blenders around $100 that seemed to fall apart and break pretty often.The Jawz was priced in between and seemed to be made of quality components, so I decided to give it a shot. I've made plenty of smoothies with it and my husband has been very impressed - never before have we been able to have smoothies at home that are the same consistency as smoothies you would buy when out and about. It blends easily and offers a smooth drink, though it is very loud. Understandable, since it's literally chopping frozen stuff up really fast.It has a safety switch and is very robust. It's easy to clean and use, and storage hasn't been a challenge (though the base is quite tall - be sure to check it's height before you buy to make sure it will fit in your cabinets). We had a Vitamix from the 80s that still worked, but needed a replacement part (I gave it to my parents and they fixed it up). Overall, the ease-of-use of this one is superior to the old one, and I'm happy to have made the switch. I can't say how it compares to current Vitamix models, though.If you're looking for a solid blender that's easy to use and offers "smooth smoothies," I would recommend this one. If you've got tons of money to spend or need to do some specialist-type things, those in the more expensive price range might offer more options as far as what you can do with the machine.